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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday,
Sept. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 175
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 Victor
Blanco Vega and Andrea Angulo Fernández with their children.
Caribbean coast
family sought
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Caribbean coast family has vanished under suspicious circumstances. The Judicial Investigating Organization said Wednesday that Andrea Angulo Fernández and her husband, Victor Blanco Vega, were missing along with their 2 year old and another child age 2 months. Members of the family were seen last Monday evening at the home in Boston de Matina. Ms. Angulo is on maternity leave from her job as a Fuerza Pública officer. Investigators said that any information cold be telephoned to 800-8000645 or sent by email to cicooij@poder-judicial.go.cr. Tourism operators get their meeting By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The government said that a meeting Tuesday with tourism operators was not suspended but was just postponed until next Tuesday. That was the report from Wilhelm von Breymann, the minister of Turismo, who said that the lack of a meeting Tuesday was because Helio Fallas, the minister of Hacienda, had an unforeseen situation to which he had to attend. Fallas also is the country's first vice president. Government officials clearly were upset with a statement released Tuesday by the Cámera Nacional de Turismo that warned of a possible court case. Von Breymann said that he personally called Pablo Abarca, chamber president, to tell of the new meeting. Officials also were unhappy that the tourism chamber was airing its gripes on the radio. There still is no promise that the complaints of tourism operators will be addressed. They were blindsided by a decree that imposed a 13 percent sales tax on a lot of their activities. The Ministerio de Hacienda wants back payment since 2006. And there also is concern over what the industry sees as a brushoff by the new administration when the tourism sector became a subsector. Even the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo is unhappy with this change done by the Ministerio de Planificación. Von Breymann is expected to seek an amendment to the directive that contained this change. The Cámara Costarricense de Hoteles said it also is supporting the appeal.  Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
Crime discussion drew a
full house at San CarlosBy the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Municipalidad de San Carlos officially asked the executive branch to declare an emergency in the canton because of crimes, mostly robberies. The security ministry responded with a meeting Wednesday with municipal leaders and residents. Prosecutors and judicial investigators also attended the meeting. The result is that there will be more police patrols, more checks on motorists and more police actions. Aircraft of the Servicio de Vigilancia Aérea also will parole, officials said. Gustavo Mata, vice minister of Seguridad, said that the biggest problems are robberies, home invasions, invasions of businesses and street stickups. Juan José Andrade, director general of the Fuerza Pública, said that the police would execute a plan based on coordination and integration. Law enforcement officials will return to the canton next Monday to continue the coordination. The canton also includes La Fortuna, a major tourism location.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 175 | |
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| Home invasions reach the level of just another ordinary crime | |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Home invasions are common, and many are not reported by news media now unless there is a death. Two such cases happened Tuesday night. In Barrio Milano, La Germania en Siquirres, five persons returning to a home faced armed invaders, and one of the home occupants, a 72-year-old man, identified by the last name of Brenes, suffered a fatal bullet wound. Two other persons suffered injuries. The crooks took a million colons in cash. In the center of BriBri on the southern Caribbean coast an employee found the body of a 64-year-old man in his own home. The man, who had the last name of Fernández, owned rental cabins in the community, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. He was bound hands and feet. He suffered a blow to the head, agents said. Cases of home invasions usually are submerged in a general statistical category of robbery, so accurate numbers are hard to get. Even then, robbery is not always the motive. In a recent case near Quepos armed men dressed as police officers held an entire |
subdivision
hostage. The real motive appears to have been revenge for a failed
relationship. The case was curious because even though police captured suspects on the highway, no agency issued a report on the incident. Homes of drug dealers are prime targets, which is why such persons keep weapons at hand. But even humble homes are invaded to steal a few small kitchen appliances. There also is significant involvement of minors. In a 2007 Rohrmoser case involving the home of Ricardo Toledo, a former presidential candidate, the killing of a neighbor was done by a minor. The five persons in Siquirres who were bushwhacked Tuesday night were victims of a frequent method of operation. The crooks let the soon-to-be victims unlock the door. This happens, too, when a motorist arrives home and has a period of vulnerability as the gates to the parking area are opened. Although there are some cases where crooks just take advantage of an open gate or door, the typical home invasion is closely planned. Savvy expats have prevented such crimes because they spotted persons who were conducting surveillance on their homes. |
