The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 22, 2004

SETTING the precedent: Casa Alianza director Brice Harris, who goes on trial today in Guatemala, says what's really at stake is the right to freedom of speech.
Tico Times/Jeffrey Arguedas

Harris Goes On Trial Today in Guatemala
Human Rights Watch yesterday blasted the criminal defamation charges in Guatemala against regional child advocacy leader Bruce Harris as a violation of free expression and called on the government to repeal provisions allowing for prison sentences for ordinary libel and slander cases, according to a Casa Alianza press release.
(Click for more)

Government to 'Relaunch' Education
Education Minister Manuel Antonio Bolaños this week announced plans to create computer labs at 60 rural high schools throughout the country. Eleven of the schools will also receive new language and science labs.
(Click for more)

January 22

Suite Doble in Concert
The acclaimed rock duo will perform at 9 p.m. at Meridiano al Este bar, next to Bomba La Primavera in Barrio La California. Info: 256-2705.

Country Night
Includes country dancing instruction, live music, happy hour and a special country dinner and bocas, today and every Thursday, 8 p.m. at the Tara Hotel in Escazú. Info: 228-6992.

Burns Supper
Make your reservations to join this year's "Burns Supper," a traditional celebration of poet Robert Burns' birthday (Jan. 25, 1759). Burns, Scotland's national bard, gave a voice to the commoner, respecting emotions, idiosyncrasies and foibles. Fri., Jan. 30, at the Costa Rica Country Club in Escazú. Cost is ¢10,000 per person. Info: Kevin Glass or Ian Young, 289-4905 or e-mail glass@costarica.net or youngir@hotmail.com

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Harris Goes On Trial Today in Guatemala
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Human Rights Watch yesterday blasted the criminal defamation charges in Guatemala against regional child advocacy leader Bruce Harris as a violation of free expression and called on the government to repeal provisions allowing for prison sentences for ordinary libel and slander cases, according to a Casa Alianza press release.

Harris, the executive director of Casa Alianza, goes on trial today in Guatemala City's Twelfth Tribunal of the Criminal Sentencing Court to face charges of defamation, perjury and calumny, filed against him in 1997 by adoption lawyer Susana María Laraca Saracho de Umaña, the ex-wife of a former Supreme Court Judge.

In September 1997, Harris accused Saracho and 16 other Guatemalans involved in international adoptions of irregularities, based on a six-month investigation conducted by Casa Alianza and the Guatemalan Attorney General's Office.

If he is found guilty, Harris could face up to five years in prison. Casa Alianza is already prepared to appeal the case before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, if he loses the trial.

Harris told The Tico Times earlier this week that he is going on trial not just to face criminal charges against him, but to fight for all Guatemalan's right to free expression.

Read Friday's TT print edition or Digital PDF version for full story, plus exclusive interview with Harris.

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Government to 'Relaunch' Education
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

Education Minister Manuel Antonio Bolaños this week announced plans to create computer labs at 60 rural high schools throughout the country. Eleven of the schools will also receive new language and science labs.

The proposal is part of a $1.6-million program financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that seeks to "relaunch" Costa Rican education by incorporating innovative technologies and new teaching methods in regular classrooms.

The first computer lab is expected to be inaugurated Feb. 9 - the first day of the 2004 school year - in Liceo del Este in the Central Valley town of San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia, Bolaños announced.

That day, he said the Public Education Ministry (MEP) and the Costa Rican Electricity and Telecom Institute (ICE) will sign a "connectivity agreement," in which ICE will connect the 60 schools participating in the program to the new ADSL Advanced Internet Network (TT, Dec. 19, 2003), he said.

The schools chosen to participate in the program were among the lowest ranked in a Ministry study on access to educational resources. If the new program is successful, it will be expanded to other schools throughout the country, he explained.

Bolaños also announced MEP would build 16 new schools before the end of the school year.

"In summary, the 2004 school year will begin on time with innovation and equality," Bolaños promised. "We are betting on the relaunching of our country's main priority - education. In order for Costa Rica to achieve development, it must first improve its education."

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Costa Rica, Nicaragua Discuss
Immigrant Labor Policy

Government representatives from Nicaragua and Costa Rica plan to discuss mechanisms for Costa Rica to begin contracting Nicaraguan workers, who number hundreds of thousands here, under a "bi-national migratory labor policy," Nicaraguan officials announced yesterday.

The meeting of the inter-institutional commission of both countries is scheduled Jan. 27-30 in Liberia, the capital of the northern province of Guanacaste, said Nicaraguan chancellor Norman Caldera.

Caldera said his government maintains contact with Costa Rican authorities to fulfill the commitments assumed by both governments in "the subject of temporary work permits."

Between 300,000 and 600,000 Nicaraguans live in Costa Rica, and according to various sources, many do so illegally.
- AFP

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Wednesday October 26, 2005