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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 8,
2014, Vol. 14, No. 156
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
With the United States as this year's country of honor, the International Book Fair returns to Costa Rica. The free fair known locally as the Fería Internacional del Libro begins its 15th year on Friday, Aug. 22, and runs until Aug. 31 at the Antigua Aduana. Elizabeth Fonseca, the minister of culture, said the U.S. spotlight will give Costa Rican readers a better understanding of not just the country's literature but a broader perspective on American reality. “The United State's participation as the invited country will allow attendees a closer relationship with authors from there and also authors of other American countries that live in the U.S.,” Ms. Fonseca said. The fair's special guest is Jennie Smith, an award-winning reporter and environmental writer who was born in New York. In 2011, Ms. Smith penned “Stolen World”, in which she garnered high accolades for her ability to scoop out a reptile trafficking scheme between zoos. Ms. Smith currently writes for the Wall Street Journal and lives in San Salvador, El Salvador. Hundreds of other writers, speakers, artists, and scientists will also be on hand for the 10-day festival that features more than 300 activities. Both national and international books will be on sale throughout the fair. A memorial will also be paid to Costa Rica's famed writer and politician Alberto Cañas who died this past March. Ms. Fonseca said a booth will be set up in Cañas' honor, reminding avid readers that the country's first ever minister of Cultura y Juventud had a goal of reading 100 books a year. Luis Bernal Montes de Oca, the president of the local book group, said the idea surrounding the annual book fair is for people to fall in love with literature and reading. “The principal objective of the fair is to promote reading and provide a space where readers can find all their books in one space,” he said. The Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud is slated to spend 65 million colons, or about $120,000, on the book fair. In late June, the current administration openly questioned the appropriation of funds from past ministry leaders on a series of annual programs, including the Festival Internacional del Libro. Ms. Fonseca said that from 2011 to 2014 spending on the cultural events tripled when compared to event expense reports from similar periods earlier. Local tourism is target of new campaign By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The tourism institute will be investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to generate tourism by Costa Ricans and residents. The institute, the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, will be joined by other tourism organizations. The emphasis will be on social media. This is the third year for the institute's efforts, using the Web site vamosaturistear.com for contests and prizes. The Spanish means 'let's go touring." Similar to its sloth promotion, the institute will be using social networks to generate interest., as well as Instagram where the use of self photographs will be encouraged, it said in a release. The vamosaturistear.com Web site has been active since June 2012. However at more than 4.7 million in its Alexa ranking, it appears to be infrequently visited. The lower the Alexa number the better. La Nación, for example, is 5,599. A lookup of registration data for vamosaturistear.com does not even show the institute as the owner of the domain. The institute said that 9,000 persons a month visit the Web site and that they stay for an average of six minutes. The institute also said that its Facebook page has 150,000 followers. Tax officials report closing 16 businesses By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The tax agency said that its investigators closed 16 businesses this week in Alajuela, Heredia and San Carlos. The agency, the Dirección General de Tributación, said that 10 of the firms had not remitted sales tax during the proper interval. Six of the firms failed to provide comprobantes or official receipts to customers. The businesses included bars, restaurants and even a hotel, the Hotel Arenal Vista Lodge in San Carlos. Three of the firms were not registered with tax officials. The other businesses were identified by tax officials as: Bar y Restaurante Gonvich in Heredia; Cardys Bar y Restaurante, San Ramón; Celulares Dos Mil in Heredia; Euromueble in Palmares, an unregistered firm that sells aluminum windows and glass in Alajuela; Muebles Metálicos FH in San Ramón; Pañalera La Parada, Alajuela; Pisos y Acabados Rústicos S.A. in Alajuela; Restaurante Mirador Aeropuerto in Alajuela; Restaurante Viejo Campeón in Heredia; Súper Bienvenidos in Heredia; Tienda El Regalón in San Carlos, and Tienda y zapatería Ileana in San Carlos. There also were a refrigeration company and a fabricating firm that were not registered and had no name. Contraloría questions police firearm policy By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The police agencies under the security ministry are all carrying firearms illegally. And they do not have a schedule to practice. These are the findings of surveyors from the Contraloría General de la República. The report, which covers part of 2012 and 2013, was released Thursday. The report said that the law stipulates two years for a permit to carry a firearm, but police are carrying them for four years. In addition, the allocation of permits to police are outside the domain of the Departamento de Control de Armas y Explosivos of the Dirección General de Armamento, contrary to the law, it said. The firearms training received by police are not consistent, and they should be, said the report. The Escuela Nacional de Policía should set up an annual and multi-annual program for shooting practice by the various police units and agencies, the report said. Motorcycles figure in more than a third of deaths By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Traffic officials say that 189 persons already have lost their life on the nation's highways this year. The number is 33 more than in the first six months of 2013. More than a third, some 68 persons died in accidents that took place while they were riding a motorcycle, said the Policía de Tránsito. The death count considers only individuals who died at the scene of an accident and not those who die later in a hospital. There were 26 traffic deaths in July, four more than in June.