The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, April 28, 2004

GETTING tough: President Abel Pacheco says tourists found guilty of committing illegal sexual acts will be punished and sent to Costa Rica’s prisons.
Tico Times/Jeffrey Arguedas

Pacheco Reaffirms Stance
Against Sex Tourism
President Abel Pacheco yesterday said the country had toughened its stance against sexual tourism and underage prostitution, and promised to continue to crack down and send offenders to prison.
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April 28

Free Rock Concert
The weeklong university party continues at Semana Universitaria, with a concert by Tropa 56, Kadeho and Gandhi at 7 p.m. at the Engineering School of the University of Costa Rica in San Pedro, east of San José. Info: 207-5062.

Laughs and Magic
Tonight Circoarakne and Professor Estorbo will perform theatrical improvisation, music, jokes and more at 9 p.m., at the Café Sala Calle 15, south side of the Plaza de la Democracia in San José. Info: 223-7482.

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Pacheco Reaffirms Stance
Against Sex Tourism
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

President Abel Pacheco yesterday said the country had toughened its stance against sexual tourism and underage prostitution, and promised to continue to crack down and send offenders to prison.

Pacheco made these comments in response to a question from reporter Steve Wilson of ABC News asking what the country was doing to deal with the large number of foreigners who visit the country each year in search of sexual thrills.

“We recognize sexual tourism and underage prostitution is a problem,” Pacheco said. “They profoundly shame us and fill us with rage.”

Pacheco said the only way to stop sex tourism is to “act with severity.” He said police are doing everything possible to stop sex tourism, particularly when in involves minors.

“We have captured many of these evil doers,” he said. “I am warning international tourists that we are taking a tough stand on sexual tourism. There will be no clemency.”

Pacheco said Costa Rica is committed to jailing sex offenders.

“We will put them in jail and we can be very mean with them,” Pacheco told Wilson in English. “Jail is not a very nice place in the world or in Costa Rica. We have several sex offenders in prison. They’re sitting there calmly.”

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Ex-President of Airline
Group TACA Killed

SAN SALVADOR – The former president of airline group TACA, Federico Bloch, was found dead Monday in the interior of his vehicle on a road to the town Nuevo Cuscatlán, 13 kilometers south of San Salvador, the company announced.

Police authorities found Bloch’s body after they were informed by private citizens about the incident, which occurred around 2:30 a.m. Bloch, who was 50, had two gunshot wounds, one in the torso and one in the head, according to the National Civil Police (PNC).

Ten days earlier, Bloch had resigned from his position as executive president of TACA, which Costa Rican airline LACSA became a part of in 1997. The airline, based in the El Salvador capital, also includes Aviateca of Guatemala and Aeronica of Nicaragua. In 2000, the company registered sales of $700 million.

“It is a regrettable fact, (Bloch) was an extraordinary person, he knew how to direct the TACA group very well when he was executive president, and we cannot explain how this could have happened,” TACA press director Claudia Arenas told the AFP wire service.

Bloch cited personal motives for retiring. The interim president is the president of the company’s board of directors, Roberto Kriete.

“(Bloch) wanted to dedicate himself to his family, to have more time with them. He was one of the shareholders of the group, but no longer formed part of the board,” Arenas explained.

A police source told the AFP the institution had opened “an intense investigation,” to find those responsible for the crime.

Bloch’s body was taken to the Institute of Legal Medicine in the city of Santa Tecla, 10 kilometers west of San Salvador, for forensic recognition.

In El Salvador, an average of eight murders a day occur. With a population of 6.6 million people, it is considered one of the most violent countries of Latin America.

--AFP

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Suspected Members of
Heroin Ring Busted

Costa Rican Drug Control Police (PCD) agents yesterday morning arrested seven suspects they believe are part of an international network of drug traffickers moving heroin into the United States, officials from the Public Security Ministry announced.

The arrests were made in the Caribbean port town of Limón. PCD agents had been investigating the suspects for more than 18 months in coordination with agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the United States, Panama and Canada, police said.

Security Minister Rogelio Ramos called the bust “one of the most important anti-drug actions in recent years.”

The suspects have been remitted to the control of the attorney general of Limón, and could face up to 20 years in prison if charged and convicted of international drug trafficking.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005