The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, October 16, 2003

SAME COUNTRY, WORLDS APART: Boruca Indian Guillermo Maroto and the rest of Costa Rica's indigenous population are asking for more inclusion.
AFP/TT

Finance Minister
Retracts ICE Criticism
Finance Minister Alberto Dent yesterday retracted his previous criticism of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), which he accused Tuesday of running a projected $146-million deficit for 2003.
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Prosecutor Asks for Jail Time
for Canopy Death
Prosecutor Adán Campos this week asked for a three-year prison sentence for a canopy-tour operator on trial for the death of a tour guide who died while testing a new zipline operation in the Northern Zone agricultural area of San Ramón, reported the daily Al Día.
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Indians Ask for Inclusion, Respect
"This land belongs to us, it is the land of our ancestors," said Bribri Indian elder Timoteo Jackson, who lives in the mountains of Talamanca, 350 kilometers southeast of San José.
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Finance Minister Retracts ICE Criticism

Finance Minister Alberto Dent yesterday retracted his previous criticism of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), which he accused Tuesday of running a projected $146-million deficit for 2003.

Earlier this week Dent blamed ICE for ruining the government's goal of achieving a 3.5% fiscal deficit for 2003. He accused ICE's directorate for not taking their responsibilities seriously.

Pablo Cob, ICE's executive president, rejected Dent's allegations and insisted that ICE most likely will end the year with a $73-million surplus (TT Daily Page, Oct. 15).

However, following a meeting yesterday with Cob, Dent retracted his earlier statement and blamed it on erroneous information and "communication problems."

Dent clarified yesterday that ICE's deficit for 2003 would not surpass $70 million, an amount the "national economy could manage."

The administration of President Abel Pacheco has attempted to limit ICE's spending as part of the government's austerity measures. Pacheco also was quick to accuse ICE based on the erroneous numbers Tuesday, saying: "Honestly, I don't understand, something must have gone very wrong [with ICE]."

Dent, however, said yesterday that ICE's deficit was manageable, adding that from now on he would meet directly with Cob, rather than get his information from third parties.
--AFP

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Prosecutor Asks for Jail Time
for Canopy Death

Prosecutor Adán Campos this week asked for a three-year prison sentence for a canopy-tour operator on trial for the death of a tour guide who died while testing a new zipline operation in the Northern Zone agricultural area of San Ramón, reported the daily Al Día.

Patricia Baron, a 42-year-old German citizen with Costa Rican residency, fell 40 meters to her death Sept. 3, 2000, while testing a new canopy tour at the Valle Escondido Hotel. Her fall initially was blamed on a faulty pulley, which broke 10 meters before she reached the treetop platform, throwing her body into the side of the tree and down to ground (TT, Sept. 8, 2000).

Campos argued during the closing of the first day of trial Tuesday that tour operator Álvaro Serrano was responsible for the death because he did not adopt necessary security measures. The tour operator allegedly did not put the safety pin all the way through both holes of the pulley, causing it to pop out while Baron was zipping down the cable, the prosecutor argued.

The prosecutor has absolved the owner of the hotel of responsibility. Serrano, meanwhile, plead innocent to charges, as the defense prepares to conclude its arguments today, Al Día reported.

In a separate civil suite, the plaintiff's family reportedly is seeking an indemnification of $440,000.

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Indians Ask for Inclusion, Respect

"This land belongs to us, it is the land of our ancestors," said Bribri Indian elder Timoteo Jackson, who lives in the mountains of Talamanca, 350 kilometers southeast of San José.

But the jungles are disappearing and the rivers are drying up because of deforestation, he lamented.

Jackson claims the image that Costa Rica portrays to the world as a defender of the environment is a "mirage." And he gives equally low marks to the government when it comes to respecting and including the Costa Rica's indigenous people.

The Bribris - one of eight indigenous groups native to Costa Rica - total nearly 64,000 people, or 1.7% of the country's total population. Yet they have no representation in the Legislative Assembly, and the eight Indian groups - each with their own language - live scattered on 24 isolated reserves that have little contact with the rest of the country, or with each other.

Most of the indigenous people live in homes without electricity or potable water. They sleep in hammocks and cook rice and beans in stone ovens outside their homes.

The majority of indigenous children and adults dress in second-hand, charity clothing and walk around barefoot.
--AFP

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