The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, September 19, 2003

DEATH TO CAFTA: Nicaraguans marched in Managua yesterday demanding a moratorium to the free-trade agreement with the U.S:
TT/AFP

DEA Assistance in
Campaign Finance Probe Studied
National Liberation Party congressman José Miguel Corrales yesterday sent a letter to Deputy Laura Chinchilla of the Legislative Assembly's Permanent Commission on Drug Trafficking asking the Commission to consider seeking investigative assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to probe allegations of money laundering by the two traditional political parties during the last campaign.
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Pacheco to Lobby for Taiwan's Admittance to UN
President Abel Pacheco, scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly next Wednesday, is expected to insist that Taiwan be allowed into the UN, among other topics, according to wire reports.
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Nicaraguans March Against CAFTA
Managua -- Protesting their exclusion from negotiations that will likely affect their future, thousands of Nicaraguans hit the streets of Managua yesterday to demand a moratorium on free-trade talks between Central America and the U.S. (CAFTA).
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September 19

Soccer Game to Benefit Artists
Actors, singers, models, and more playing soccer to benefit the program "Christmas Dream," which helps the poor, Sat., Sept. 20, 10 a.m., Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela. Donations at Banco Nacional 130-500-2, Banco de Costa Rica, 160-0.

Bowling for Columbine
Michael Moore’s Academy-Award Winning Film, free bocas and cash bar, Sat., Sept. 20, 4 p.m., Chango Restaurant, Escazú, sponsored by Democrats Abroad. Info: 494-6260.

Family Fair
Free activities including car exhibits, puppet shows, folklore , concert by Editus, food and more, Sat., Sept. 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Plaza Colonial, San Rafael, Escazú. Info: 289-9193.

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DEA Assistance in Campaign Finance Probe Studied
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

National Liberation Party congressman José Miguel Corrales yesterday sent a letter to Deputy Laura Chinchilla of the Legislative Assembly's Permanent Commission on Drug Trafficking asking the Commission to consider seeking investigative assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to probe allegations of money laundering by the two traditional political parties during the last campaign.

The request for DEA assistance originated with Costa Rican lawyer Carlos Roberto Loría, who sent a letter Sept. 17 to Corrales asking the government to seek international assistance in the campaign finance probe.

Corrales forwarded the letter to Congresswoman Chinchilla yesterday, with a note saying: "If the Commission thinks it is a good idea, the DEA could collaborate and, with the application of U.S. laws, we could find out about bank accounts in the names of individuals and businesses involved in the apparent phantom donations."

Although Loría opens his letter by saying Costa Rica needs the DEA's assistance to investigate the financing of both parties, the rest of his letter singles out President Abel Pacheco (of the Social Christian Unity Party), accusing his campaign team of everything from electoral fraud to international money laundering. There is no direct mention of National Liberation in the letter.

However, Corrales' mention of "phantom donations" in his cover letter to Chinchilla is a reference to the "name-borrowing" practice used by Liberation to hide the identity of real campaign donors (TT, Sept. 5).

"Only with the collaboration of the DEA can the Permanent Commission on Drug Trafficking conduct an international audit with the total opening of bank accounts in the U.S. and the rest of the world, to find out who was really involved in this scheme of money-laundering and corruption," Loría's letter reads.

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Pacheco to Lobby for Taiwan's Admittance to UN

A FRIEND OF TAIWAN:
Abel Pacheco

President Abel Pacheco, scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly next Wednesday, is expected to insist that Taiwan be allowed into the UN, among other topics, according to wire reports.

Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar confirmed yesterday that Pacheco, who will leave for New York on Sunday, will also speak out in favor of world peace, against human cloning and for strengthening environmental policies within the UN.

Tovar said that Costa Rica will continue to lobby for Taiwan's admittance to the UN, a position that is opposed by China, one of five permanent members of the Security Council.

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Nicaraguans March Against CAFTA
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

Protestors in Managua
AFP/TT

Managua -- Protesting their exclusion from negotiations that will likely affect their future, thousands of Nicaraguans hit the streets of Managua yesterday to demand a moratorium on free-trade talks between Central America and the U.S. (CAFTA).

Protesters are demanding negotiations stop temporarily to give each Central America government time to discuss the treaty with every sector of its population.

Screaming chants of "No to CAFTA" and vowing "to remain a free and sovereign nation and not become a U.S. colony," protesters made their way through the city and past the Congress before stopping just a few blocks away from the Intercontinental Hotel, where the negotiations are taking place.

Sandinista leader and former revolutionary President Daniel Ortega organized the protest. A variety of groups, including farmers, urban youth, college students, and people wearing masks and waving Iraqi flags, participated in the march.

More than 100 police officers wearing riot gear watched as the protesters began to gather. Despite a few harsh exchanges between the crowd and police, the protest was peaceful.

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