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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 12,
2014, Vol. 14, No. 158
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
y Seguridad Pública/Alonso Alvarez Officer with the tax department inspects
the
load
Tax police
intercept big load of cigarettes
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Someone tried to smuggle a bright orange container filled with out-of-date cigarettes into Costa Rica. The effort was not successful. The nation's tax police and several other agencies became involved when a routine inspection showed that import duties had not been paid on the 200,000 cartons of cigarettes. Police estimated the value at $600,000. The container appears to have done a lot of traveling. The cigarettes are of the Hobby brand and were made in Paraguay. The security ministry said that the container was in Honduras and then went to Houston, Texas, before ending up on the Muelle Alemán in Limón. Officials have placed the container under guard. They noted that the cartons show a February expiration date. Lawmaker seeks legal medical marijuana By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Medicinal marijuana in Costa Rica may not be far from becoming a reality. Through a proposal for a law, legislator Marvin Atencio Delgado said Monday he hopes the country would consider passing reform that could legalize the drug. The new proposal suggests that the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social start distributing marijuana to prescribed patients of certain ailments. Atencio, a representative of Partido Acción Ciudadana, said legalizing the drug could present benefits to sick Costa Ricans. “Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated cannabis' potential to treat diseases like AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis,” Atencio said. “For the health of thousands of potential patients, it's necessary to have a law that adequately regulates the medicinal production of the plant.” The proposal includes the potential creation of a medical marijuana regulatory board under the Caja, called the Instituto de Investigaciones, Regulación y Control de la Cannabis y el Cáñamo. This institute would be in charge of cultivating the marijuana, as well as making sure its tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient known as THC, levels are kept at a low and stable level. According to the proposal, the institute would file prescription licenses so patients can receive the medicinal marijuana at regulated dispensaries. The Caja would also be charged with distributing marijuana to those with prescriptions. “One of the emphases for this proposal is the creation of conditions that will investigate the qualities of cannabis used for medicine,” Atencio said. “Costa Rica will be one of the only countries in the world that has a standard and appropriate infrastructure. For a Costa Rican government that remains in debt, the financial positives that come from taxing medical marijuana are hard to ignore. The proposal calls for a 7 percent tax from any businesses or entities that participate in the medicinal trade. These profits would then go to public institutions like the Caja, the Universidad de Costa Rica, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes, and the Instituto sobre Alcoholismo y Farmacodependencia. At the beginning of this year, Colorado made marijuana legal for recreational purposes. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, the Centennial State raked in more than $6.5 million worth of taxes, licenses, and fees in the month of June alone. Since January, Colorado has received $29.8 million total in related taxes. Defense exercise involves Panama Canal By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The U. S. Southern Command is again sponsoring the Panama Canal defense exercise event known as Panamax. Seventeen countries, including Costa Rica, are taking part in the training that is taking place across the U.S., including military bases in Jacksonville, Florida, Tuscon, Arizona, and San Antonio, Texas. This annual event focuses on the multinational effort to keep the Panama Canal secure. Three Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas staffers and the public relations head of the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública are representing Costa Rica. Exercises consist of various simulations through air, sea, land, and the Internet that respond to hypothetical threats of violence, natural disasters, and other widespread emergencies involving Panamá and Central America. Costa Rican officials are focused on two key areas through their neighboring role with Panamá and through communication infrastructure that would allow intervention from outside nations in case of a disaster. The Panama Canal is considered one of the most important infrastructures in the world in terms of economics. Six percent of the world's trade passes through the canal each year, according to a report from the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública. This also happens to be the centennial year for the canal, which was first used on Aug. 15, 1914.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 158 | |
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 Consejo Nacional
de
Vialidad photo
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| A
contractor for the nation's highway agency is about 50 percent finished
with this retention wall on Ruta 118 in Poás de Alajuela.
