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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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 A.M. Costa Rica/José Pablo
Ramírez Vindas
Bank worker demonstrates system using the so-called dynamic
password to make a transaction. Card (inset) has the numbers being
requested by the computer.Banco de Costa Rica plans to use 'dynamic passwords' By José Pablo Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Banco de Costa Rica customers will think they are playing bingo with a new system the bank unveiled Thursday to reduce electronic thefts. The system is called a dynamic password and will be used when bank customers make transfers to accounts not on their favorites list. These include transfers between banks. The general manager of the bank, Carlos Fernandez Román, said that the bank handled 120 million transactions this year of which 80 percent were done online. The bank's assistant manager, Mario Rivera Turcios, said that 120 customers have sought reimbursement because they have had money taken from their accounts illegally. He said the bank denied every claim and attributed the thefts to outside computer users who somehow obtained the passwords of the customers. It was from an account at Banco de Costa Rica where an expat business woman lost $215,000 to Internet thieves. She made a claim that many of the transfers from her account were above the daily limit and that someone would need intimate access to the bank's computers to effect the transfers. Despite what the assistant manager said, the woman said she was offered a settlement, although how much she actually got, if anything, is not known. The new system, which begins Dec. 10, will overlay an additional system of security for transfers and certain other electronic transactions. Customers will have physical cards containing five rows of 11 numbers. After they have done their transfer, the bank's computer will ask them to type in three double-digit numbers from the card. The computer will identify the numbers by row and column, such as G-5, and the customer will have to supply the actual numbers. Since the information on the card is not transmitted online, thieves who tap Internet transactions will not know the three numbers. The bank is spending $65,000 on the system, the officials said. Customers will have to pick up an individualized card at a bank branch in order to use the system. Francisco Dall'Anese, the nation's chief proesecutor, said earlier this week that some $8 million had been taken from Costa Ricans by electronic thieves. British Embassy employee has creative musical role By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A British Embassy employee is one of the creative influences behind this weekend's charity event at the Planetarium Universidad de Costa Rica. He is Canadian Bruce Callow, who works as political and public affairs officer at the British Embassy. He composed the original music for Star Show Odyssey 2047 in collaboration with Pablo Luna. The multi-media futuristic presentation is about a girl struggling to survive after her hometown of Puntarenas is flooded 40 years from now. The event, which will take place on Saturday at 7 p.m., is to benefit the Planetarium's outreach program that brings disadvantaged children from around the country to enjoy star shows there.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| Fifth
of Latin population say they paid a bribe last year |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A new survey reports that more than 20 percent of people polled in Latin America say they paid a bribe in the past year to obtain a service. This percentage is down slightly from the previous year. The survey, known as the Global Corruption Barometer, was released Thursday by the Berlin-based anti-corruption group Transparency International. According to the poll, most bribes in Latin America were paid to the police more than 20 percent and to the judiciary about 11 percent. Despite the report's indication that corruption in the region is waning, the study found that nearly half of the respondents from Latin American countries expect corruption to increase within the next three years. The survey listed people in Colombia and the Dominican Republic as the region's most optimistic that government efforts to fight corruption are effective. Transparency International says more than 63,000 people were interviewed this year for the survey in 60 countries and territories. When asked about dealing with services, telephone and natural gas utilities were the least likely to demand bribes, while law enforcement was the most frequent source (25 per cent of respondents who came in contact with the police were asked to pay a bribe) with courts the second most frequent source worldwide. |
“The barometer reveals that the
police and the judiciary in many
countries around the world are part of a cycle of corruption, demanding
bribes from citizens,” said Cobus de Swardt, Transparency International
managing director. “This troubling finding means that corruption is
interfering with the basic right to equal treatment before the law.” Transparency International has been campaigning strongly this year against corruption in the judiciary, based on its Global Corruption Report 2007. This report details how bribery affects the courts — judges and other judicial personnel accept bribes to delay or accelerate cases, to allow or deny an appeal, or to decide a case in a certain way. The barometer also asks citizens which institutions they see as most affected by corruption. Year after year, political parties and parliaments — the very institutions entrusted to represent the public interest — take in first place. “Our experience has shown that it is commitment at the top that will make or break efforts to fight corruption,” said de Swardt. “These troubling numbers show that government faces a crisis of legitimacy, with the potential to undermine democratization, stability and the protection of human rights.” The institutions which fared best in the eyes of ordinary citizens were religious bodies and non-governmental organizations. Although still relatively clean, the perception of non-government organizations has worsened globally in comparison to 2004 survey results, as did the perception of private enterprises, indicating that these two sectors are under increasing public pressure to demonstrate transparency and accountability. |
| Vanishing
traditions get a reprieve with culture program |
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By Helen Thompson
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Traditional wooden toys, herbal cures and jewelry made from fish scales were on display at the Teatro Aduana Thursday as part of a demonstration of Costa Rica's traditional culture that could be in danger of disappearing. "Bearers of culture" from the country's nine different regions came together to show the work that they have been doing with children in school workshops as part of a Ministerio de Cultura, Juventud y Deportes initiative. Doña Fela, a middle-aged woman with a table full of herbs such as oregano, cucuracha, mint and uña de gato, asked people to unbutton their shirts and used a metal stick to touch their chests to demonstrate natural medical techniques, and