| Latest credit card survey shows
public lacks financial knowledge |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
About 41 percent of credit card holders have no idea of the interest rate they pay, according to a new economics ministry study. Nevertheless, the study showed that the number of credit cards in circulation increased 5 percent since April and that the amount owed also went up 3.1 percent to 836 billion colons or about $1.54 billion. The consumer section of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio does a credit card survey every three months. Ministry officials said that as a result of this survey they would create a program to help credit card users develop a consumer strategy. Credit card rates here would be illegal in many other countries, but there does not seem to be any effort to rein them in. The anticipated depreciation of the colon also has to be considered. The highest annual interest rate on a credit card is 70.4 percent. Some 68 percent of colon credit cards have interest rates between 40 and 50.4 percent |
 Ministerio
de Economía, Industria y Comercio graphic
Some 68 percent of colon credit
cards have interest rates between 40 and 50.4 percentThe study said that 70.4 percent of the credit cards denominated in dollars have rates between 30 and 36 percent. Nearly 60 percent of the respondents in this survey said they never had had studies in financial education. Only two state banks and only two private banks have such programs, the ministry said. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 175 | |||||
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| Economic success blamed for loss of the world's endangered
languages |
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By
the University of Cambridge news service
Thriving economies are the biggest factor in the disappearance of minority languages, and conservation should focus on the most developed countries where languages are vanishing the fastest, a new study says. New research shows economic growth to be the main driver of language extinction and reveals global hotspots where languages are most under threat. The study’s authors urge for immediate attention to be paid to hotspots in the most developed countries – such as north Australia and the north-western corners of the U.S. and Canada where conservation efforts should be focused. They also point to areas of the tropics and Himalayan regions that are undergoing rapid economic growth as future hotspots for language extinction, such as Brazil and Nepal. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of Royal Society. The researchers used the criteria for defining endangered species to measure rate and prevalence of language loss, as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The three main risk components are: small number of speakers, small geographical habitat range and population change – in this case, the decline in speaker numbers. By checking huge language data sets using these conservation mechanisms, the researchers found that levels of gross domestic product per capita correlated with the loss of language diversity. The more successful economically, the more rapidly language diversity was disappearing. “As economies develop, one language often comes to dominate a nation’s political and educational spheres. People are forced to adopt the dominant language or risk being left out in the cold – |
economically and
politically,” said Tatsuya Amato from the University of Cambridge’s
Department of Zoology, who added: “Of course everyone has the right to choose the language they speak, but preserving dying language is important to maintaining human cultural diversity in an increasingly globalized world.” In the northwest corner of North America, the languages of the native people are disappearing at an alarming rate. Upper Tanana, for example, a language spoken by Athabaskan people in eastern Alaska, had only 24 active speakers as of 2009, and was no longer being acquired by children. The Wichita language of the Plains Indians, now based in Oklahoma, had just one fluent speaker as of 2008. In Australia, aboriginal languages such as the recently extinct Margu and almost extinct Rembarunga are increasingly disappearing from the peninsulas of the Northern Territories. As the researchers point out, “languages are now rapidly being lost at a rate of extinction exceeding the well-known catastrophic loss of biodiversity.” Major international organizations such as the United Nations and Worldwide Fund for Nature are now actively engaged in the conservation of linguistic diversity. Amano says the global meta-analysis produced by the team using the species criteria is designed to complement the more specific, localized examples featured in many linguistic and anthropological research. Unlike species extinction, however, language diversity has a potentially saving grace – bilingualism. Previous research from Cambridge’s Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics has shown that children who speak more than one language have multiple advantages in education, cognition and social interaction. “As economies develop, there is increasing advantage in learning international languages such as English, but people can still speak their historically traditional languages. Encouraging those bilingualisms will be critical to preserving linguistic diversity,” added Amano. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 175 | |||||||