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 156 | |
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The presence of a priest emphasizes the religious aspect of the San Ramón festival. Proceeds go to the Roman Catholic parish there. The bueyes and the oxcart are reminders of the large parade that will take place Aug. 24. |
 Los Festejos Patronales photo
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| San Ramón issues invitation to enjoy the Los Festejos Patronales | |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A parade of oxcarts and faithful followers carrying a representation of San Ramón Nonato barreled through San José to announce the arrival of Los Festejos Patronales festival in the town of San Ramón. But that's only a taste of what's to come at the celebration known for having Costa Rica's largest herd of oxen with more than 240 brought from all over the country. From Aug. 21 to Sept. 1, the town will celebrate its patron saint, San Ramón Nonato, through parades, music, and local food. The municipality expects thousands of visitors to pass through for the annual holiday. |
“Our parties are
family celebrations,” said Greivin Hidalgo, pastor of
San Ramón. “We want more Costa Ricans to come and enjoy the
unique
characteristics of all our activities filled with warmth, fervor, and
tradition.” The oxen parade will be held on Aug. 24. Another historical parade, which has existed for 160 years, is the Pasada de Mancho, in which the patron saint's image is taken through downtown streets amidst ceremonial gunfire, music, and dancing. Funds raised from the festival will go to the parish and its various communities. |
| Government plans more extensive use of statistics to fight
poverty |
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By
Michael Krumholtz
by the A.M. Costa Rica staff Together with Oxford University, the Costa Rican government is installing a tool designed to help politicians grapple with inequality and extreme poverty. Oxford researchers developed a multidimensional index that proposes to improve ways in which states and institutions measure their poverty rates, according to a press statement from Casa Presidencial. The index takes into account people's access to public services and basic necessities like education, housing, employment and health. This new measurement is expected to help focus resources and give more efficient aid to the 6 percent of Costa Ricans living in extreme poverty, the statement said. The president's office is working in conjunction with the Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, and the Asociación Horizonte Positivo on mining and analyzing the data they retrieve. “It's important to note that this effort isn't a diagnosis or a map where we have to start from scratch,” said President Luis Guillermo Solís. “This is an index that takes the information that has been |
catalogued by IMAS
and INEC for many years, but from here on it's
utilized in order to better focus the government's actions in the fight
against extreme poverty.” Solís added that this instrument will prevent abusive practices by some public welfare programs in the country. This improved focus and avoidance of mismanagement allows them to better serve those most in need, he said. “We will focus on the development of policies that get to those most desperate for support and guidance from the state,” the president said. “Welfare programs are important, but we need them to be more effective in their application and scope. This is something we are reviewing in full detail.” Second Vice President Ana Helena Chacón is in charge of the president's social advisory council. She said the rate of poor people in Costa Rica has raised and that a third of the country's households are either considered to be in poverty or at risk of poverty. The social advisory council has joined with the Instituto Nacional de Estadística to create a map that points out places of high social interest. Chile and Uruguay are two other countries that have already implemented the Oxford index. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 156 | |||||
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| Lawmakers go to constitutional court over president's veto
of a veto |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some 17 lawmakers have asked the Sala IV constitutional court to void a law that was resurrected by President Luis Guillemo Solís to save the mercado de artesanía. This is another strange twist because a previous group of lawmakers passed the measure. In what has to be unprecedented in Costa Rican government, Solís declared last week that a veto of the law by then-president Óscar Arias Sánchez had been repealed. In other words he vetoed the 2009 veto. The law as originally passed would provide space for the tourist market on a public street just west of the Plaza de la Democracia. Stalls have been there for 20 years since vendors were chased away from the Plaza de la Cultura. |
