The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, December 05, 2002

GONE WITH THE WIND: Anderson back in the U.S.
TT/Tim Rogers

Anderson Extradited in Midnight Jail Raid
By Tim Rogers
Awakened at midnight by police, accused U.S. tax rebel Keith Anderson was nabbed in jail Tuesday, whisked to the airport and placed on a private Gulf Stream jet to Miami.

(Click for more)

December 05

Christmas Tree Lighting
With the Participation of the National Symphony Orchestra, at 6 p.m., Children’s Hospital, Paseo Colón, Ca. 20-22.

Presentation of the Book La Pasión por el Caribe
By Jazmín Ross and Luciano Capelli, at Spanish Cultural Center, Av. 13, Ca. 31. Info: 257-2919.

Don’t Miss Last Presentations of the Taller Nacional de Teatro
Showing Mon.-Sat., "Moliere Moliando," by Melvin Méndez, at 8 p.m., at Taller, 200 m. north, 125 m. east of Santa Teresita Church, Barrio Escalante, house #2522. Info: 221-1273.

Return To Top Of Page

Vice-President to Lead
Emergency Task Force
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

President Abel Pacheco this week named Vice-President Lineth Saborío in charge of organizing a special task force to assist the National Emergency Commission (CNE) in coordinating disaster relief efforts and designing integral emergency prevention plans to respond more efficiently to future disasters.

The decision came just days after residents of the eastern province of Limón, pounded in recent weeks by violent rainstorms and heavy flooding, complained that some of the CNE's emergency relief supplies were being lost and hadn't been delivered to disaster victims.

Saborío will work to better organize the CNE and make it more efficient. "We all know Costa Rica is very vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters," she explained. "We must make the CNE capable of reacting to disasters faster and more efficiently."

The new task force will have two sub-branches aimed at providing logistical support to members of regional emergency commissions. One branch will focus on resolving issues pertaining to damaged infrastructure and the other on the distribution of relief supplies - making sure aid gets to disaster victims as quickly as possible.

"We're going to deal with these problems from an integral perspective," Saborío stressed. "We'll focus on the social, the security and the economic problems caused by disasters. To goal is to increase the CNE's ability to respond to emergencies."

The task force will attempt to reform the CNE, increasing its obligations to include emergency prevention instead of just supplying relief and evacuating victims. By doing this, the CNE will be able to deploy its resources as soon as it becomes clear a disaster is going to occur, instead of waiting until it takes place and assisting the victims when it's already too late.

Efforts will also be made to improve coordination between other government institutions and private organizations in dealing with disasters. This may include asking the U.S. Embassy to lend the government its helicopters for rescue and relief missions.

Read tomorrow's TT print edition for more on CNE relief efforts in Limón.

Return To Top Of Page

Anderson Extradited in Midnight Jail Raid
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Awakened at midnight by police, accused U.S. tax rebel Keith Anderson was nabbed in jail Tuesday, whisked to the airport and placed on a private Gulf Stream jet to Miami.

According to Anderson's cellmate at San Sebastián Jail, Costa Rican police burst into the cell at 11:45 p.m., shook Anderson awake and told him he had five minutes to pack his bags. Anderson had not been notified his extradition was approved when the police came for him. He called his lawyer before being taken away, but didn't have time to collect his belongings or say call his Tica wife to say adios.

"This is unbelievable, this is unbelievable, I don't understand how this could happen," Anderson's wife Ana told The Tico Times, during a frantic phone call at 1 a.m.

Defense lawyer Moíses Vincenzi claimed he was never notified by the courts that his client would be handed over to the U.S. in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

He told The Tico Times during a 2 a.m. phone call that the Supreme Elections Tribunal still had not ruled on Anderson's controversial Costa Rican citizenship.

Read Friday's TT print edition for full coverage of Anderson case.

Return To Top Of Page

Drug Police Bust Alleged Dealers

The Ministry of Public Security's Drug Control Police yesterday detained a woman and six men on drug charges in Desamparados, according to a press release.

The suspects were arrested during raids on three homes allegedly used to sell and distribute drugs in the neighborhood.

Police reportedly detained 180 "crack rocks," 124 marijuana joints, a small dose of cocaine, 54 grams of crack, drug packaging material and $155 in colones.

Similar to last week's busts, the Drug Police attribute the success of the mission to neighbors calling the toll-free police tip line: 800-DROGA NO.

Return To Top Of Page