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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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weekend in area By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Five persons were murdered this weekend in and around San José, and at least one of the killings appeared to be a planned hit. That victim, Rolando José Solano Rodríguez, 31, was shot four times by two men on motorcycles a little after midnight Sunday morning. Police said he was shot as he sat in a parked car with a woman in front of the Arte Plaza in San Pedro. The killers pulled alongside the car, witnesses said, and shot Solano without any apparent discussion. The killers didn't steal his money or his car and the woman was unhurt, police said. They did say that Solano was scheduled to be a witness at a trial and that may have been the motivation behind the killing. Police arrested three persons accused of killing a local store owner. The victim was Dagoberto Aguilar Barboza, known as “La Barba,” or “the beard” to his friends. He was shot in the back three times as he left his small eatery late Saturday evening to take a walk. His restaurant, La Puriscaleña, is located west of Avenida Central. It specialized in chicharrones, a popular Costa Rican snack that is made with fried beef. He died in the doorway of his store. Police said they arrested three suspects, one of which was an ex-employee. The suspects were identified by the last names Reyes, Madrigal and Moreno. Police said they detained them shortly after as they drove a pickup in front of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros. Police said that inside they found a .22-caliber firearm. Another small restaurant worker died in Cartago Friday night when he was shot by a man who stole only sodas, police said. That victim, José Tobias Chaves Cervantes, 43, was attacked as he tried to close the restaurant El Estadio at about 10:30 p.m., police said. Police said they arrested a 19-year-old suspect with the last name Llama. The murderer didn't find any money after he shot Chaves, so he drank a soda and ran, said police. Police said they arrested the suspect about three hours later. Another robbery attempt Saturday resulted in the death of a father of three, police said. Alejandro Mirando Rodríguez was shot as he drove in Santa Ana Saturday night by someone who tried to steal his motorcycle. Police are also looking for a Nicaraguan named Toto, they said. Toto is accused of killing a 24-year-old with the last name Estrada. The two got in a fight Saturday night. Estrada was shot at least six times. Estrada died minutes before he was admitted to Hospital San Juan de Dios. There were no witnesses police said. Nicoya Annexation remembered today By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Today is a legal holiday in Costa Rica commemorating the voluntary Annexation of Nicoya. It was in 1824 when an assembly in Nicoya ratified the long-standing relationship between that area and the rest of Costa Rica. The annexation gave the country its Guanacaste region, including the Nicoya Peninsula and its world-class beaches. The alternative for the residents in 1824 would have been to join with Nicaragua. But the Guanacaste area has been joined with Costa Rica administratively during Spanish colonial times as a matter of convenience. Residents from Guancaste still maintain a separate culture that stresses cattle ranching, unique foods and even a unique vocabulary laced with many words relating to the environment. As is the case every year, the president will hold a cabinet meeting in the public park in Nicoya. This year President Abel Pacheco will assemble his Consejo de Gobierno at 10 a.m. It is a good bet that many of the presidential candidates also will show up to campaign. The day will be celebrated all over the country with bands and parades and commercial variations. For example, Multiplaza, the shopping mall in Escazú, is trying to attract customers with entertainment related to the holiday. For employers, the day requires double time for workers. So most will be off. The U.S. Embassy as well as Costa Rican government offices will be closed. Bodies of crash victims recovered in Flamingo By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The bodies of Justin and Jack Ruetz, the young Flamingo residents who were still missing from the plane crash in Flamingo July 16, were recovered Sunday afternoon, officials with the Cruz Roja said. Justin and Jack were the last two missing victims. Rescue workers pulled the body of pilot Greg Gund out of the water a week ago. They recovered the bodies of the boys' mother Cindy and California residents Paul and Connor Kells shortly after the crash. Officials are still investigating the cause of the wreck, which happened about a mile and a half off the coast of Flamingo. U.S. defeats Panamá for Gold Cup victory By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The United States soccer team won its third Gold Cup after beating Panamá 3-1 in a shootout after regulation ended with the teams tied 0-0. The gold cup final, in East Rutherford, N.J., was a clinic on goalkeeping with both Kasey Keller of the U.S. team and Jaime Penado of Panamá having several spectacular stops. With the