This is a 130 million-colon project, some $238,500. The wall will |
be nearly 200 feet long and 37 feet deep. The work is expected to be done by the end of the month and protect any slippage from the road above. |
| Shopping for Mom is fraught with many pitfalls, ministry
finds |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Not even a mother could be proud of a family member who gets swindled on apparent deals. That's why, as Costa Rica's version of Mother's Day this Friday nears, the Ministerio de Economía Industria y Comercio released a consumer protection report warning of false advertising or overpriced promotions for the holiday. The report, which surveyed 132 stores in San José, Alajuela, and Heredia, found reporting errors in nearly a third of the establishments. Most errors came from not revealing the previous price of a sale item. Another irregularity found by the ministry was having deals only available through cash payments. Importadora Monge, the Costa Rican electronics and home supply firm, was found to have incorrectly calculated the annual interest rate by 16 percent on a refrigerator. The ministry gave the company a warning that it had 10 days to fix the error and also sent the complaint to the country's consumer commission. Of the 37 stores that were found to have not complied with consumer regulations, 12 are located in Mall San Pedro and seven |
on Avenida Segunda
in the center of San José. The report said a second field study
will take place to confirm that such stores have corrected these
problems. In addition, the study analyzed ads in local newspapers and found that 42 percent of those reviewed had misleading promotions for Mother's Day, including those that didn't put in an explicit expiration date for the limited deal or didn't elaborate on stated restrictions. In all, 57 warnings were handed out for both in-store and advertising consumer compliance failures. The study released Monday was carried out between July 29 and Aug. 4. Vice minister Geaninna Dinarte, who authored the report, said this information is crucial for shopper's who should do their homework before getting mom's gift. “In dealing with financial information, the consumer's effort to achieve clarity and understanding should be better,” Ms. Dinarte said. “And companies are called on to advise and provide their clients with clear and sufficient information, not only before credit transaction but also throughout the whole shopping process.” |
| Specialists study situation on Ruta 27 where rocks fell
Sunday |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
More rocks and debris fell from a roadside cliff onto Ruta 27, the Caldera highway, Sunday. That prompted a study Monday by a firm that has expertise in geological situations. The highway at Kilometer 46 at a spot known as Dantas was not closed but one lane was blocked by the rock and dirt. This is a continual problem with the highway as well as Ruta 32 |
north of San
José. Rains loosen the rocks which then threaten motorists. The Consejo Nacional de Concesiones estimated the debris at eight cubic meters. That is about 10.5 cubic yards. The Consejo said that the roadway is monitored continually. The highway experienced extensive trouble with falling rocks when it first opened. There even was the death of a woman who was hit by rocks while a passenger on a motorcycle. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 158 | |||||
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| Norms exist to keep wooden packaging materials from
carrying pests |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There are plenty of important jobs that are usually hidden from the eyes of the public. One such job is keeping exports free of pests and diseases that might thrive in a foreign country. That is the job of the Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado. Most individuals would not think to look at the wooden packaging of products for dangerous insects or diseases. But the wood used to protect exported goods can carry all kinds of pests that would not be welcome on a foreign shore. There are international norms that specify how to handle such material. Costa Rica ships a lot of ornamental plants and cable on wooden spools. Well out of the sight of the public, exporters use thermal treatment to eliminate any pests that might be in the wood. There are 77 ovens designed for this purpose that handle the production of 83 companies, said the Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado. The packaging materials undergo temperatures of at least 56 degrees C (139 F) for at least 30 minutes, the service noted in a summary of its work. Only then does the pallet or other wooden packaging device get a certification mark. Other countries use chemicals for the same purposes. |
 Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado photo
Soon these pallets will be in
the oven. |
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| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 158 | |||||||
