The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, September 8, 2003

OLD ROCKER: Veteran Argentine rocker Charly García, considered to be one of the fathers of Spanish rock, performed in San José Saturday night.
AFP/TT

Arenal Volcano Calms After Avalanches
Arenal Volcano, in the northern province of San Carlos, 200 kilometers north of San José, returned to normal this weekend after experiencing five large avalanches in a 45-minute period Friday morning.
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Sele Beats China, 2-0
Snapping a three-game lose streak, Costa Rica's Selección Nacional (Sele) defeated China's National Soccer Team 2-0 in yesterday's friendly in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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Villalobos Becomes 9th Minister
to Leave Cabinet
Economy Minister Vilma Villalobos Friday became the ninth Minister to leave the Cabinet of President Abel Pacheco since he took office May 8, 2002.
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PANI Investigates
Youth Living at 'Sanctuary'
The Child Welfare Agency (PANI) said Friday that it is investigating the circumstances of two minors living on the grounds of the so-called 'Sanctuary' in San Isidro de Grecia, home to polemic U.S. priest Alfredo Prado, accused last week by child-advocacy group Casa Alianza of "usurpation of authority and fraud."
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Arenal Volcano Calms After Avalanches

Arenal Volcano, in the northern province of San Carlos, 200 kilometers north of San José, returned to normal this weekend after experiencing five large avalanches in a 45-minute period Friday morning.

The avalanches occurred between 10:55 and 11:40 Friday morning and were caused by a collapse in part the Volcano's north face.

The avalanches of lava and rocks burned a swath of vegetation on the volcano's north face and spewed a massive cloud of ash that coated the nearby community of La Fortuna. No one was injured during the avalanches, but the National Emergency Commission evacuated the nearby area and has restricted access to Arenal for an indefinite period of time.

The Costa Rican Seismological Observatory said the collapse had been expected, but clarified that the event was not an eruption, according to local press reports.

Arenal, a cone-shaped Volcano that rises 1,633 meters above La Fortuna, has been a major tourist attraction since grumbling back to life in 1968 with a violent eruption that claimed 68 lives and buried two villages.

The volcano claimed its most recent casualties in August 2000, when a minor eruption caught off-guard two tourists and a guide who ventured into restricted area close to the crater. The tour guide and a young girl from the U.S. died of internal burns after being caught in the ash cloud.

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Sele Beats China, 2-0
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Snapping a three-game lose streak, Costa Rica's Selección Nacional (Sele) defeated China's National Soccer Team 2-0 in yesterday's friendly in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Despite not having star forward Rolando Fonseca, who was requested for the game by coach Steve Sampson but not allowed to go by his league team, La Liga Deportiva, the Ticos got strong offensive performances from Alvaro Saborio, Erick Scott, Steven Bryce and Júnior Díaz, who came off the bench in the second half.

Saborio, who plays on Costa Rica's Under-23 National Team and who is this year's leading goal-scorer in Costa Rica's National Soccer League, netted the game's first goal in the 15th minute on a nicely placed shot that crossed the mouth of the goal and landed in the far corner, under the dive of the Chinese keeper.

Costa Rica's second goal came 13 minutes later, when Bryce one-touched a Tico free-kick that deflected off the goal post.

The Chinese team looked stronger than it did when Costa Rica beat them 2-0 in the 2002 World Cup in Korea. But strong defensive play by Jervis Drummond, Pablo Chinchilla and Gilberto Martínez, as well as several brilliant saves by keeper Ricardo González, keep the Chinese attack at bay.

While Sampson got a good look at his young strikers Saborio and Scott, the Ticos will have veteran goal scores Paulo Wanchope, Ronald Gómez and Rolando Fonseca back for the 2006 World Cup qualifying matches.

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Villalobos Becomes 9th Minister to Leave Cabinet

Economy Minister Vilma Villalobos Friday became the ninth Minister to leave the Cabinet of President Abel Pacheco since he took office May 8, 2002.

Villalobos presented her letter of resignation to Pacheco on Friday, without mention of her motives for leaving the post.

Pacheco said he was saddened by Villalobos' resignation, and announced that she will be replaced by businessman and former Economy Minister Gilberto Barrantes.

"She is a brilliant, faithful, capable and well-intentioned woman, but she wants to orient her life in a different direction, and she is perfectly in the right to do so," Pacheco said in a Casa Presidencial press release.

Since taking office 15 months ago, Pacheco has fired or received the resignation of more than a third of his Ministers: Danilo Chaverri (Minister of the Presidency), Juan José Trejos (Minister of Social Services), Jorge Walter Bolaños (Finance Minister), José Miguel Villalobos (Justice Minister), Rina Contreras (Minister of the Presidency), Astrid Fischel (Education Minister), Rubén Pacheco (Tourism Minister) and Rogelio Pardo (Minister of Science and Technology).

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PANI Investigates Youth Living at 'Sanctuary'
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Alfredo Prado

The Child Welfare Agency (PANI) said Friday that it is investigating the circumstances of two minors living on the grounds of the so-called 'Sanctuary' in San Isidro de Grecia, home to polemic U.S. priest Alfredo Prado, accused last week by child-advocacy group Casa Alianza of "usurpation of authority and fraud."

PANI Minister Rosalia Gil told The Tico Times that child welfare authorities paid a visit to the 'sanctuary' last Thursday and discovered two boys, ages 14 and 16, living there with the U.S. priest, who reportedly was accused of sexually abusing children in San Antonio, Texas, where he was expelled from his parish (TT, Sept. 5).

Gil said the two brothers are reportedly living at the sanctuary with the permission of their parents, and there is no evidence that either has been a victim of sexual abuse. She did, however, say that the 14-year-old should be attending school under Costa Rican law, and that the PANI is reviewing the situation to determine the best course of action.

Prado, 75, maintains he is innocent of all allegations of misconduct. Casa Alianza, however, has accused him of celebrating mass and marriages without the approval of Costa Rica's Catholic Church, which last week said it is investigating the matter.

The Church already has taken a critical stance against Prado and the 'sanctuary,' where the Virgin Mary is thought by some to have appeared.

The Church does not recognize the sanctuary, and many of the residents living nearby are skeptical, according to local press reports. Immigration authorities last week said that Prado is in the country on a 90-day tourist visa and is prohibited by law from working or celebrating religious events.

Those who claim the Virgin appeared at the sanctuary are fervent in their belief. Last Thursday night priest and Catholic Church journalist Glen Gómez, who denounced the sanctuary as unauthorized by the Church, was attacked at his home in Escazú by 10 people who reportedly claimed to be "sons of Mary" from the "sanctuary," according to the daily La Nación.

Gómez was hospitalized for 24 hours.

Members of the sanctuary later denied playing a role in the beating, according to La Nación.

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