More than 200 law enforcement officers were sweeping the jungle between BriBri and Sixaola today seeking the third suspect in a

Spain bests Turkey for Security Council


U.N. member states elected five countries to the Security Council on Thursday, each for a two-year term.

Angola, Venezuela and Malaysia were put forth by their regional groups and ran uncontested, easily achieving more than the two-thirds majority of votes needed to validate their victories.

The only suspense in Thursday’s ballot was in the group known as Western Europe and Others.  WEOG, as it is known, is not a strictly regional group as it includes far-flung members such as Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel.

In that group Turkey, Spain and New Zealand vied for only two available council seats. New Zealand captured a two-thirds majority in the first round, but Spain and Turkey had to go through two more rounds of ballots before Spain prevailed.

Analyst and Executive Editor of Independent Diplomat Carne Ross said he expects Venezuela will probably echo its foreign policy opinions inside the council.

“Of course a recurring theme is hostility to the United States and its interference, as they see it, in Latin America," said Ross.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez appeared to seize on that right away, saying his country had won its seat despite a maligned campaign against his country and would seek to defend developing countries from its seat on the council.

“We take up this challenge, determined to continue our fight against the willingness to subject countries to the subjugation, domination, exploitation and foreign occupation and the denial of fundamental human rights," said Ramirez.

In a statement, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power expressed disappointment that Venezuela was put forward by Latin American and Caribbean countries as their nominee. She said council candidates should support the principles of the U.N. Charter, including promoting universal respect for human rights.  She noted that Venezuela has failed to do this and that the United States would continue to call upon Venezuela to respect the fundamental freedoms and universal human rights of its people.


Public employees plan strike


Public employees are scheduled to strike Monday.

The Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados is calling the strike to protest budget cuts.

The union organization and its  Central Social Juanito Mora Porras said it was clear that the country has a financial problem but this was not the fault of employees. The announcement gave a long list of grievances.

The announcement called cuts to the budget a malicious campaign that neoliberals have launched against public employees.

The protest is supposed to center at Parque Central in San José starting at 8 a.m. Monday.


Police in Quepos detained in beating


Judicial agents have detained six man and a woman, Fuerza Pública officers and a traffic officer, as suspects in a case where a man said he was beaten.

A 32-year-old man told the Judicial Investigating Organization that he had been confronted by police officers July 29 in  Inmaculada de Quepos while he was with friends on the street.

The officers accused him of stealing a bulletproof vest and took him to the station, according to the Judicial agency report. The vest belonged to the  Policía de Migración.

While he was at the station, the man said he was hit repeatedly by police who were interrogating him. The next day he filed a complaint

During the investigation, judicial agents said they were able to determine that the man who was beaten did not steal the vest.