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| Peace Corps volunteers post their memories of their work By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Since 1961, hundreds of thousands of young Americans have been sent around the world as Peace Corps volunteers: teachers, community organizers and friends. The program was the brainchild of president John F. Kennedy, but the youthful enthusiasm of the volunteers really was what brought this idea to life. Those volunteers come back from the experience with a wealth of memories and photos. More than two dozen of those images are now on display at Round Hill Arts Center, a non-profit art organization in Virginia. "Bringing The World Home" showcases photographs submitted by Peace Corps volunteers who served in Africa and Latin America from 1971 to 1991. Jill Evans-Kavaldjian, spokeswoman for the Art Center, said some of the volunteers attended the show's opening and shared their stories with the public, especially youngsters, who had a lot of questions for the Peace Corps veterans. “For example, how they got their water? How they lived from day-to-day? And the pictures are part of the answer," she said. The poster the Round Hill Arts Center printed to publicize the show features a photograph of two little girls in a window. It was taken in 1991 by Lisa Zimmer-Chu, who organized an environmental education program in Panama, and has remained in public service after her Peace Corps experience. “The children were the first ones who kind of came over first with a great deal of curiosity about us,” she said. “They were really the ones who introduced us to the community in a greater way. These girls were at our house every day. They became family to us.” The girls, Laurena and Leisi, were 5 and 3 years old at the time. Another photo shows Ms. Zimmer-Chu holding hands with one of the girls at the ruins of an American church. “My husband had taken the picture from inside of the church,” she recalled. “That church had not been built by the hands of the people in the community. And the basic tenant of development work is a phrase that goes; ‘if you give a person a fish, they eat for a day. If you teach them to fish, they eat for lifetime.' This church hadn’t been built by the people, not given to them. It was allowed to go to ruin.” Meredith Cornett, who also served in Panama in 1991, submitted one picture for the exhibit. “It’s a very animated shot of the four children who were most essential to my life,” she explained. "I saw them every day, several times a day. They were immigrants to Panama from Colombia. Their family was the most welcoming to me, especially early on. They brought me fish. They sent me meals. "They really embraced me in a way that I think the rest of the community had trouble doing," Ms. Cornett continued. "And I think it was really because of their sort of outsider and marginalized status. They sort of realized I was in the same position so they went out of their way to be kind to me.” Ms. Cornett, who recently published her memoir, "Heart of Palms: My Peace Corps Years in Tranquilla," worked in environmental education in the Panamanian town of Tranquilla, which was in the middle of a national park. “We had 3,000 Panamanians living within the borders of a national park. So we were trying to figure out how to continue their farming lifestyle in what had just recently become a protected area,” she said. Ms. Cornett, who is now a scientist with the Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, said her experience in Panamá had an enormous impact on her. “To some, people who are living in that park are viewed as a threat to the natural resources, the forest. I felt - and still feel having gone back and seen all of the amazing restoration work they have been doing - that much more than being a threat, people can also be part of an important restoration or healing process for the natural areas,” she said. George Bergeman and his wife, Clarissa, taught college and high school students and elementary children in Buchanan, Liberia, in 1972. They submitted six photos of daily life in the country: images of women doing their daily chores, selling fish in the market, baking bread, picking out tiny rocks from rice. “That is one of the things that you do before you cook rice," George Bergeman explained about one photo. "She was quite elegant and had moved to Buchanan from Monrovia 30 years, 40 years before we arrived. It was fun visit with her. She talked about her life. She came down in a boat. She brought down a piano with her. The piano fell unfortunately in the ocean. So she regretted it ever since.” Bergeman’s other images reflect community and traditions and rituals, like a dancing devil. “There were two kinds of devil in Liberia. Those that were more commercial that would dance in occasions, and others which were sort of religious. Those wouldn’t be allowed to look upon them. But this was dancing in the occasion of the chief’s birthday," he said. "If you see the picture, you would see someone who is dancing in parallel to this dancing devil and then two musicians are behind him playing large box instrument. It’s pretty fantastic music.” Bergeman says he and his wife believe they gained a lot from their Peace Corps experience in Liberia. “The longer we were there in Liberia the more we understood things that were in common from people to people and things that were different,” he said. “Today especially, I think Peace Corps volunteers can have an impact and make a difference in terms of the work they do but also just the people to people aspect.” Haitian prison breakout leads to massive manhunt By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Haitian law enforcement officials continued their search Monday for 328 inmates on the run following an attack at a high security prison on the outskirts of Haiti's capital that led to a mass jailbreak from the facility. Authorities said the attack was apparently intended to free Clifford Brandt, a member of a prominent and wealthy family jailed since 2012 on kidnapping