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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Pedro Julio Rodríguez is taken into custody at an
Escazú intersection Tuesday. A witness said there were from 15
to 20 agents who made the arrest. They are in masks.y Seguridad Pública photo Miami man wanted on fraud caught by agents in Escazú By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police agents arrested a man in Escazú Tuesday wanted by U.S. authorities to face an allegation of running a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud, according to the International Police Agency. The man, a Cuban-American, who previously lived in Miami was wanted along with 13 other people for organizing a mortgage scheme from 2005 to 2007, according to the police agency. The man arrested, Pedro Julio Rodríguez Sossa, 33, is wanted by a Miami-Dade County court on a number of charges including organized fraud and theft. According to the police agency the fraud group recruited “buyers” to apply for loans based on false information. The purpose of the scam was to obtain loans for higher amounts than the actual value of the property. The group organizers would then share the excess money. According to the international police Rodríguez is also wanted for creating a false real estate company. The mortgage fraud exceeds $11.5 million, according to the police agency. Police here monitored the whereabouts of Rodríguez for about three months, according to the agency release. Rodríguez moved between various houses one of which was in Real Santamaría in Barreal de Heredia, said the agency. Investigators also believe Rodríguez was involved in several companies in Costa Rica one of which sold luxury cars in Escazú. Rodríguez drove various luxury cars, according to the police agency. Rodríguez is officially married to a Cuban-American woman but in December 2006 both Rodríguez and his wife married Costa Ricans, according to the agency. The Rodríguez couple married a brother and a sister with the last names Hidalgo Núñez, according to the police release. The immigration agency has a request for nationality from Rodríguez, but the request was currently inactive, according to the police agency. The request had the correct phone number and address listed for Rodríguez, according to the release. Teacher coming from States By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
U.S. agents will deport today a former school teacher sought by Costa Rican authorities for the sexual abuse of two children, a boy and a girl, according to police. The suspect, Edgar Ramírez Rodríguez, 43, was a teacher in Tilarán when the incidents occurred, according to the International Police Agency. Police expect Ramírez to arrive at noon today at the Juan Santamaría airport. Agents arrested Ramírez July 17 in Inglewood, California, on his way to work as a maintenance employee at Glendale Memorial Hospital. Officials said Ramírez, if convicted, could face up to eight years in prison. Costa Rican agents put out an international arrest warrant for Ramírez in 2003. Our reader's opinion
He's for road gangs here Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I would like to comment of Dave Lena's excellent suggestion to use non-violent prisoners for labor countrywide to clean up garbage/road maintenance, etc. I live in Florida, and visit Costa Rica frequently. In Florida, it has been traditional to utilize inmates, something I think is greatly appreciated by the inmates, as well as by our citizens. The ability to be outdoors, instead of a jail cell must certainly have a beneficial effect on the rehabilitation of the prisoner. A bigger issue needs to be addressed also, which is the lack of ability for the Costa Rican judicial system to hold responsible those who commit crimes in the first place, most blatantly with circumstances in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. I have been to Puerto Viejo numerous times, and have found it to be a wonderful experience. Great people, beaches, food and music. This area is truly a Costa Rican jewel. The many wonderful people there are being held hostage to the actions of a few, already identified individuals. One, a previously convicted serial rapist accused of seven rapes, is not in custody. I do not understand how the Costa Rican government can remain inactive in these circumstances, which are being described nationally and internationally. Is this how the government wants the view of the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to be presented? Chet Ohrt
Vero Beach Florida
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High
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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Business group says it fears
electrical crisis and blackouts
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A group representing private business is expressing concern about the level of water at a main electrical generating dam and said it fears more blackouts are likely. The group is the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado, and it said in a release that the level of the water at the Cachi reservoir is much lower than it should be at this time of year. In April and May 2007 the country faced unexpected and then planned blackouts because the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, known as ICE, could not keep up with the demand. Very low water levels at key generating reservoirs was given as the reason. The chamber said that the current level of the water behind the Cachi dam was 972 meters (3,189 feet) above sea level, only 12 meters (about 40 feet) above the minimum level of the reservoir, said the chamber. The recommended level is 990 meters (3,248), the chamber said. |