game still scoreless after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime, the game went into a shootout. Santino Quaranta, Landon Donovan and Brad Davis all managed to score for the United States on Penado. Felipe Baloy was the only scorer for Panamá. Democrats to discuss environment By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Democrats Abroad will hear from environmentalist María Elena Fournier at their Saturday morning meeting. The speaker is president of the Costa Rican conservation and environmental group YISKI. The meeting will be on the third floor of the Aurola Holiday Inn in San José. Everyone in the community is welcome to hear her analysis of the challenges facing the environmental movement in Costa Rica and YISKI's work to promote conservation, said an announcement. Those who wish to attend may call David Sagel at 249-1856 or e-mail him at ddsagel@yahoo.com for information and reservations. |
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with the observations of Dr. Lenny Karpman Click HERE! |
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| A great response when you do not have the foggiest |
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| Quedarse al bate “To be left holding the bat (without knowing how to swing).” This is rather a lengthy translation for a very short dicho. But it’s difficult to translate the implied “sense” of this expression without adding a bit of explanation. Of course, Ticos know a lot more about soccer than they do about baseball, and if you gave a Costa Rican a baseball bat chances are he wouldn’t know what to do with it. When I was a young soccer player our coach tried to teach us to play baseball. Though I could run like the wind and I could catch the ball, I could not hit it with the bat to save my life. Kicking a ball seemed to come naturally. Hitting it with a stick did not. But the real meaning of quedarse al bate is that one just doesn’t understand something, not in the sense of not comprehending a foreign language that’s being spoken to you, but simply that no matter how hard you try, you just don’t get the concept. Politicians are masters at manipulating this, They give a very long, complicated speech and at the end everyone claps but no one has really understood a thing of what was said. Another favorite use for this dicho is when you don’t understand — let’s say — geometry, for example. When vexed by a particular equation you might throw up your hands and exclaim ¡me quede al bate! Me quede al bate can also be used when people talk very fast making it difficult to catch what they’re |
saying. And, if the speaker
is a Tico, he or she will gladly repeat what they said more slowly for
you. Every Costa Rican knows what quede al bate means, so do
not be afraid to use it. |
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| Nicaragua's Alemán has new plan to escape detention |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Former Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Alemán is headed toward release from confinement due to an obscure provision in Nicaraguan penal law. Alemán, through his lawyer, Mauricio Martínez, has applied for release from his home confinement due to his claimed chronic health problems. Nicaraguan law provides for reintegration to family life for inmates with severe disease or life threatening chronic illnesses. This release generally is accompanied by proof of reform and acceptance of culpability by inmates in the later portions of their sentences. The restructuring of confinement means that Alemán will be absolutely free to go anywhere within Nicaragua without any restiction and travel abroad upon application. However it does not reduce the legal validity of the conviction for money laundering he received in 2003. Sources within Aleman’s residence, Hacienda El Chile, report that the normally implacable Alemán is visibly nervous and is pressing his lawyer and political allies to move the case forward as rapidly as possible. He is concerned that the international community or the government will move to stop his latest attempt to win release from confinement. He has publicly stated that if he is free to travel and meet with his party supporters, the entire judicial process will end in his favor. The case is in the final stages of the evaluative process for “rehabilitative confinement” and has been aided by a report from the forensic medical examiner noting Aleman’s chronic obesity and the associated health problems he has purportedly suffered since his confinement. His last hospital stay was for a minor finger surgery that produced a three-month hospital recuperation. The hospital stay was remarkable in that he received as many as 70 visitors in one day and the entire |
Liberal party apparatus
was virtually moved to his hospital room. He
also recently delivered a video taped speech to party members in the