The Municipalidad
de San José is trying to install them in another building
several blocks away. The presidential action did not sit well with some lawmakers, who complained that the president's action came much too late to comply with legislative rules. Usually proposed laws have four years to pass or fail. This one was filed in 2006. In the court appeal, the lawmakers said the president's action was not constitutional. The case went to the constitutional court Thursday morning. The 16-page appeal said the action by Solís violates the autonomy of a municipality, and legislative rules. All but one of the lawmakers is a member of the rival Partido Liberación Nacional. The municipality is expected to file a similar appeal. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 156 | |||||||
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| Obama approves air strikes to protect trapped Iraqis By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama says America is coming to help thousands of Iraqis who are trapped and threatened by Islamist militants and has authorized air strikes and humanitarian flights over northern Iraq. President Obama spoke hours after U.S. military aircraft dropped relief supplies to help thousands of Iraqis stranded on Iraq's Mount Sinjar without food or water and surrounded by militants who are threatening to kill them. “Today, America is coming to help,” said Obama. The Iraqis are largely Christians or Yazidis, members of an ancient sect who the militants have been threatening to kill if they do not convert to Islam. Thousands have fled their homes as militants with the Islamist State in Iraq and the Levant sweep through northern Iraq, conducting a campaign of terror against non-Sunnis that has included abducting women and girls and conducting mass executions. In an address late Thursday, the president announced he ordered the U.S. military to step in. “We can act carefully and responsibly to prevent a potential act of genocide. That's what we're doing on that mountain. I've therefore targeted air strikes if necessary to help forces in Iraq as they fight to break the siege of Mount Sinjar and protect the civilians trapped there,” said Obama. Secretary of State John Kerry also made the case for air strikes, saying militants' "grotesque and targeted acts of violence bear all the warning signs and hallmarks of genocide." "For anyone who needed a wake-up call, this is it. ISIL is not fighting on behalf of Sunnis. ISIL is not fighting for a stronger Iraq. ISIL is fighting to divide and destroy Iraq – and ISIL is offering nothing to anyone except chaos, nihilism, and ruthless thuggery," said Kerry. Facing public pressure to avoid new involvement in foreign conflicts, the president pledged to not send American troops back into combat in Iraq. U.S. officials say these operations will be of a limited scope and will not involve American ground forces. Obama said this is a case where the United States should help. “When we face a situation like we do on that mountain, with innocent people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale. When we have a mandate to help, in this case a request from the Iraqi government, and when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye,” Obama said. President Obama authorized air strikes against militant convoys if they move toward the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, where the U.S. has a consulate and has posted military advisors. The president said he authorized strikes anywhere else in Iraq where the militants threaten American personnel and facilities. Snowden's revelations helped change U.S. spying policy By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
For more than a year, former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has been living in Russia, having been granted asylum. He is wanted in the United States on espionage charges after making public key intelligence documents dealing with the U.S. National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programs. Russian media disclosed Thursday that Snowden has been granted a three-year residency permit. His lawyer told Russian news agencies that while Snowden has no plans to apply for asylum, he could see Russian citizenship in five years. The Snowden affair continues to be a blight on the Obama administration, analysts say. Richard Betts, a national security expert at Columbia University, said Snowden released “lots of information about the sorts of metadata the National Security Agency - or NSA - collects for U.S. intelligence, involving the destination of communications and the identities of people around the world who are talking to each other. "And a lot of information about the procedures that the NSA uses in handling and dealing with that information,” he said. Betts said that was very bad publicity for the U.S. government “because it had led to the revelation of many intelligence practices that are quite normal for any great power and that many other countries in the world practice themselves, but which can be embarrassing when they are revealed as we have seen in several cases when intelligence collecting activities in Brazil and Germany have been revealed.” Ken Gude, with the Center for American Progress, sees Snowden’s documents in a different light. “He took reportedly up to 1.7 million documents, the overwhelming majority of them have nothing to do with the spying activities of the NSA on Americans or citizens of other countries and much more to do with military communications and the way in which the NSA intercepts the communications of America’s recognized adversaries and enemies,” Gude