charges. Brandt escaped with the other prisoners, only 10 of whom have been recaptured. Witnesses said about 15 gunmen in two SUVs showed up at the prison in Croix-des-Bouquets before noon on Sunday and opened fire on guards, wounding two. All the escapees are reportedly either convicted or accused of drug trafficking or kidnapping for ransom. Authorities in Haiti have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Brandt's recapture. Haiti also has asked the neighboring Dominican Republic and nearby Jamaica for help in its international manhunt, and has notified Interpol. The prison, near Port-au-Prince, held 899 inmates at the time of the attack, about 130 over capacity. Alcatraz celebrates a birthday of being a national symbol By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Alcatraz was open for less than 30 years, but the former prison left an indelible mark on American culture. Monday marked the 80th anniversary that Alcatraz Island, site of a former fortress and military prison, became a federal penitentiary for America’s most dangerous prisoners. Alcatraz, which was also called The Rock, was infamous because no prisoner ever successfully escaped. Over its history, 36 prisoners made 14 attempts to break free. However, in 1962, three men were able to get out of the prison and into San Francisco Bay, but it is believed they drowned attempting to make the 2 kilometer journey in the chilly choppy waters. Their plan was elaborate and executed over a long period of time. The three meticulously tunneled through their prison cell walls. They made rubber rafts from raincoats and left behind fake heads made of cardboard, toilet paper and human hair collected from the prison’s barber shop to trick the guards into thinking they were still in their cots. The prison was also made famous by Hollywood. The 1962 escape attempt was the subject of a popular 1979 movie, “Escape from Alcatraz,” starring Clint Eastwood. The prison has been depicted in several other movies, television shows and video games. 1,576 inmates called Alcatraz home during the time it was open. Some of the more famous convicts included Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Stroud was depicted in the movie “The Birdman of Alcatraz,” starring Burt Lancaster. Life in Alcatraz was hard. Inmates were housed individually, spending the majority of their time in their cells. According to the National Park Service Web site, Alcatraz prisoners “had to earn their way out of the cells through good behavior.” In 1963, having fallen into a state of disrepair, Alcatraz’s remaining prisoners were transferred to other jails and Alcatraz was shuttered. Today, Alcatraz Island is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is visited by over one million people annually. Virginia corruption trial involves ex-governor, wife By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A public corruption trial in the U.S. state of Virginia has made headlines across the nation, with stories of expensive gifts, a faltering marriage and infatuation. The former governor, Bob McDonnell, and his wife, Maureen, are charged with accepting more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from a wealthy businessman in exchange for promoting his company's products. Once entrusted by voters with fighting for the people of Virginia, McDonnell is now fighting in a court of law. "I can't comment on any of the testimony in the trial, as you know," he said. It’s the first time a Virginia governor has faced trial on public corruption charges. The McDonnells are charged with accepting numerous lavish gifts and loans from businessman Jonnie Williams, including $15,000 for their daughter’s wedding. Defense lawyers said Maureen McDonnell developed a crush on Williams and reject the prosecution's claim the McDonnells used the governor's office to promote the businessman's dietary supplement company. Trials of U.S. politicians are not new. "Certainly the behaviors before this court today will never be repeated," said former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who is serving jail time after being convicted of sexual harassment last year. Florida Congressman Trey Radel resigned from office after pleading guilty to cocaine possession. “I have let down our country, I have let down our constituents. I’ve let down my family,” Radel said. Political corruption trials, like that of the McDonnells, often stem from investigative reports published in the U.S. media, according to Newport University's Quentin Kidd. "We have a media that will go after these stories and expose them, and then prosecutors will come in behind them and say 'Oh yeah, we see there’s a potential crime here,' and they’ll investigate it and charge public officials sometimes, other times they don't,” Kidd said. A free and open news media often keeps corruption in check. “I think as long as human nature is what it is, there will probably always be corruption, which is why we need a free media and which is why we need a judiciary that’s independent of the political process,” Kidd said. "We're looking forward to continue to having the truth come out," McDonnell said. If convicted, he and his wife face decades in prison. Death of black teenager inflames Missouri town By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A police shooting that resulted in the death of an unarmed black teenager has sparked protests and rioting in the U.S. state of Missouri. At least 32 people were arrested after Sunday night's unrest near the town of Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. Officials say they will face charges for various offenses including assault, burglary and theft. The violence broke out after demonstrators gathered for a vigil near the site of the shooting. Television footage shows a crowd of protesters confronting a line of riot police. Later, as the initial demonstration dissipated, rioters were seen looting stores and setting fire to a gas station. Ferguson Mayor James Knowles called for calm and promised a thorough and impartial investigation by local officials. