The Tico Times Online

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, October 09, 2002

TELL IT TO THE JUDGE: Mystic tax guru Keith Anderson appeals his extradition to the U.S. today.
story below.
TT/photo Tim Rogers

October 09

Costa Rican Video and Film Productions
The Spanish Cultural Center invites all to watch film La Piñata, by Gustavo Fallas; Monseñor Romero, by Roberto Miranda, Pronóstico del Tiempo by Luis Nagui and Fidel Gamboa, Bajo el Limpido Azul de tu Cielo by Hilda Hidalgo and Felipe Cordero and Brujas by Victor Vega. At 7 p.m., Av. 13, Ca. 31. Info: 257-2919.

Urban Organic Gardening Workshop
Presented by Agronomy expert Pablo González, Wed.-Thurs., Oct. 9-10 at the Convention Center La Catalina in Heredia. Info: 253-8975.

Documentary of a John Lennon Production
Beatles Fan Club of Costa Rica is glad to announce the presentation of the Documentary "Gimme Some Truth: The Making of Imagine," produced by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (in Englsih). Also, the club will show the only Toronto concert performed by John Lennon without the other Beatles in members. At 6:45 p.m., at the Aquileo Echeverría Auditorium, Law School of the University of Costa Rica at San Pedro Campus.

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Quepos Rockin' and Rollin'
By Tim Rogers
Tico Times Staff
The Central Pacific beach town of Quepos was livelier than usual yesterday, when three quakes epicentered south of town shook the ground throughout the morning.

The first quake, 30 kilometers southeast of Quepos and registering 4.8 on the Richter Scale, occurred 6:40 a.m. and was reported felt in the southern Pacific and all the way to the Central Valley, according to Hector Flores of National Seismology Network.

Flores said the quake was 290 seconds long, but it was felt only for the first eight seconds. No damage or injuries were reported.

A 3.7-magnitude aftershock occurred 40 minutes later, just south of the first quake. A second aftershock, registering 4.0, occurred in the same area at 12:31 p.m.

Yesterday's tremors came just one week after a 4.6 quake also shook the town.

According to Flores, Quepos is one of the more active areas in the country, adding that the recent earth shaking is normal.

"It's not strange to have several minor quakes in a row," he told The Tico Times this week. "What's strange is that there hasn't been a big quake in the area since 1955."

The Quepos earthquake 50 years ago caused extensive damage in Quepos and the Central Valley, but did not kill anyone.

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Anderson Gets His Day in Court
By Tim Rogers
Tico Times Staff
While incarcerated U.S. tax rebel Keith Anderson celebrates his eighth-month anniversary in jail today, defense lawyer Moisés Vincenzi this morning is appealing to a three-judge tribunal to overturn a July 24 ruling by San José Judge Patria Solano to approve Anderson's extradition to the U.S.

The founder of Anderson's Ark & Associates, arrested here Feb. 9 at the request of the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly defrauding the U.S. of $28 million in illegal tax refunds, faces a grand jury indictment in Sacramento, California.

However, while in jail here, Anderson was approved for Costa Rica citizenship Aug. 9. Although the Civil Registry later told The Tico Times it had made a mistake and tried to deny the already approved application, Vincenzi hopes Anderson's Tico citizenship will convince the three-judge tribunal to overturn the extradition decision today.

Don't Miss Friday's TT print edition for details on the outcome of Anderson's appeal.

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Honduran President to Halt Child Murders
By Casa Alianza
Following two weeks of intense international pressure -- highlighted by a UN report on the killing of Honduran street kids by police -- Honduran President Ricardo Maduro spoke out for the first time this week, expressing regret about the more than 1,400 youth who have been murdered in his country since January 1998.

According to a Casa Alianza press release circulated to local and international media, Maduro promised to reduce "in the shortest time possible" the assassination of children in this Central American nation of 5 million people ravaged by poverty and violence. He publicly promised "all the resources that are necessary" to complete the task.

Casa Alianza statistics document the murder of a record number of youth under 23 in September 2002 alone, 38% of whom were children. One-third of the 69 victims were 15-18-year-olds, 87% male and 13% female.

As in the past, the country's capital is the focus of most of the slaughter, with 55% of the murders, followed by San Pedro Sula with 28%. Puerto Cortés and La Lima, smaller cities, followed with 6% and 4% of the killings respectively.

A total of 87% of the killings were by firearms and 7% with knives.

According to initial unconfirmed reports, 44% of the murders were by gang members; 13% by drive-by shootings from "assassin cars," and 7% by the police or other members of the security forces.

In more than 36% of the cases the killers have not yet been identified.

Oscar Emilio Santos, an 11-year-old homeless boy, was recently shot through the throat by a uniformed member of the Honduran military - one of 6,000 soldiers ordered onto the Honduran streets by Maduro to reduce crime levels, Casa Alianza reports. The 18-year-old soldier, Jesús Manuel Sabillon, later detained and accused of murder, said "the rifle went off accidentally".

Santos' only crime was getting caught sniffing shoe glue -- a common escape from of hunger and loneliness.

"Casa Alianza is pleased that the President has finally spoken out about the growing levels of murders of children and we hope that his promise of all the necessary resources to stop the killings of children and youth and to investigate all the murders is truly
forthcoming", Bruce Harris, the organization's director, was quoted in the press release.

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