said. The U.S. Justice Department has filed criminal charges against Snowden including theft of government property and unauthorized communication of national defense information. Snowden has consistently said one of the reasons he leaked the documents was to start a discussion about the U.S. government’s secret spying programs. Analyst Gude said Snowden certainly achieved that. “Here we are, more than a year on from the first revelations and it’s still a story capturing the attention of the American people, certainly competing with a lot of things going on in the world, but very rarely do stories last as long as this one,” Gude said. “And it is, of course, of great interest to not just Americans, but to people around the world as well,” he added. Gude and other experts say as a result of the Snowden revelations, the Obama administration has changed the ways it collects intelligence in the United States and abroad. “Probably the most significant change,” Gude said, “is they’ve put a prohibition on spying on the leaders of allied governments. "They’ve instituted some changes in how they collect and store information on foreign citizens and the president has changed the way the NSA collects information on Americans,” he said. There is also legislation before Congress to alter the way the NSA gathers information. As for Snowden, he has kept a low profile in Russia. “He is kept out of the news media by the Russian authorities except when it is useful to them," Gude said. "And it is very clear’ that Russian President Putin and the Russian authorities that are controlling Mr. Snowden while he is in Russia, have been able to use him for their propaganda efforts on numerous occasions,” he added. Gude said “both domestically and internationally, the presence of Snowden is a real political tool for President Putin as he aims to set Russia up against the United States and the West.” Australia mourns victims of Ukrainian plane crash By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Australia is observing an official day of mourning for the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17. More than 30 Australian citizens and residents were among the 298 passengers and crew who died when the airliner was shot down in eastern Ukraine. A multi-faith service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne was part of a day of mourning, when the country paused to remember an atrocity perpetrated so far away. Thirty-eight Australian citizens and residents were onboard the Boeing 777 that was shot down July 17 while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. They were doctors, teachers, a nun and children. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said those responsible for the crash would face justice. The governor-general, Peter Cosgrove, said the nation was united in grief. “Today, we gather to mourn those taken from us, to honor their lives, to support those in the midst of unrelenting grief,” Cosgrove said at the service. “Today, as a nation, we demonstrate to the world how highly we value life, how we come together to look after our own, and how we afford the departed the honor and the respect that they are due.” The search for the victims’ remains has been halted by the Dutch government because of clashes between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces. The downing of flight MH-17 came just several months after another air tragedy for the Malaysia airline. Malaysia Airlines flight MH-370 disappeared March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 people. Australia announced Wednesday that a Dutch company had been chosen to carry out the underwater search for missing aircraft. The Dutch team will use two ships to search a part of the Indian Ocean stretching 60,000 square kilometers or 23,000 square miles. An analysis of satellite data has indicated the plane crashed into remote waters west of the Australian city of Perth. Ebola outbreak is destroying West African medical system By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 900 people across four countries. That includes dozens of health workers who caught the disease, 32 in Liberia alone. Many of that country’s health clinics and hospitals have shut down as nurses and doctors refuse to risk being exposed. Melvin Korkor, a physician, said he has a pretty good idea how he got ebola, though it’s impossible to know for sure. A woman came into his facility, Phebe hospital in Bong County in central Liberia. The patient had no fever, but she was vomiting. “She said she was from Bangha instead of Lofa, but the next day I was a little bit suspicious. I said 'Well, I hope you are not from Lofa because there is every indication that you are suspect.'” They later found out the woman lied. She had come from Lofa, an area at the Sierra Leone and Guinea borders that is at the center of this regional ebola outbreak. Five nurses from Korkor’s hospital have since died of ebola. When he tested positive, he was taken to Monrovia and then to Lofa to an isolation ward. “One of the patients had just died. They prepared the bed and I went in… my heart became hardened, and I said to myself I was going to make it, and I said to my wife 'bring me my Bible' and that is that, I’m going to go by,” said Korkor. He forced himself to eat even though he did not want food. It was lonely. He tried to stay calm. He saw other patients growing despondent, hopeless and passing away. He survived. “It was like being reborn,” he said. His hospital is now closed while health workers get trained on ebola. The virus is transmitted through close contact with an ebola patient's bodily fluids. People caring for the sick are thus at especially high risk. Many health workers in Liberia don’t have