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it will launch a separate investigation into the incident as well. Michael Brown, 18, was killed Saturday during an encounter with a police officer. The details remain unclear. Local media says the case has highlighted tensions between the mainly black suburb of Ferguson and the majority white police force. Nigeria nurses is victim of spreading ebola virus By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Nigerian officials Monday said one new ebola case was diagnosed over the weekend, raising the country's total to 10 confirmed cases, while Ivory Coast banned air travel from West African nations heavily hit by the virus. Since Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American financial consultant, flew into Lagos from Liberia about three weeks ago, the number of new ebola cases has slowly grown and the number of people who may have been exposed is growing, officials said. Officials are now monitoring 177 people for symptoms of the disease. Over the weekend, a 10th person who had an apparent connection with Sawyer was diagnosed with ebola, said Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigerian minister of health. “It was one of the nurses that were primary contacts when he got ill. We then brought her into isolation and we just tested her over the weekend and she tested positive," Chukwu said. Of the 10 cases of ebola in Nigeria, there have been two deaths: Sawyer and a nurse who treated him when he first arrived in Lagos. The other eight cases are people who also had direct contact with Sawyer, Chukwu said. Ebola has killed 961 people since the outbreak began early this year, with all but two deaths occurring in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Ebola is one of the world's most deadly diseases, with no known vaccine or cure. The Zaire strain - the one currently spreading through West Africa - can kill up to 90 percent of sufferers, although in the latest outbreak the death toll has been around 55 percent. Reports that experimental drugs have had success in treating American and European health workers and missionaries who contracted the disease in West Africa have prompted many Nigerians to demand access to the drugs in case it spreads further. “Nigeria is actually, as of now, reaching out to various laboratories, various governments, including the U.S.A. government to see how these untried ... drugs that seem to hold some hope could also be deployed in Nigeria. We’re in touch," Chukwu said. The World Health Organization said it expects a vaccine to be developed by 2015, but currently there is no known cure. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan Friday pledged $11.7 million dollars to try to stop the spread in Nigeria and $3.5 million to help other countries fight the disease. Chukwu said, so far in Nigeria, the disease has not spread out of Lagos, a megacity of 21 million people that is often called the heartbeat of the Nigerian economy. As Nigeria joins the group of West African nations battling an ebola outbreak, other countries are taking stronger measures to prevent the virus from entering its borders. In Ivory Coast, the government has banned, until further notice, all passenger flights into the country from Liberia, Guinea or Seirra Leone, the three countries hardest hit by the virus. Ivory Coast has not reported any cases of ebola and government spokesman Bruno Kone said they want to keep it that way. The government said in addition to the ban on flights, authorities at the Abidjan airport will be screening all arriving passengers for fever, using infrared thermometers. Fever can be one of the early symptoms of ebola. It can take up to 21 days for symptoms to appear, and once they do, a person is contagious. Other people can catch the disease by coming into contact with the sick person's bodily fluids. While Ivory Coast shares land borders with two of the four affected countries, Liberia and Guinea, Health Minister Raymonde Goudou Coffie said it doesn’t make sense to shut those borders. Dr. Coffie said the borders are very porous, and even if they close the official borders, people know other ways across. Instead, she said, health officials have worked on educating villages and local leaders to have them refer new arrivals to health authorities. Liberia closed its land border with Ivory Coast last week in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. Ivory Coast’s defense minister said in recent days, border authorities have already repatriated nearly 100 people who have tried to cross illegally from Guinea or Liberia. The Ivory Coast government said it continues to train health workers and will be holding a simulation drill later this week for first responders. In Malawi, health authorities said the government was taking measures to prevent the spread of the ebola virus into the country, including airport screenings of international passengers. Critics said they weren’t doing enough. Charles Mwansambo, director