The Tico Times Online Daily Page

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

MAN OF THE YEAR: Pacheco takes La Nación honors.
photo/ AFP

Sala IV Upholds 200-Day School Year The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) ruled Friday the government cannot shorten the school year from 200 to 174 days, despite the Ministry of Public Education's claim it doesn't have the money to keep schools open the extra month.
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Pacheco Named 'Man of Year'
The daily La Nación this weekend named President Abel Pacheco the most important figure of 2002 for his influence on the news throughout the year.
(Click for more)

December 09

Don’t Miss It!!
Due to Popular Demand, the Little Theater Group has added one extra performance of Kevin Glass’ spectacular one-man rendition of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Extra show is Tuesday Night at 7:30 at Blanche Brown Theater in Bello Horizonte. Tickets going fast, call for reservations 289-3910.

Show will aslo be at Si Como No, Manuel Antonio, Sun., Dec. 15 and at Club del Mar in Jaco, Tues., Dec. 17. Reservations 289-3910.

Animé Video Presentations
Starting today, all shows at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., Mazinger Z; Wed., Dec. 11, Marco The Movie; Fri., Dec. 13, Mazinger Z, Grand Izar, Getter Robot; Sat.-Sun., Dec. 14-15, Harlock Saga; Mon., Dec. 16, Chobits; Wed., Dec. 18, Final Fantasy Unlimited (For older than 16); Sat.-Sun., Dec. 21-22, Vandread (For older than 13), Children’s Museum, end Ca. 4. Info: 258-4929, ext. 124-125.

Cards and Paintings
Damas Voluntarias of the Asociacion de Bienestar Social in Escazú are selling paintings and cards to support the Cen Cinai Day Care Center, which looks after 100 children of low-income working families. Products are on sale in front of the Red Cross, Escazú (down from the main cemetery). Info: 228-0279.

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Sala IV Upholds 200-Day School Year

School kids will be in classroom for 200 days.
AFP/ Photo

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) ruled Friday the government cannot shorten the school year from 200 to 174 days, despite the Ministry of Public Education's claim it doesn't have the money to keep schools open the extra month.

President Abel Pacheco and Education Minister Astrid Fischel announced Oct. 11 that the 2003 school year would be shorted to 174 days because the government could not afford to pay teachers the salaries they were demanding for the 200-day school year.
The Ombudsman's Office challenged the decision by filing an appeal before the Sala IV, which ruled in favor of the 200-day school year.

"We filed this motion on behalf of all Costa Rican children's right to education," Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi said.

Education leaders also are celebrating the Sala's decision.

"This decision is transcendental because it again makes education a priority -- something it had lost due to fiscal policy," said former Education Minister Guillermo Vargas (1998-2002).

Pacheco and Fischel told the press they would not comment until they had time to study the Sala IV's ruling in detail.
-AFP

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Minister of Planning Resigns

Becoming the third casualty of President Abel Pacheco's Cabinet in seven months, Danilo Chaverri Friday morning renounced his position as Minister of Planning, a post he had held since the government of President Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002).

Chaverri said he decided to resign because Pacheco hurt his feelings by blaming him for inappropriately handling the investigation into the 1994 closure of Banco Anglo, formerly Costa Rica's oldest state bank, which was order by presidential decree to close its doors after accumulating $54 million in debt from supposed trading in Venezuelan and Brazilian foreign debt bonds. Seven former bank executives were found guilty of embezzlement that lead to the bank's demise (TT, June 22, 2001).

Two of the men implicated in the investigation, Juan Antonio Robles and Enrique López, recently were absolved of charges in exchange for returning to the state more than $200,000 of presumably embezzled money. The agreement was worked out by Chaverri and approved by Pacheco.

When opposition groups protested the official pardoning of the two men, Pacheco accused Chaverri of "misleading him" with bad advice, comments that prompted Chaverri to immediately resign his post.

Juan José Trejos, former coordinator of social services and José Miguel Villalobos, former Justice Minister, also have resigned or been fired from their Cabinet posts (TT, Nov. 1).

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Pacheco Named 'Man of Year'

The daily La Nación this weekend named President Abel Pacheco the most important figure of 2002 for his influence on the news throughout the year.

Selected for the honor by the newspaper's director and newsroom chiefs, Pacheco took the title for his renegade presidential run and victory in the country's first-ever runoff election.

Other figures considered for the title, according to La Nación, were: Citizen Action Party founder Ottón Solís; new San José Archbishop Hugo Barrantes; Manuel Sánchez, who is credited with saving many lives during the mudslide in Orosí by waking neighbors and telling them to evacuate their homes; former Justice Minister José Miguel Villalobos; Finance Minister Jorge Walter Bolaños; and former Central Bank President Eduardo Lizano.

Tico astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz, the producers and actors of Costa Rican film "Password: A Look into the Darkness," and Alexandre Guimaraes, former National Soccer Team coach who took the Ticos to the 2002 World Cup, each received honorable mentions for 2002.

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