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Obama says the beheading will not intimidate the U.S. By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama says the United States will not be intimidated by the beheading of a second American journalist and vowed to build a coalition to degrade and destroy the Islamic State extremist group. Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Estonia, Obama said it will take time to roll them back, or apply pressure to the group claiming responsibility for the murders of Steven Sotloff and James Foley. The video of Sotloff's beheading was released Tuesday and his identity was verified by U.S. officials within hours. Obama said the killers have failed in whatever they are trying to achieve because the United States and the world are repulsed by their barbarism and will not be intimidated. "Their horrific acts only unite us as a country and stiffen our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists. And those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget, and that our reach is long, and that justice will be served." Later, in New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden used blunt language concerning U.S. resolve to fight the Islamic State. “If they think the American people will be intimidated, they don’t know us very well.” “We will follow them to the gates of Hell until they are brought to justice because Hell is where they will reside,” said Biden. Speaking in Washington Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the murderers of James Foley and Steven Sotloff should know that the United States will hold them accountable just as the United States has always held killers of U.S. citizens accountable. Kerry described the Sotloff beheading as medieval savagery. "The real face of Islam is not what we saw yesterday, when the world bore witness again to the unfathomable brutality of ISIL terrorist murders," he said during remarks at a ceremony to honor the appointment of Shaarik Zafar, who will head up the department's engagement with Muslim communities around the world. Kerry said the U.S. government has been using every tool at its disposal to rescue captured Americans, like Sotloff. “For so many who have worked so long to bring Steven and other Americans home safely, this is obviously was not how the story was meant to end. It is a punch in the gut," he said. “We need to reach beyond government to include religious leaders and faith communities, entrepreneurs, civil society groups, all of them working together to invest in a future that embraces tolerance and understanding, and yes, even love.” Also Wednesday, speaking to CNN television, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the beheadings make him sick to his stomach. He noted that more than 100 U.S. citizens are fighting with the militants in Iraq and Syria, and that the United States and its coalition partners have to do everything possible to stop Islamic State now. Meanwhile, some U.S. lawmakers are calling for urgent action to fight the Islamic State with an international coalition targeting militants with drones, air strikes and Kurdish fighters. A statement early Wednesday from the National Security Council said U.S. intelligence agencies analyzed a video showing Sotloff's killing and judged it to be real. A spokesmen for Sotloff's relatives said the family is aware of the video and is grieving privately. The spokesman said the journalist was not a hero but someone who was a voice to those in the Arab world who have no voice. He said Sotloff sacrificed his life to bring their story to the world. The extremist Islamic State group released the video Tuesday in which a black-masked militant with a British accent addresses Obama, saying Sotloff's death is retaliation for U.S. air strikes against the group in Iraq. The killing apparently was carried out in a similar manner to the beheading last month of American journalist James Foley. State department now using video to would-be jihadists By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Mutilated corpses hang crucified in a public square. Dozens of men kneel blindfolded before being shot execution style. Bodies are casually tossed into a pit. Ominous music plays in the background as the words “run, do not walk to ISIS land” scroll across the screen. But this video is not another slickly produced campaign pumped out as a recruiting tool by Islamic State militants This video was instead produced by the U.S. State Department. It appears to be part of an effort to turn up the volume of State’s “Think Again, Turn Away” campaign aimed at exposing the facts about terrorists and their propaganda, according to its Facebook page. “Think again, Turn Away” operates as part of the State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, which “openly engages in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, and Somali to counter terrorist propaganda and misinformation about the United States across a wide variety of interactive digital environments that had previously been ceded to extremists,” according to its Web site. More recently, the center began activities in English, maintaining accounts on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms. The counterterrorism center has been around since 2011, but the gruesome video marks a new approach in cyber engagement, particularly in English. "CSCC’s linking to or citing of ISIL videos and other content is not a departure, but rather a practice CSCC has been using effectively for several years, particularly in Arabic,” said a senior State Department official. “CSCC uses brief clips of terrorist propaganda in much of its messaging across various languages in order to contrast the gap that exists between ISIL rhetoric and reality. “It serves to clearly demonstrate the hypocrisy of an organization claiming to defend Muslims, yet at the same time slaughtering Muslims, destroying their cultural