Eighteen traditions in total were all taught to children through workshops held in schools throughout the country. The purpose of the “Talleres artisticos culturales con personas portadoras de tradición” pilot program is to transmit local historic knowledge to new generations, making sure that national history is not lost. Maria Elena Carballo, culture minister, used Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez's famous book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" as an example in her speech: “The older generations do not communicate their experience and knowledge to the younger generations,” she said. “The connections are broken, and the past is forgotten about, and in the end the town is destroyed as it can't interact with the |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Helen Thompson
Doña Fela demonstrates her medicinal technique with a
long metal stick.outside world. Creating a collective memory and communicating the past to the young people of the future through the bearers of culture is one way to break this solitude.” Two workshops were given to a school in each region, ranging from leather shoemaking, wood sculpture and traditional narration to fishing methods, agriculture and gastronomy. Many of the methods used are in danger of becoming obsolete because of new materials and mass production, such as the making of canastas or baskets from bejuco wood for coffee collection, which is being replaced by the wide usage of plastic canastas. Some of the workshops took several months to complete, imparting to the children traditions with which their grandparents would have been familiar. The initiative is being supported by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Ministerio de Educación Pública. |
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| Iran does not seem to have a history of starting a war |
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| This week I watched and
listened to a long and rather rambling press conference given by
President George Bush. The big news that prompted it was that
Iran, contrary to past intelligence reports, stopped its nuclear weapon
development as far back as 2003. In spite of what should be
considered as good news and a happy Christmas present for the world,
President Bush’s insisted that, based upon past history, since Iran
once sought to develop nuclear weapons, it could well begin making a
bomb again, and is still a threat and will be a threat to future
peace. Since he mentioned history as an indicator, I decided to read a little history about Iran and peace in the Middle East. Iran is a very ancient country, once known as Persia. The last time, as far as I can see, that Iran declared war on anyone was in the 1800’s. It is one of the few Middle Eastern countries that in modern times, has not started war with anyone – despite the rhetoric about wanting Israel to disappear. Iran has been a country more warred upon than warring. More occupied, colonized, and exploited by the industrial oil-hungry countries, mainly Great Britain, the United States and Russia. In recent history, the most egregious act committed by citizens of Iran was taking American Embassy employees hostage in 1979. The students who did this, claimed the embassy was filled with spies, not diplomats. The government of Iran did not sponsor this take-over, but it did nothing to stop it. There have been accusations that Iran has been meddling in and aiding the enemies of the U.S. in Iraq. This is not exactly new in the annals of war. When Iraq attacked Iran the United States and Great Britain, provided help to Iraq. The United States helped the Taliban in Afghanistan against the invading Soviet Union. The French helped the colonies in the war for independence against England. Iran has never threatened to attack anyone with bombs of any kind – only to retaliate if they were attacked. I cannot believe that President Bush wants to preemptively bomb or go to war with Iran while still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Historically, countries that have been that ambitious have not fared too well. But history is history and the interpretation of history is another matter. I guess we all believe what we choose to believe. And speaking of believing, Christmas is close upon us and there are other concerns to consider. Catholicism is the |
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| French president makes a direct appeal to Colombian rebels |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
French President Nicolas Sarkozy again marked his hands-on diplomatic style by personally requesting the head of Colombia's guerrillas to release 45 hostages the group has been holding for years. In television and radio messages released overnight by the French government, Sarkozy directly appealed to rebel leader Manuel Marulanda to release the 45 hostages, who include three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. He said France did not share Marulanda's views and condemned his methods. But he also said that releasing the hostages would show the rebel Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia understands humanitarian principles. Sarkozy also delivered words of encouragement to the hostages, singling out Ms. Betancourt, who was captured by the rebels six years ago as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency. |
The French president praised Ms. Betancourt's dignity and courage and
told her to stay strong. He said her family waits for her release and
that France will never drop her cause. Talks between the Colombian government and the rebels have been stalled over proposals to swap the hostages for about 500 rebel prisoners in Colombian jails. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez recently tried to mediate a solution, but he has fallen out with Colombia's leader, Álvaro Uribe. Paris has kept Ms. Betancourt's cause high on its agenda and posters of the politician, who has family members in France, are draped in public places. Recently released videos showed Ms. Betancourt looking despondent. Sarkozy's direct intervention is becoming a trademark of his diplomacy. He sent his ex-wife Cecilia to Libya a few months ago to lobby for the release of Bulgarian health workers imprisoned there. Last month, he flew to Chad to bring back 10 Europeans jailed on charges of involvement in a botched effort by a French charity to fly 103 African children to France. |
| Bolivia's president wants to take his chances with a popular referendum |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced he will seek a popular vote on whether to remain president as tension rises over his efforts to reform the country's constitution. Morales said Wednesday on national television that he will send Congress a proposal to put his leadership to a referendum. He also challenged opposition governors to do the same. He did not provide any details on the proposed vote. |
Violence has flared in Bolivia amid efforts by an assembly to rewrite
the constitution. Last month, unrest broke out in the city of Sucre,
killing four people, after the assembly approved a framework for the
new constitution. Morales has said the constitutional changes will give Bolivia's indigenous majority more political power. Critics say the changes unfairly reduce the power of the country's nine provinces. Under the new constitution, Morales will be allowed to seek re-election as often as he likes. |
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