"It is troubling that at the time
it is raining intensely, the level at
the dam is at minimum while possible increases have been announced to
consumers on their bills so that ICE can buy fuel to produce energy,"
said Manuel H. Rodríguez, president of the chamber. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad uses petroleum-fired generators as backups. Rodríguez has noted that the cost of generating a kilowatt of power with water is about 7 U.S. cents while the cost at a combustion plant is about 49 cents. Although not coming out and saying it, the chamber is suggesting that the government monopoly is engineering a crisis. Officials already have said that they lack enough high-priced petroleum to fully fill the power needs. The chamber also wants the government to incorporate into the national power grid any system, private or public, that is capable of generating electricity. There are a few private generating stations, but their outputs are restricted by law because of the government power monopoly. |
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Judicial police arrest nine
in Puntarenas drug investigation
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By Elise Sonray
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Agents busted a drug trafficking ring and arrested nine suspects from Heredia, Liberia and Puntarenas Wednesday, said the director of the Judicial Investigation Organization. Agents had been investigating the case for three months and seized 110 kilograms (243 pounds) of cocaine in a luxury condominium in Heredia, said the judicial director Jorge Rojas. Drug dealers transported cocaine from the southern border to Liberia and distributed the drugs to venders at strategic points along the way, said Rojas. Agents arrested a 10th suspect at the beginning of the month when they seized a shipment of cocaine that was carved out into tiny pieces and meant to reassemble beans, said the director. Dealers in the operation dropped off the drugs to vendors in strategic points including Esparza, |
Cuidad Neily and
Libería, said Rojas. Dealers sold the cocaine in quantities of
at least
100 grams, said Rojas. The agents raided 13 buildings including a liquor store in Liberia, a bar in Esparza, a home in downtown Heredía, and houses in Río Claro, and other parts of Puntarenas, according to Rojas. They also seized nine vehicles including two microbuses, 4x4s, luxury cars, firearms, and at least $5,000 in cash said Rojas. The two main leaders of the operation are believed to have lived in Heredia and the southern part of the country, said Rojas. The leader in Heredia was known as “Charlie.” Agents arrested a suspect by the name of Carlos Solano Ruiz who they believe is Charlie. Solano lived in a luxury condominium in Heredia, and that is where agents said they seized 110 kilos of cocaine, said Rojas. The other leader was called “Rey Mundo,” said the director. Judicial agents arrested a César Castro Vindas who they believe is “Mundo.” |
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San Marcos de Tarrazú
plans a culture fair this weekend
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A culture fair will take place in San Marcos de Tarrazú this weekend. The first event of the fair will begin Friday morning when about 80 school children participate in two workshops for the construction of faroles, the traditional lanterns that will be used in the independence day celebration Sept. 14 and 15. A folk night is Friday with groups from Perú and ballet Asociación Mexicana de Cultura joining local performers from the Grupo Folclórico Atarazú. This will take place in the Liceo de Tarrazú with an admission of about $2 Saturday morning the Comité de Deportes has planned a |
family walk
dedicated to older adults. The whole community is encouraged to
participate and t-shirts will be given to the older adults who take
part in the walk. In the afternoon, different competitions will
take
place in the municipal gym. At 7 p.m. in the same location, various musical groups from the area will perform as well as a musical guest. The night will conclude with a choreographed native swing group. The fair ends Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Tarrazú park with a concert by San Jose's Banda Nacional. San Marcos, the administrative center of the Cantón de Tarrazú is in the southern part of the Provincia de San José. It is known for its fine coffee. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
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Talamanca students will get a
musical CD today in Bribri
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Universidad Estatal a Distancia has created a CD with Bribri song recordings to teach the language. Students in about 60 elementary and high schools in Talamanca and Alto Telire will receive the disc, "le´s ye senak," today, It has 20 songs in Bribri sponsored by the university. Almost all the students are native Costa Ricans. Le´s ye senak in English means “This is how I want to live.” The songs were recorded by language and culture teachers in Shiroles, a Talamanca community. Six Bribri are performers, and they sing the translated Costa Rican national anthem and "The Lord's Prayer." Maydi Cordero, producer of the Bribri CD, said that the more interesting fact is that all the lyrics and the music were created 100 percent by native Costa Ricans. |