patrimony, and depleting their economic wealth," the official said. Jytte Klausen, a Brandeis University professor and founder of the Western Jihadism Project, which focuses on jihadi activities in the West, said there has been a change in how State is using the violent videos in English. “It’s fair to say that there’s a new focus on Westerners,” she said, referring to would-be jihadists thinking about going to Syria or Iraq. “They’re trying to peel off this whole jihad tourist contingent.” Ms. Klausen said State’s previous “softball approach appealing to ‘true’ Islam has not had much effect,” against Islamic State's successful media push depicting a cozy life in the new caliphate. Erin Saltman of the London-based Quilliam Foundation, a counterterrorism think tank, said State’s new tactic represents the recognition of the threat of homegrown extremists, a fear stoked by recent revelations of Americans and Europeans traveling to Syria to fight alongside extremists. Saltman said the video uses shock treatment to turn people away from the Islamic State. “They are in essence fighting fire with fire which is something we do not see any other Western democracy actively doing at the moment,” Saltman said. U.N. seeks global response against growing ebola threat By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United Nations World Health Organization is calling for a coordinated global response to combat the growing ebola outbreak affecting parts of West Africa. Margaret Chan, director-general of the global health body, Wednesday said the outbreak has so far killed more than 1,900 people and infected at least 3,500 in the region. "It has become a global threat and we require urgent action and we need a well-coordinated mechanism bringing together the countries affected, as well as development partners from other countries, including U.S.A.," she said. "Now that I am in U.S., I want to tell you, the U.S. government has been a very strong supporter through many agencies like the CDC, NIH, and of course USAID and others. World Health estimates that it will cost upwards of $600 million to tackle the epidemic. Tom Kenyan, director of the Center for Global Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the virus is spiraling out of control and that the window of opportunity to fight it is closing. U.S. health officials say the key to containing the outbreak will be increasing the number of ebola treatment centers, providing protective equipment for health workers and monitoring the contacts of those infected. Experts have warned that ebola could spread beyond the five West African countries that have been affected: Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says a separate, smaller outbreak in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is unrelated to the ebola outbreak in West Africa. Meanwhile, a British nurse infected with ebola has been released from the hospital after recovering from the virus. The Royal Free London Hospital said Wednesday that William Pooley's 10 days of treatment included the experimental drug ZMapp. He was taken to the hospital last month after contracting ebola while working in Sierra Leone. Forum on Internet policies set for authoritarian Turkey By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The site selected for the United Nations forum on developing Internet policy is generating a great deal of controversy, with critics taking aim at the irony of Turkey's poor record regarding social media, Web sites and press freedom. Over the past year alone, Turkey has shut down Twitter, blocked YouTube, and jailed journalists and bloggers. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even called Twitter a “menace to society.” A number of non-governmental organizations and activists are boycotting the four-day event this week over Turkey's Internet freedom record, according to Yaman Akdeniz, an Internet activist and professor of cyber law at Istanbul’s Bilgi University. "The situation in Turkey has moved from bad to worse. When you have such a problematic approach to Internet governance, then that should not be the host for such a major annual event," said Akdeniz. The forum is an annual global gathering that aims to bring together governments, activists and business to discuss how to regulate and encourage use of the Web. Organizations and activists are accusing the forum of caving in to Turkish government demands to remove a number of controversial topics from the session, a charge denied both by Ankara and the organizers. Observers say Turkey has a very poor record of protecting free expression online, with tens of thousands of Web sites being blocked under legislation passed in 2007. Internet controls were further tightened in February this year. The world spotlight was cast on Turkey when social media sites YouTube and Twitter were banned earlier this year by authorities, who claimed they were being used to spread accusations of high-level government graft. The bans were subsequently overturned by the country’s constitutional court. The EU commissioner for digital affairs, Neelie Kroes, speaking Tuesday in Istanbul, said the 28-nation grouping remains concerned. "It's part of a troubling trend for free speech and free media in Turkey that is a trend, and concern that many in the international community have been highlighting for some time," said Ms. Kroes. Ankara’s bid to join the EU has been stalled, in part due to growing concerns over human rights and, in particular, freedom of expression. Observers say concerns have grown since last year’s crackdown on anti-government protests. The U.N. insists the choice of Turkey was normal, as it has rotated between all member nations. Assistant Secretary-General Thomas Gaas defended the Istanbul venue at