The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 15, 2004

Angela Martin, from Madrid, lights candles in the Casa España in San José for those who died in the attack the day before, Thursday, March 11. Costa Rica declared two days of mourning in solidarity with Spain and the loved ones of the victims.
Photo by Esteban Dato, special to the Tico Times

Memorials Held Here for
Victims of Madrid Bombings
Casa España and the Spanish Cultural Center in San José both held memorial services on Friday for the nearly 200 people whose lives were claimed by terrorist bombings in Madrid the day before.
(Click for more)

March 15

Francophonie 2004
Fiesta organized by the Alliance Française with the play "Architruc" by Gérard Mordillat, with Jean-Luc Bideau, 7 p.m. Check The Tico Times Calendar in this week’s print edition or pdf digital version for more activities. Info: 393-6588.

Photo Exhibit
Photography exhibit by Fabián Hernández, at the Calderón Guardia Museum, Av. 11/13, Ca. 25 in Barrio Escalante. Info: 222-6392.

Dolphin Encounters
Register today to learn about dolphins with marine biologist and diving instructor Shawn Larkin. Info: 770-8012.

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Memorials Held Here for
Victims of Madrid Bombings
By Robert Goodier
rgoodier@ticotimes.net

Casa España and the Spanish Cultural Center in San José both held memorial services on Friday for the nearly 200 people whose lives were claimed by terrorist bombings in Madrid the day before.

Another 1,200 to 1,500 people, including at least 16 Latin Americans, were injured in the bombings, according to wire reports.

On Thursday, President Abel Pacheco declared two days of national mourning and asked public institutions in Costa Rica to keep flags at half-mast during those days (TT Daily Page, March 12).

The Spanish Embassy has announced it will open this week a Book of Condolences “in memory of the victims of the brutal attack that the country suffered.” The book can be signed at the residence of the Ambassador of Spain in Rohrmoser, a western suburb of San José.

“It’s very tough being here with all that is happening in Spain – it makes one feel impotent,” said one Spanish student in Costa Rica, who wished to remain anonymous.

The identities of the bombers, still unknown, has been a political rallying point for Spanish voters, who cast their votes for a new president on Sunday, according to wire reports and the Miami Herald.

The government of José María Aznar initially pointed a finger at the Basque separatist group ETA (Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna, which means “freedom for the Basque country” in the Basque language Euskara).

That ETA, considered a terrorist organization by both the United States and the Spanish government, denied its involvement twice in interviews with a Basque-language newspaper.

Al-Qaeda is another group under suspicion of carrying out the bombings. A video tape of a man claiming responsibility for Al Qaeda was delivered to a Madrid TV station on Saturday, and investigators are verifying its authenticity, according to the AP.

On Saturday, as many as 11 million people marched in the streets of major cities throughout Spain to call for an end to acts of violence, and yesterday more voters went to the polls for the national elections than in past years.

“The thing that hurts the most,” said the Spanish student in Costa Rica, “is that I can’t vote today against the government.”

According to preliminary results, Spain voted the dominant Popular Party out of the presidency, opting for the liberal Spanish Socialist Workers Party. According to El País newspaper in Spain, the Socialist party won the general elections with 163 congressional seats and José Luis R. Zapatero took the presidency with 42.66% of the total vote, an increase for the party of 8% over the elections of 2000.

The formerly dominant Popular Party of former president José María Aznar suffered a loss of 7% from the 2000 elections, winning 148 seats and 37.7% of the popular vote yesterday.

The vote in Madrid, the site of the bombing, was nearly evenly divided between the Popular Party, and the Socialist Workers Party – an increase for the latter of 11% compared to 2000.

According to El País, 80% of Spaniards voted this year, 8% more than the elections of 2000.

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Priest Suspected of Involvement in
Journalist’s Death Released from Prison

Father Minor Calvo, a widely known Costa Rican priest arrested Dec. 27, 2003, for his suspected connection to the 2001 slaying of renowned radio journalist Parmenio Medina, was granted conditional freedom by an Heredia court on Friday afternoon, La Nación reported.

Calvo’s conditional liberty was granted after his lawyer, Moises Vincenzi, presented an appeal on his behalf. The exact reasons why Calvo was released after 77 days in prison were not immediately clear and are expected to be released today, according to La Nación.

Calvo, suspected of authoring Medina’s murder, is prohibited from leaving the country and contacting other witnesses involved in the trial, and must present himself before a judge every 15 days. The Archbishop of San José, Hugo Barrantes, has requested Calvo refrain from giving mass, baptisms, or taking confessions.

Medina hosted a 28-year-old satirical and investigative radio program called La Patada (The Kick), which had run a series of reports about financial irregularities in the now-collapsed station Radio Maria, which was run by Calvo.

Assassins gunned down the 62-year-old, Colombian-born, Costa Rican-naturalized journalist outside his home in the northern province of Heredia on July 7, 2001. Medina received three bullets fired point-blank at his head and torso (TT, Jan. 9, 2004).

Another suspected intellectual author of the slaying, a sports businessman named Omar Chaves, remains behind bars. Chaves, who funded Radio Maria, had filed appeals for his release from prison alongside Calvo. Appeals Court Judge Luis Gerardo Bolaños had rejected both their appeals and ruled Jan. 16 that Calvo and Chaves would serve the remainder of their six-month preventive prison sentences (TT, Jan. 23).

Calvo and Chaves’ lawyers had filed a series of habeas corpus motions before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) and legal appeals in the Heredia Appeals Court. They were to remain in jail while the prosecutor’s office continued its 30-month investigation into Medina’s death (TT, Jan.9, Jan. 16).

Neither Calvo nor Chaves has been formally accused of committing a crime, but under Costa Rican law a suspect can remain under a preventive prison sentence based on what the judge deems to be “probable” involvement.

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Region’s Oil Distributors
Request Joint Purchases

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) – The leaders of the Federation of Petroleum Product Distributors of Central America (Fedicappe) have announced they will ask the region’s leaders to begin conducting joint purchases of fuels to reduce import costs.

By conducting joint purchases, the region’s countries would be able to buy their oil in bulk, enabling them to negotiate better prices, according to Fedicappe.

“There’s no doubt we are facing one the most powerful oligopolies in the world,” said Jorge Fuentes, president of Fedicappe. “Oil companies pressure governments and mock importers. When it comes to prices, they don’t remember the consumers.”

The region’s governments award small profit margins to local distributors, while transnational firms that import fossil fuels receive huge gains, particularly in Panama, El Salvador and Honduras, Fuentes said.

“We all know transnationals are driving us into bankruptcy and governments aren’t doing anything,” agreed Panamanian representative Luis Picardi. “They have control of the entire process. They report obscene profits.”

Transnational firms Shell, Exxon, Chevron and Golf import 95.5 million barrels of oil to Central America each year. These same firms operate 60% of gas stations in Honduras, 90% in El Salvador, 60% in Panama, 70% in Guatemala and 25% in Costa Rica, according to Fedicappe.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005