Foreign ministers reaffirm
Nov. 12 vote on Río San Juan


In an unusual midnight vote, a meeting of Western Hemisphere foreign minsters voted Tuesday, 24 to 2, that Nicaragua should adopt without delay a previous resolution that said the country should pull its troops out of the Isla Calero.

The vote was reported by the foreign ministry in San José after diplomats in Washington, D.C. spent long hours in a closed-door session.

Voting against the measure were Bolivia and Venezuela. Five countries abstained. Nicaragua was not present.

The resolution that was passed Nov. 12 also called on Costa Rica to withdraw from the area, but the country has no presence on the island.

Costa Rica, which has no army, has been seeking international support. But Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has been dismissive of the Organization of American States which convened the session Tuesday. Ortega even threatened to withdraw from the organization.

René Castro, Costa Rican foreign minister, argued the country's case in an open morning meeting. Castro has been stressing the environmental damage caused by Nicaragua's occupation of the territory and its efforts to construct a new mouth for the Río San Juan.

An area of about three square kilometers is involved on the north side of the island. Nicaragua has characterized the situation not as an invasion but as a border dispute. This has served to sow confusion among foreign diplomats. Many think that the appropriate venue for Costa Rica to present its case is the International Court of Justice, which by treaty is the arbiter of the international boundary line.  Costa Rica has filed a complaint at the Hague-based court, and a session is scheduled for Jan. 11. However, these hearings take time, sometimes years of litigation.

The action by the Organization of American States would seem to bring to an end Costa Rica's appeals there. The organization has few ways of enforcing its mandates.

Castro told the session in the morning that Costa Rica considers its sovereignty violated.

Wikileaks disclosure cables
cleverly-designed psy-op

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I am amazed at the sheeple of the world how easily they are brainwashed becoming ardent defenders, yes, even gullible worshippers of Wikileaks, like little wind-up toys, and according to plan.

Nothing of what has been leaked though is any real news. We have known about every issue all along, haven't we? Just check for yourselves.

The leaked "news" are totally insufficient to be a matter of journalistic worship. Know thy enemy.

Doesn't it seem odd that it is — again — directed at Islamic countries, at relations with China and mainly about embarrassing the U.S. in the wake of dissolving the U.S. Constitution and federation into a U.S.-Can-Mex North American Union.

The WikiLeaks club is not wielded against the most fascist government ruling over Palestine, no little swing whatsoever. Not even the "revelation" about their ties with the Saudis makes valuable news as it has been harmless common knowledge for anyone following the course of politics.

Did any "cable" come out that points at 9/11 not having been a Muslim job? No, you see, Julian Assange was a eulogized reporter for several Rothschild prints, one of them the Economist. Enough said?

I hope that the sheeple wake up to reality and see Wikileaks as what it really is, a cleverly-designed psy-op in typical superior secret service fashion to shut down the Internet as we know it and just like Jay Rockefeller wanted it. Thank you, Julian. Wake up, folks.

Publication of leaks
creates a conundrum

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Wikileaks: Not "fruit of the poisonous tree"

In the U.S.A., if law enforcement seizes potential evidence without a warrant, that property is deemed "fruit of the poisonous tree" and not admissible as evidence at trial.

If, however, a private individual seizes the potential evidence without a warrant and then produces the property to the prosecution team (which includes the police as well as the government attorneys), the doctrine of the "fruit of the poisonous tree" is not applied, and the property is admissible as evidence at trial.

The distinction here is that Wikileaks did not seize any property, it received it.  The layperson might want to exclaim, "Then Wikileaks was like a fence."  Well, certainly Wikileaks  received it with the intent to publish it. But did Wikileaks have a fence-like profit motive?  That is, did Wikileaks receive the property with the intent to sell it or not to sell it?   Or did WikiLeaks have a courageous, if not patriotic, motive to bring transparency to a government vulnerable to being called a tyrannical one?

The answers are not easy . . . either factually or legally.  And how deeply are morals and ethics involved in the fairly complicated conundrum?

Find out what the papers said today in Spanish By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Here is the section where you can scan short summaries from the Spanish-language press. If you want to know more, just click on a link and you will see and longer summary and have the opportunity to read the entire news story on the page of the Spanish-language newspaper but translated into English. Translations may be a bit rough, but software is improving every day. When you see the Summary in English of news stories not covered today by A.M. Costa Rica, you will have a chance to comment. This is a new service of A.M. Costa Rica called Costa Rica Report. Editor is Daniel Woodall, and you can contact him HERE!

From the Costa Rican press News items posted Monday through Friday by 8 a.m. Click a story for the summary

Costa Rican news summaries are disabled on archived pages.

Have you seen these stories? From A.M. Costa Rica

Motorists will be detoured today and Thursday when a private firm cuts down trees along the San Francisco de Heredia-Río Segundo de Alajuela road. The location is between what is known locally as the Bomba de Cristo, a service station, and the Catholic church in San Francisco.

The work is designed to widen the highway so that it can be used as a detour itself when highway officials close the Autopista General Cañas from Dec. 26 for 10 weeks. The autopista job is to finally fix the metal covering on a bridge expansion joint that has become a national joke.

The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes said that the trees to be cut are old and infirm pines whose roots have damaged nearby sidewalks. They will be replaced by native species, including in an island that will be created between the lanes. The road will be widened to four lanes, the ministry said.

The tree cutting is only in an area about 250 meters long or about four blocks.

The work has been approved by the relevant environmental agencies, the ministry said. The work will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The firm Constructora FCC is doing the job.


Show and sale downtown


Some 26 artists are expected to show their works in the Feria del Deseño Artesanal on the pedestrian mall on the north side of Plaza de la Cultura starting today.

This is a holiday event that runs through Saturday and again next week from Wednesday to Saturday. The Municipalidad de San José, the sponsor, said the fair is supposed to promote artistic design in everyday pieces.