of health services in the ministry of health, told journalists in Lilongwe that the government was screening international passengers at the airports, and had set up quarantine centers at Kamuzu International Airport in the capital, Lilongwe, and Chileka Airport, in the commercial capital of Blantyre. However, critics said that medical workers needed urgent training on how to handle an infected person, lacked specialized equipment for containing the virus and could improve public education efforts. Ministry of health officials said the airport screenings are currently done to those passengers from West African countries hit hardest by the Ebola virus, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Mwansambo said, “I want to assure the members of the general public not to panic because Ebola is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids like blood, saliva and urine. And chances of Malawians going to West Africa and getting in touch with these bodily fluids are very minimal.” Juliana Lunguzi, chairwoman of Malawi’s Parliamentary Committee on Health, criticized his comments, saying there is no logic in telling people not to panic when the situation on the ground shows the government is doing nothing to prevent the outbreak. Lunguzi, who is also a nurse, said her committee will soon summon government authorities to explain their readiness in terms of medical equipment for combating the possible spread of Ebola into the country. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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Illegals at border
have sad tales to tell
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The tens of thousands of Central Americans who have crossed over the border in south Texas seeking asylum over the past year left their homelands to escape poverty and violence. But they also have been drawn to the United States by the idea that they would be allowed to stay. Even though many of them, in fact, face deportation after their expensive, difficult and dangerous journey, they say they had no choice but to try. A man, who calls himself Eddy, fled his hometown in Guatemala with his 3-year-old daughter in fear for their lives. “There is a lot of crime, drug trafficking and kidnapping of children. The drug traffickers have a lot of power,” he said. The same fear drove Alma Ciro and her two children from their home in crime-plagued Honduras. “It is an ugly situation. There is crime, a lot of unemployment because there are few employers, and there are men who chase the girls leaving school. This happened to my daughter,” she said. Her daughter made it home, Ms. Ciro said, but some girls have been abducted, abused and murdered. Alma Ciro said it took her more than a month to travel through Mexico to the U.S. border, often hungry and subjected to harassment from those who prey on immigrants. “They take money from people. It is always about money. They take the little money people have with them,” she said. Coming up from Guatemala through Mexico, Eddy said so many people demanded money that he arrived at the border with practically nothing. “In Mexico, they are always swindling you, but the worst part was crossing the river because I was afraid my little girl would drown,” said Eddy. Such stories are all too familiar to Hipolito Acosta, a former U.S. immigration special agent. “Your heart goes out to them, because you can only imagine what they have gone through,” he said. Acosta went through some hardships himself, going undercover as an immigrant to gather evidence against smugglers. “I have ridden in the back of a U-Haul with a group of Mexican illegal aliens that entered the country being smuggled by smugglers across the Rio Grande River and actually I almost drowned,” he recalled. Acosta said the recent influx of Central American immigrants is part of a much longer story. “Poverty and violence have been a condition in Central American countries for decades; it is nothing new,” said Acosta. He believes more are coming now because of the current U.S. policy of processing asylum seekers and then releasing them while they await their court date. But Alma Ciro said she took the risky journey to protect her two children, adding she would voluntarily return to Honduras if things change. “We need two things, we need more work and less crime,” said Ms. Ciro. Solving those problems will take a long time however, so the influx at the border is likely to continue. |
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| From Page 7: Argentina asks help from Obama on debt By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Argentina on Monday asked the Obama administration to stop a federal judge from ordering the country to cease false and misleading statements about its recent debt default. Judge Thomas Griesa in New York Friday said he would hold the South American country in contempt of court if it continued to say it did not default on its debt July 30. Argentina’s cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich argued Monday that the judge would violate Argentina’s sovereign immunity if he held the South American country in contempt. Judge Griesa prevented last month's payment to bondholders after Argentina threatened to pay only those who had accepted its restructured debt. Argentina last week filed a lawsuit against the United States in The Hague at the International Court of Justice. The lawsuit contends the U.S. violated Argentina's sovereignty by allowing a federal judge to interfere with its payment to bondholders. |