last two weeks showing him to be robust and full of energy. The Alemán manuever has produced considerable controversy in that the newly assigned judge hearing the case, Roxanna Zapata, is married to a supplemental magistrate to the Central American Court of Justice. Both Zapata and her spouse, Sergio Quarezma, were hand-picked by Alemán for their patronage positions and are intense Liberal party loyalists. The Procuradoria of the Republic has opposed the application. However, the Fiscalia or attorney general’s office supports Alemán’s case. The split again falls along party lines as the two legal offices are divided in their support of Alemán. The Frente Sandinista led by Daniel Ortega has officially opposed the move, deriding the manuever as a ploy by Alemán to gain his freedom with the assistance of the Bolaños government. The official position is contradicted by the assignment of the case to Judge Zapata which was done outside of normal rotation in the judicial control office. The support staff of the Managua court system is dominated by Frente loyalists, and such a manuever would not have occurred absent at least tacit party acceptance. Independent commentators have noted that this is the first cynical step by Ortega in completing his part in the deal with Alemán in their “pacto” to dominate Nicaraguan politics. In the event that Alemán gains release from Nicaraguan confinement that does not end his legal problems. The government of Panama and the United States have publicly indicted that Alemán and his family are subjects of money laundering cases and that he could be indicted in either country at any time. Further, his political ambitions are still blocked in that his conviction precludes his ability to run for elected office. |
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| Free trade pact may be lined to penalties for China |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President George Bush urged members of the House of Representatives to vote for the Central American free trade agreement, saying that the trade deal would bring more peace, prosperity and democracy to the hemisphere. “This bill that the House of Representatives will be voting on next week is pro-jobs, pro-growth and pro-democracy,” said the president Thursday. As Bush made his speech at the Organization of American States in Washington, his administration struggled to gain enough votes to pass the agreement in the House of Representatives. The Central American trade agreement, known as CAFTA, grants duty-free trade privileges to six Latin American countries. The pact has been criticized by Democratic Party and Republican Party legislators for threatening U.S. jobs. In an effort to win over opponents of CAFTA, leaders in the House of Representatives have approved a vote to impose trade restrictions on China, which is accused of taking even more American jobs by manufacturing goods at lower prices. Republican Party Congressman Phil English is one lawmaker who opposed CAFTA until the administration agreed to a tougher stance on China trade. |
“My main concerns about
CAFTA had to do with how it fit into our
overall trading policy,” said English. “Now that the
administration
and Congress are clearly on a path to dealing with the China trade
problem, I feel much more comfortable voting for CAFTA.” English said that his China bill will help level the playing field to allow American companies to compete with the Chinese. One of its provisions would impose “countervailing duties” or punitive tariffs on Chinese imports that are found to be subsidized by the Chinese government. Under current law, the United States cannot impose countervailing duties on “nonmarket” economies like China, which has a Communist government. Economists say that a new anti-China trade bill may be hard to enforce, because it is difficult to determine which goods have been subsidized when costs are not based on supply and demand. Albert Keidel is a China economist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “If you have no way of determining whether those costs themselves are legitimate or not, whether they really represent scarcity in the economists’ words, whether they represent supply and demand, then it’s very hard to say that you should impose a countervailing duty.” The effort to link China trade restrictions with the Central American deal may not make much economic sense, according to analysts, but could be necessary if President Bush wants to avoid a defeat on CAFTA. |
| French have secret meeting with Colombian rebels over famous
hostage |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
French government negotiators are holding secret talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in an effort to win the release of politician Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped by rebels more than three years ago. Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe gave France permission to negotiate with the guerrillas in the Colombian jungle, but he continues to reject rebel demands to trade scores of hostages for hundreds of FARC prisoners. |
The government is not
commenting on the talks, other than to confirm they have taken place. Ms. Betancourt was kidnapped while she was campaigning for Colombia’s presidency as a leftist candidate in early 2002. She is one of about 60 political hostages taken by FARC in the last seven years, including three U.S. intelligence officials. Ms. Betancourt is a French and Colombian citizen, and was once a political science student of French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin when he was a professor. |
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