Tuesday’s press conference. "The United Nations works to promote an in-depth discussion of an open, free Internet and we believe this discussion has to take place. It is good that this discussion is taking place here," said Gaas. So far, Ankara has refused to comment on the controversy. Most plenary sessions organized by Turkish authorities are focusing on the protection of the family. The Turkish government argues its controversial Internet legislation is intended only to protect children. But Emma Sinclair Webb, senior researcher for Turkey for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said forum organizers should not turn a blind eye to the Turkish government’s increasingly stringent approach to freedom of speech online. "The striking irony of Turkey hosting the Internet Governance Forum is that Turkey’s own record on Internet freedom is abysmal. From our point of view, holding the governance forum gives us good opportunity to throw the international spotlight on Turkey’s appalling Internet freedom record," said Ms. Webb. With opponents of the forum planning a series of events in its last two days, some say Ankara's hopes that the controversy will dissipate and the country would be able to raise its international profile as a fast developing country seem set to be dashed. More money is recovered from Korean ex-president By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. authorities have seized $500,000 of assets tied to a former South Korean president convicted of corruption. The announcement Wednesday by the Justice Department marks the second time this year that officials have confiscated funds linked to the son of Chun Doo Hwan. Former president Chun was convicted in 1997 of accepting millions of dollars in bribes during his administration. U.S. Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said Chun and his relatives had "systematically laundered these funds through a complex web of transactions in the United States and Korea." Federal agents seized another $726,000 from Chun's family in the U.S. in February. According to U.S. officials, the former president's son, Chun Jae Yong, and daughter-in-law used proceeds from Chun's corrupt deals to invest in a home and business in the United States. Chun came to power following the 1979 assassination of military leader Park Chung-Hee. His presidency until 1988 was marred by abuses of power. He was convicted in 1997 of corruption and insurrection and ordered to repay $212 million to the South Korean government. Chun, now 83, is serving life in prison after his death sentence was commuted. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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Four Caja employees face investigation
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Four persons who are employees of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social face allegations that they used computer knowledge to defraud the institution by some 93 million colons, about $175,000. They were detained Wednesday while the investigation continues. The case revolved around a woman employee at the Alajuela offices who was on disability leave. Investigators allege that by manipulating the computer to pay her much more, the four were able to share in the bounty. The woman was supposed to receive individual payments of 30,000 colons, about $55. Instead, she was paid repeatedly 9 million colons, some $16,500, through electronic transfer. The Caja said that the overpayments were caught by its auditing process, but they continued for two years. Meanwhile at the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes, the auditor has been suspended with pay for six months while an investigation takes place. The employee, identified as Irma Gómez Vargas, faces complaints that she acted in an arbitrary matter and engaged in labor harassment. These do not appear to be criminal allegations. Her suspension was sought by the watchdog agency, the Contraloría General de la República Cantón de Mora gets a new district By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The legislature Wednesday created a sixth district for the Cantón de Mora. The canton is best known by one of its major communities, Ciudad Colón. The new district is Quitirrisí. The action was taken by the Comisión con Potestad Legislativa Plena III, a subdivision of the full legislature that has the power to pass relatively non-controversial measures. The creation of the new district will give residents of that area representation in the municipal government. Five die in burning wreck on autopista By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Traffic police said two vehicles including a truck burst into flame upon colliding Wednesday night and that five persons were trapped and died in the blaze. The location was on the Florencio del Castillo highway between San José and Cartago. The passenger car appeared to explode shortly after impact. |
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| From Page 7: Guanacaste emergency declaration sought By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Agricultural engineers have urged the government to declare a state of emergency for Guanacaste where a drought continues. The professional association, the Colegio de Ingenieros Agrónomos, issued the request and said that the cracks in the ground show how dry the area is. The lack of rain attributed to the growing El Niño in the Pacific is a national emergency, the organization said. The shortage of rain is expected to endure through the first three months of next year. The organization did not spell out specifics, but Guanacaste ranchers have said they wish the government would help pay for transporting fodder that their cows need to survive the drought. |
