The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 5, 2004

FATHER Minor de Jesús Calvo was one of two men arrested by authorities Dec. 27 following two and a half years of investigation into the murder of radio journalist Parmenio Medina.
AFP/Alexander Otarola

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Priest Arrested in Connection with
Radio Journalist's Murder

Catholic priest Minor de Jesús Calvo and businessman Omar Luis Chaves were arrested Dec. 27 on suspicion of involvement in the murder of controversial radio journalist Parmenio Medina, who was gunned down outside his Heredia home on July 7, 2001.

The suspects were detained following the testimony of John Gilberto Gutiérrez, a Colombian who claimed to have acted on behalf of Calvo and Chaves to contract a gang to kill Medina, according to the daily La Nación.

Medina's murder came four months after he began a radio series on alleged financial irregularities at the popular and now-defunct Radio Maria, which was directed by Calvo and financed by Chaves. Medina also had publicly denounced Calvo for being found in a car after dark in San José's La Sabana Park with a youth with "homosexual tendencies" (TT, July 13, 2001).

Calvo is being held on a six-month preventive sentence in La Reforma prison, while Chaves is being held at San Sebastián prison. Both men have denied any involvement with the murder, or even acquaintance with Gutiérrez, according to the daily El Heraldo.

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Slow Year for the Legislative Assembly

The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly passed only 60 laws in 2003, the fewest passed in the last six years, according to the daily La Nación.

Various laws deemed important by many legislators and Costa Rican citizens, such as the Penalization of Violence Against Women Law, the Penalization of Illicit Enrichment in Public Service Law, the reform of legislative regulations (intended to facilitate the passage of laws) and changes to the Immigration Law, among others, were undecided as the year ended.

La Nación reported that most legislators said they thought current regulations in the Assembly are the main stumbling block to the passage of laws.

Legislative Assembly President Mario Redondo emphasized the need to reform the process of the passage of laws, saying current rules have allowed the Libertarian Movement, in particular, "to torpedo" the approval process by introducing dozens of motions in each legislative debate.

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Ombudsman Criticizes Lack of
Human Development in 2003

The human rights of Costa Ricans and the pace of human development in the country saw little progress in 2003, according to Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi.

Echandi said in a statement that unemployment, an increase in informal employment and the persistence of low-quality jobs were social ills that did not change in the last year.

"If we really know the problems," Echandi asked, "[then] what is going on with us as a society? Why is it so hard to bring ourselves into agreement?"

The Ombudsman went on to say that the most vulnerable sectors of society, such as children, women and the disabled, continue to be the most discriminated against. The Child Welfare Office still lacks funding and the Law for People with Disabilities has yet to be put into practice in most cases, he said. Furthermore, sexual and domestic violence against women remains widespread.

Echandi said the country's goals from last year have yet to be fulfilled, including re-establishing faith in national institutions, creating jobs, modernizing transport and communication infrastructure, controlling the internal debt and closing the development gap between the country's regions.

The most immediate challenge, he said, is to create a regional strategy to combat poverty, which has the greatest effect on children and adolescents.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005