According to a press release, the
idea is to give equipment and tools to
make it easier for the youngsters to study and learn their mother
language. The administrator of the university in Talamanca, Marbelly Vargas, said the rescue of native language is very important because the new generation does not know it. The plan began in 2007 with workers at the Programa de Cultura Indígena of the Ministerio de Educación Pública. Julio Morales, a student of the university and a culture's teacher, said the government should worry more about the culture. "We are Costa Rican citizens and all the time they forget us and never do anything to help us." He said he was grateful to the university for their effort. In a short time, the university wants to create a new CD in the Cabécar language to help save the culture, said Vargas. |
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Hemisphere press group
concerned by firing of television newsman in Nicaragua
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The Miami, Fla.,-based Inter American Press Association has expressed concern at a Nicaraguan television journalist's claim that he is being persecuted by President Daniel Ortega for criticizing the government. The television journalist, Jaime Arellano, told the local news media that last week's cancellation of his opinion program “El 2 en la Nación,” aired on Televicentro Canal 2, was due to pressures put on the channel's owners whose broadcast license renewal is currently under review. He said he has also received death threats and plans to take the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The chairman of the Inter American Press Association's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Gonzalo Marroquín, said that while his organization respects the right of media to change their programming |
according to their editorial
criteria “we cannot fail to express our
concern because it is also true that the Nicaraguan government has
consistently adopted coercive measures that work against the free
practice of journalism.” Marroquín, editor of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, newspaper Prensa Libre, added that the association has drawn attention to a countless number of acts against freedom of the press in Nicaragua, “not for the purpose of defending media companies but so that every Nicaraguan’s human right to information is guaranteed.” Arellano’s complaint opened the debate once again over the process of granting broadcast licenses. A number of opposition legislators jointly drew attention to a delay by the National Assembly in passing a law that would extend broadcast licenses to 10 years, declaring that such a step would prevent the government from using renewal of these licenses as a weapon of intimidation. |
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takes place in Mississippi By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. immigration agents have arrested nearly 600 people at a plant in the southern state of Mississippi in the single largest workplace enforcement raid in the nation's history. Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say agents arrested illegal immigrants, including suspects from Perú, México, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panamá, Honduras, Brazil and Germany. The raid took place Monday at a Howard Industries plant, a facility that manufactures electronic transformers in Laurel. Some 475 were transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, in neighboring Louisiana. At least 100 others, including caregivers and juveniles, were released for what authorities described as humanitarian reasons. Immigration officials say the raid is part of an ongoing nationwide effort to shut down places of employment that hire illegal immigrants. An estimated 12 million people are living in the United States illegally. Immigration has been a divisive issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are actively courting Latino voters, who are expected to play a pivotal role in the November election. Several battleground states have significant Latino populations, including Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Tropical Storm Gustav heads for western Cuba and Jamaica By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Tropical Storm Gustav is moving toward the Caribbean island nations of Cuba and Jamaica, after killing at least 22 people across Haiti and the Dominican Republic. U.S. forecasters say the storm has winds of 95 kph (59 mph) and could regain hurricane strength by the time it passes between Jamaica and Cuba later today. At last report, Gustav was located south-southeast of Guantanamo, Cuba. Forecasters say the storm may produce more than 20 inches of rain in some areas. The storm drenched Haiti and the Dominican Republic after making landfall as a hurricane Tuesday. Gustav dumped torrential rains on the region, causing flooding and deadly landslides. In the Dominican Republic, mudslides killed eight members of one family. | |
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