the necessary protective gear, the masks, the gowns, the eyewear. As a result, health centers and hospitals around Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, are shutting their doors. The risk that any patient coming in the doors could have ebola is simply too great. Nurse Timothy Walker said his clinic didn’t even have gloves. “Our friends are dying. On a very serious note, we don’t want to die like a dog," said Walker. the government cannot provide protective gear, sorry, he and his colleagues are not coming to work, he said. Residents standing outside the shuttered clinic say they are in an impossible situation. “Because if we sick, we cannot go to native doctor," said Reanking Logan. "We’re not familiar with native doctor. We’ve got to go to the clinic, and all clinics are closed down. Pregnant women they need to go to clinic and they need medical facility. They don’t have it. So where we are today, we don’t know.” Health workers who continue to work say they are afraid and that people outside the clinic are afraid of them. Physician’s assistant McFarland Kerkulah said, “Whenever you are in uniform, people will shy away from you on grounds that you have been infected with the ebola virus. They don’t want to see you. They don’t want to ride in any car you are getting in.” The dozens of health workers killed during this ebola outbreak include some who have had access to protective gear. Public health experts say errors are happening. This is the first time most West African doctors and nurses have dealt with ebola, and people are undertrained and overworked. Wednesday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared a state of emergency. She said not only does the country have more than 500 confirmed and suspected cases of ebola, but people are now also at risk of dying from treatable illnesses common during the rainy season, like malaria and typhoid, for lack of medical care. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has activated its emergency operation center at the highest level, in response to the world's worst ebola outbreak. Centers' chief Thomas Frieden told a congressional hearing on ebola Thursday that the centers will soon have 50 disease experts in West Africa at the center of the crisis. He said he is confident no major outbreak in the U.S. will happen. Nixon left the presidency 40 years ago amid scandal By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Forty years ago on Aug. 8, 1974, Richard Nixon became the only American president to resign from office. His departure came because of his involvement in the Watergate scandal and subsequent cover-up, which began when Republican campaign operatives broke into Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington in June of 1972. It is a scandal that left a huge impact on national politics, and some of the reforms enacted in its wake continue to reverberate today. But none of that was apparent on the night of Aug. 8, when a high-stakes political drama was playing out in the White House that would end in Nixon waving goodbye the next day before stepping into a helicopter on the White House lawn. It was on that night that Nixon went before television cameras in the Oval Office and announced he would resign the following day. “I have never been a quitter,” he said. “To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interests of America first.” In an emotional speech to White House staff the next morning, Nixon seemed to touch on one of the reasons for his political downfall, though whether he knew it at the time remains open to interpretation. “Always remember, others may hate you,” he said. “But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.” Shortly thereafter the new president, Gerald Ford, sought to reassure a nation that had just witnessed the first presidential resignation in history. The words were simple but eloquent and a tribute to the enduring nature of American democracy. “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over,” he said. “Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.” Several Nixon aides went to jail for crimes and abuses of power committed during the Watergate scandal. White House tape recordings implicated Nixon in the cover-up when he ordered aides to tell the CIA to lie to the FBI in an effort to thwart the Watergate investigation. Ford would later pardon Nixon of any criminal culpability in a move that may have cost him the 1976 presidential election, won by Democrat Jimmy Carter. American University presidential historian Allan Lichtman said the Watergate scandal remains an important turning point in U.S. political history. “Watergate remains tremendously significant,” he explained. “It is still, to date, the most comprehensive attempt by a president and his administration to undermine the democratic process.” The Watergate scandal unfolded over a two-year period, much of it first uncovered and documented by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Lichtman said journalists investigating Watergate and the president’s involvement in a political cover-up was crucial. “Had it not been for the journalism of Woodward and Bernstein and their inside source, Nixon may well have gotten away with it,” he said. “So the system worked but it did work precariously and you know the lesson is you have got to be ever-vigilant.” The Watergate scandal also led to congressional reform of the campaign finance system, though some of those reforms have been undone by recent Supreme Court decisions. Watergate also ushered in a new, more divisive political era that has become even more polarized in recent years. Norman Ornstein, a political analyst who took part in a recent panel discussion on the Watergate scandal at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington said, “We began to see the tensions increase, but they were nowhere near what we have now. What I see now is a level of tribalism, not simply polarization, that is something we haven’t seen in the country pretty much since the period right around the Civil War.” Americans have changed their minds about one aspect of the Watergate scandal. In 1974, 59 percent opposed President Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon. But by 2002, an ABC News survey found that 59 percent believed that Ford had done the right thing in granting the pardon as part of an effort to reunify the country in the wake of one of the worst political scandals in its history. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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México
