The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 26, 2004

VICTORY in progress: U.S. soccer legend Mia Hamm goes up for the ball yesterday in what ended up as the United States' 7-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago during the first-ever women's Olympic qualifying event held by the Confederation of North and Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) in San José. Costa Rica plays Panama tonight at 8 p.m. at the Eladio Rosabal Cordero Stadium in Heredia. See tomorrow's print edition or digital PDF version for full story.
Tico Times/Jeffrey Arguedas

Education Minister Directs School
Staffs to Search Suspicious Bags
Education Minister Manuel Bolaños yesterday introduced new guidelines encouraging school administrators to search the bags of students suspected of possessing drugs or weapons.

A student's backpack, fanny pack, briefcase or any other kind of bag can be searched from the moment the student steps onto a school campus, according to the guidelines.
(Click for more)

February 26

Poetry Reading
Includes the participation of violinist Marisol Valerio and poetry reading by Osvaldo Sauma, Camila Schumacher and Armando Rodríguez Ballesteros, 7 p.m. at Casa de la Cultura José Figueres Ferrer, 300 m. north, 300 m. east of Santa Teresita Church in Barrio Escalante. Info: 224-0010.

Construction Fair
Exhibiting what's in fashion in construction, runs through Feb. 29 at the Multiplaza shopping mall in Escazú. Info: 228-5706.

Fusion Cooking Classes
Register today and learn revolutionary culinary cooking techniques with Chef Isabel Campabadal, lessons are March 1, 3, 8 and 10 at 6:30 p.m. and March 2, 4, 9 and 11 at 8:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. Info: 224-5803, 827-9773.

Return To Top Of Page

Education Minister Directs School
Staffs to Search Suspicious Bags
By Rebecca Kimitch
rkimitch@ticotimes.net

Education Minister Manuel Bolaños yesterday introduced new guidelines encouraging school administrators to search the bags of students suspected of possessing drugs or weapons.

A student's backpack, fanny pack, briefcase or any other kind of bag can be searched from the moment the student steps onto a school campus, according to the guidelines.

No law prohibiting such searches, according to the Education Ministry. The only laws addressing the subject are broad rights to privacy, according to ministry spokeswoman Carolina Mora.

"The right to life and safety in schools is the most important, more than privacy," Mora said. "You have to prevent problems before they happen. When you enter a bank, or the courts, or the stadium, they search your bags."

Although constitutionality concerns have prevented similar provisions in the past, Bolaños said he was motivated to take the action after a school shooting last week left two 11-year-old students injured (TT, Feb. 20). The gun used for the shooting was found two days later in the urinal of the school in Tibás, north of San José, where the incident took place.

The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office has opened a case against a 17-year-old student at the school whose backpack showed traces of gunpowder, according to police.

President Abel Pacheco responded to last week's shooting with an announcement his administration would reintroduce legislation to reform the child welfare code and allow school authorities to search student's belongings. However, no such legislation had been introduced as of yesterday, according to a spokesman at the Legislative Assembly.

The new Ministry guidelines stipulate that if any suspected materials are found, "the presence of the parents or those in charge of the student should be requested immediately and the judicial authorities and administrative police contacted, with the goal of taking the suspect and his goods into custody and filing an appropriate report, according to the Penal Process Code."

The guidelines will go into effect in approximately eight days, according to Mora, once they have been distributed to the country's approximately 4,000 elementary and high schools.

Return To Top Of Page

AmCham Says CAFTA Approval
Requires Only 29 Deputy Votes

The Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) has issued a statement saying the U.S.-Central America Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) requires only a simple majority of 29 of 57 votes in the Legislative Assembly to be ratified.

In recent weeks, legislators and legal analysts have argued about how many votes CAFTA needs to be approved. Under Costa Rican law, the approval of laws that don't affect the country's Constitution require only 29 votes in favor. Reforms to the constitution require a qualified majority of 39 votes.

In general, CAFTA proponents have argued the treaty requires only a simple majority. Opponents of CAFTA have said the treaty requires a qualified majority since it will dramatically change the country by opening its telecommunications and insurance monopolies (TT, Oct. 31, Dec. 19, 2003) and require the country make significant legislative changes.

Despite these arguments, the Supreme Court has not issued a formal ruling on the number of votes CAFTA needs to be approved.

After a careful study of the treaty and its implications, AmCham's Legal Affairs Commission stated the treaty would only require a simple majority. However, the business chamber's position is merely an informed opinion and has no legal value.

AmCham and its sister organizations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua represent approximately 80% of U.S. businesses that invest in Central America.

Since formal negotiations began last year, the AmChams of Central America have played an active role in promoting CAFTA in Central America and the U.S. The group plans to continue these efforts during the coming months.

AmCham Costa Rica also announced it was "very pleased" with U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to formally notify the U.S. Congress about the conclusion of CAFTA negotiations (TT Daily Page, Feb. 25).

In related news, Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, the country's second-largest public university, has publicly come out against CAFTA, calling its potential approval and implementation a "coup d' etat."

According to Henry Mora, of UNA's School of Economics, CAFTA is part of a neo-liberal ideology backed by nearly all the country's business sector and conservative politicians, which attempts to impose a specific world vision in a non-democratic manner.

Approving CAFTA would violate the country's Constitution, Mora said.

Return To Top Of Page

Wednesday October 26, 2005