The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, May 6, 2004

APPRECIATIVE: Alvaro Ugalde, director of the Osa Conservation Area, holds a plaque from Horizontes Nature Tours, flanked by representatives of the business. Horizontes this week announced a $20,000 donation toward Corcovado National Park, part of the conservation area.
Tico Times/Jeffrey Arguedas

Seatbelt Law Goes Into Effect
A law making seatbelt use mandatory for drivers and passengers went into effect yesterday.
(Click for more)

Casa Alianza Urges Passage
Of Law to Protect Children
The case against a man accused of killing 8-year-old Kattia Vanessa González is dragging and the proposed national registry of people convicted of committing crimes against minors is stalled in the Legislative Assembly, charged child advocacy group Casa Alianza yesterday.
(Click for more)

Drug Control Police Seize
410 Kilos of Cocaine
Agents of the Drug Control Police (PCD) on Tuesday night seized 410 kilograms of cocaine from a cargo truck on a town almost on the southern border with Panama, the Public Security Ministry announced.
(Click for more)

May 6

Fusión Caribe in Concert
The group will perform a repertoire of jazz, funk, rhythm and blues and Latin music at 10 p.m. at the Jazz Café in San Pedro. Info: 819-5486.

Video Forum:
Transgenic Organisms and Agro-ecology
Dr. Miguel Altieri, a professor and researcher of the University of California at Berkeley, is talking about the diverse aspects of transgenic organisms and agro-ecology at 2:30 p.m. in Room 4 of the Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED), road to Sabanilla.

Republicans Abroad Costa Rica
The Republicans Abroad have announced the group’s May luncheon to be held on Tues., May 11, at noon, with Mr. Jim Fendell, President American Chamber of Commerce in Central America as guest speaker, at the Meliá Confort Corobicí in La Sabana. Info and reservations: 228-6082.

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Seatbelt Law Goes Into Effect
By Rebecca Kimitch
rkimitch@ticotimes.net

A law making seatbelt use mandatory for drivers and passengers went into effect yesterday.

Drivers risk being fined more than ¢5,000 ($12) if they or their passengers are not using seatbelts, according to the law published yesterday in the government’s official newspaper La Gaceta. According to law, the fine is 5% of the minimum wage.

Yesterday morning, traffic officers patrolled the Inter-American Highway on the western edge of San José warning drivers about the new law. They did not appear to be ticketing violators.

Congress passed the law April 13 after the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) reversed a seven-year opinion and said such a law is constitutional (TT, Feb. 20).

A previous mandatory seatbelt law was repealed in 1997, when the court said the use of seatbelts was up to each person’s discretion.

Lawmakers approved the bill in the hopes of reducing the number of deaths and injuries in traffic accidents. In Costa Rica, an average of one person dies every day in highway accidents, according to Ministry of Transport and Public Works statistics (TT Dec. 24, 2003).

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Casa Alianza Urges Passage
Of Law to Protect Children
By Robert Goodier
rgoodier@ticotimes.net

The case against a man accused of killing 8-year-old Kattia Vanessa González is dragging and the proposed national registry of people convicted of committing crimes against minors is stalled in the Legislative Assembly, charged child advocacy group Casa Alianza yesterday.

The proposed Kattia and Osvaldo Law, which would create the registry (TT, July 18, 2003), was presented shortly after González’s body was found buried beneath the floorboards of the suspect’s house nearly one year ago. The law was named for González and for 4-year-old Osvaldo Fabricio Madrigal, who was kidnapped in June 2002 and whose remains were found in a dam days later.

An avalanche of signatures – nearly 1.5 million in this country of 4million – requesting legal reform to guarantee the protection of the nation’s children spurred the law toward the Legislative Assembly. But, Casa Alianza reminded yesterday, those signatories are still waiting for a result.

The registry would serve as a tool for the public to prevent people who are convicted of crimes against children from coming into direct contact with them after they are released from prison. The proposed law had input from the Ombudsman, the Child Welfare Office, the Ministry of Culture, the Institute of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, Banco de Costa Rica and many other organizations.

“The majority of the institutions agreed with the proposed law,” said Bruce Harris, director of the Casa Alianza. “If there is agreement with the spirit of the law and with its goals, the only logical option is that the Assembly modify it as necessary and approve it, so the children of the country have another means of protecting themselves.”

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Drug Control Police Seize
410 Kilos of Cocaine
By Steven J. Barry
sbarry@ticotimes.net

Agents of the Drug Control Police (PCD) on Tuesday night seized 410 kilograms of cocaine from a cargo truck on a town almost on the southern border with Panama, the Public Security Ministry announced.

It was the largest single bust of the year, police said, and brings the total amount of cocaine seized this year to more than two metric tons. Authorities captured a total of just over one metric ton during all of last year, police said.

“The dimensions of a capture are always special. This time, we prevented 5 million doses of cocaine from poisoning the youth of our children and the youth of other nations,” Security Minister Rogelio Ramos said.

PCD agents stopped the truck in the southern town of Caracol de La Vaca, Puntarenas, after receiving tips from community members regarding the presence of suspicious persons and vehicles. After searching the truck, they discovered the drugs in 11 packages of 25 kilograms each, an additional package of 11 kilograms, and various other small amounts of cocaine, totaling 410 kilograms.

Some of the packages had the logo “Taz-express” on them, police said, and were likely destined for the United States.

They detained the driver, a 24-year-old Costa Rican who police identified as having a last name of Alvarado. The suspect, who police believe could be part of an international drug ring operating between Costa Rica and Panama, will face international drug trafficking charges, police said, and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005