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OIJ Director Denounces Rumors About Hidalgo’s Murder
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) Director Jorge Rojas called a press conference yesterday to address rumors that OIJ officials could have been involved in the murder of Maureen Hidalgo, a judicial assistant and the wife of public defender Luis Fernando Burgos.
“At this time there is no evidence that associates any OIJ official, director or ex-director with this crime,” Rojas said. “I feel it is necessary to state this publicly to protect the good name of these people and the OIJ.”
Hidalgo was found dead July 16 in a ditch in a rural area outside the western Central Valley town of Atenas (TT, July 21). Officials later arrested Burgos and ordered him to six months preventive detention while he is investigated in connection with the murder.
A public prosecutor was suspended while officials investigate whether she aided Burgos in the crime, according to the daily La Nación.
Rojas added that the OIJ is continuing to investigate the murder and encouraged any citizen or member of the press who has information about the case to report it to the police.
In particular, investigators are searching for a vehicle that could have been used to transport Hidalgo’s body to the ditch where it was discovered, Rojas said.
Chief Prosecutor General Francisco Dall’Anese’s office is also involved in the investigation.
Number of Tourists Increases Over Last Year
Approximately 356,800 tourists came to Costa Rica during the first two months of this year, marking a 7.6% increase over the same period last year, according to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the daily La Nación reported.
However, this increase shows less tourism growth than the country saw from 2004 to 2005, when the number of tourists to Costa Rica increased by 30,000, or 9.9%.
National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR) Director Alberto López attributed the decrease in growth during the first two months of this year to escalating international gas prices that make travel more costly.
Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels president Manuel Rodríguez agreed expensive flights are to blame.
“Six months ago, you could get flights (to Costa Rica) from the United States for between $400 and $500, and now they run about $700,” Rodríguez said.
-Tico Times
Costa Rica to Assume Presidency Of Regional Fishing Organization
Costa Rica assumed the presidency of the Central American Fishing and Agriculture Organization (OPESCA) Wednesday during a meeting of the region’s fishing officials held in the Pacific port town of Puntarenas.
Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (INCOPESCA) president Luis Paría, who is now also president of OPESCA, said he hopes to work toward “a true Central American integration that allows for fishing development in the region.”
“The objective is to define and work on integrated fishing policies that create a framework for sustainable development and responsible principles,” Paría said, adding that the main problems facing the region’s fishing sector are the exploitation of fisheries, contamination of coastal areas and illegal fishing.
He also mentioned “inadequate management of aquatic ecosystems, scarce scientific and technical investigation and inefficient statistics” as challenges the industry faces.
Fishing authorities from Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama also attended the meeting, which concludes today. Their agenda was to create plans and policies to regulate the region’s fishing industry, protect sharks and marine turtles and train fisherman.
-ACAN-EFE
An earthquake registering 3.0 on the Richter scale was felt in Escazú, west of San José, at 8:47 a.m. yesterday, according to a statement from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI), based at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José.
The earthquake originated five kilometers below the earth’s surface, the statement said.
-Tico Times
Another Medal for Costa Rica In Central American and Caribbean Games
Costa Rica’s Christopher Maitland yesterday captured a bronze medal in the tae kwon do competition at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia, which began July 15 and will conclude Sunday, according to a statement from the National Olympic Committee (CON).
Maitland’s medal makes a total of four for Costa Rica -- swimmer Claudia Poll won two gold medals in the 200-meter freestyle and 400-meter freestyle competitions July 20 and 21, respectively, and won a silver medal in the 100-meter-freestyle competition July 22.
-Tico Times
‘Superman Returns’ Sinks Faster than a Speeding Bullet
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Finally, the last son of Krypton is back to fight for justice – Superman flies again. Directed by Bryan Singer, “Superman Returns” is based on a vague history established in “Superman” (1978) and “Superman II” (1980), starring the late Christopher Reeve.
After several years away from Earth, Superman returns to a world that apparently doesn’t need his help anymore; even his beloved Lois Lane has moved on to a new relationship and has a son. Only his nemesis Lex Luthor – played in a big way by Kevin Spacey – recently released from prison, refuses to forget his hated enemy. Now Superman must adjust to this new reality and stop an evil plan that could destroy Earth – sound familiar?
It took Hollywood a long time to bring this mega project to fruition; rumors about the actors and scripts circulated throughout the Internet and on entertainment news sources until Warner Bros. Studios finally put together a remarkable group of people to bring back the man of steel.
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New Man of Steel: Unknown Brandon Routh dons the red cape in “Superman Returns.” |
The performances are fine, but not great. The unknown Brandon Routh, who quit his job as a waiter to don the blue uniform and red cape, won’t disappoint fans as an acceptable Superman. Kate Bosworth, on the other hand, is never believable as the workaholic journalist Lois Lane. However, Oscar winner Kevin Spacey definitively transmits the essence of the fiendish Lex Luthor – if it were true that a movie is as good as its villain, this one would have been a smash. And the late Marlon Brando returns from the grave as Jor-EL, Superman’s father, thanks to archive footage and computer technology to recreate Brando’s voice.
Though Singer has experience directing successful big-screen comic-book adaptations, such as “X-Men,” it would seem that the setting of Metropolis did little to inspire his creativity, because he never achieves the magic that captivated audiences in the 1980s films starring the late Christopher Reeve. With a weak plot lacking any originality, the movie offers nothing new, neither in the story nor in the action scenes. The last minutes of the film look like a cheap soap opera and seem an unfortunate way to close a movie that promised to be an epic film – a promise that ended up broken.
However, as long as Hollywood needs something to rescue the box office, it’s likely we will continue to see sequels of this profitable franchise. Let’s hope they find different and new ideas with which to deliver them to us.
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