opens oil sector to foreigners
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Mexican lawmakers have approved legislation that will end the government's seven decade monopoly on the country's oil and gas sector. The senate voted Wednesday on a bill aimed at attracting billions of dollars in new investments from foreign and private oil companies in an effort to boost Mexico's sluggish oil production, which has plunged over the last decade from 3.4 million barrels to 2.5 million barrels a day under state-owned Pemex. Pemex has been a source of national pride since the late president Lazaro Cardenas nationalized Mexico's oil industry in 1938. Lawmakers with the leftist Partido de la Revolución Democrática carried a life-sized portrait of Cardenas into the Senate chamber during Wednesday's debate and accused the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional of betraying the late president's legacy. The legislation was part of a series of constitutional reforms pushed by President Enrique Peña Nieto involving Mexico's energy, telecommunications and banking sectors, which he says will revitalize Latin America's second-ranked economy. Argentina trying to take U.S. to court By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Argentina sued the United States at the International Court of Justice Thursday, but for the suit to proceed the U.S. must grant jurisdiction to the court from which it withdrew in 1986. The lawsuit concerns a U.S. judge blocking the Latin American country from making a scheduled payment to bondholders last month. Argentina says the ruling violated its sovereign decision to restructure its debt. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa blocked Argentina when it attempted to pay only bondholders who had accepted restructured bonds for 33 cents on the dollar. The international court said it has asked the U.S. for jurisdiction in the matter. This legal battle stems from several American hedge funds suing Argentina for repayment in full on bonds the country defaulted on in 2001. Argentina says paying the hedge funds - which it calls vulture funds - the entire $1.3 billion it owes them could trigger legal claims for equal treatment by creditors who had agreed to a 70 percent write-down in deals reached in 2005 and 2010. Crooked Nigerian leaders' loot found By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United States has recovered more than $480 million hidden in bank accounts around the world by a former Nigerian dictator and his associates. A Justice Department news release Thursday said the money represents a portion of the billions of dollars stolen from the people of Nigeria by former Nigerian president Sani Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and other corrupt individuals. The department says the money can be used for the benefit of the Nigerian people, but that the ultimate disposition of the funds depends on rulings in several foreign jurisdictions. Approximately $303 million are in two bank accounts in the British dependency of Jersey, $144 million are in two bank accounts in France, and three other bank accounts in Britain and Ireland have at least $27 million. Claims to an additional $148 million in four investment portfolios in Britain are pending. Gen. Abacha became president of Nigeria through a military coup in November 1993. He held the position until his death in 1998. |
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| From Page 7: Expo begins today marking science month By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
August in Costa Rica is officially recognized as Science and Technology Month, meaning locals have a number of opportunities to attend science-related fairs and presentations. The events kick off as Expo Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación starts today and continues until Sunday at the Casa del Cuño. There are expected to be more than 20 information stands that pertain to health, water and the environment and food technologies. These are meant to show Costa Ricans how science works within the scope of everyday life. The Casa del Cuño is the glass structure just east of the Antigua Aduana on Calle 23 in east San Jose. There will also be forums and exhibitions on video games, digital television in Costa Rica, Ipv6 Internet, and cyber-security. Since health will be a major talking point at the expo, there will be a roundtable of experts who will discuss the dengue and Chikungunya diseases that pose a threat to the country. University researchers as well as the health ministry's surveillance director, Ethel Trejos, will take part in the open discussions in an effort to inform locals about the viruses transmitted through the Aedes aegypti mosquito. A calendar of additional activities happening during Science and Technology Month is on the Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones Web site |
