The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, June 3, 2004

DECIDED: Former Labor Minister Víctor Morales (1998-2002) yesterday announced his intention to run for President during the 2006 Presidential elections as a candidate of the ruling Social Christian Unity Party.
Courtesy of Víctor Morales 2006 Campaign

Foreigners Threatened by
Changes to Residency Laws
The great American dream of leaving the United States to retire in the tropics may become more difficult if a new law is passed in Costa Rica, the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) announced yesterday.
(Click for more)

Former Labor Minister
Announces Presidential Bid
Former Labor Minister Víctor Morales (1998-2002) has announced his intention to run for President during the 2006 Presidential elections as a candidate of the ruling Social Christian Unity Party.
(Click for more)

June 3

Environmental Film Festival
Film festival by “Madre Fertil, Tierra Nuestra” (Fertile Mother, Our Earth). At the old customs building in east San José, starts at 6 a.m.

Exhibit of Emilia Prieto’s Work
Engravings on display, show opens today at the Costa Rican Museum of Art I La Sabana, west San José. Info: 222-7932.

Sin Bandera Rock Concert
Sin Bandera plays tonight at the Palacio de los Deportes in Heredia. Doors open at 3 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m. with opening band Santo Remedio. Sin Bandera is expected to begin playing at 8 p.m.

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Foreigners Threatened by
Changes to Residency Laws
By Rebecca Kimitch
rkimitch@hotmail.com

The great American dream of leaving the United States to retire in the tropics may become more difficult if a new law is passed in Costa Rica, the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) announced yesterday.

About to hit the floor of the Legislative Assembly is a bill to eliminate the residency status of rentista, which would prohibit a large category of potential residents from moving to the country, ARCR spokesman Ryan Piercy said. The rentista category is open to anyone able to prove they have a continuous source of income of at least $1,000 a month from abroad.

The assembly could make a decision within the coming weeks, according to Piercy.

Foreigners can now obtain residency under a number of different categories. For those who do not come for work or study, there are three choices: rentista, pensionado or inversionista (investor). Pensionados must show proof of a retirement or disability pension of $600 a month (TT, April 30). Inversionistas must invest at least $50,000 in a tourism or import-export business.

Many people have the financial capacity to live here, but do not actually have pensions, Piercy said. Business owners, doctors and people who left work early before receiving retirement will all be affected if the new law is passed, he said.

While citizens from the United States, Canada and Europe who wish to move their lives to the tropics will have to look elsewhere, it is Costa Rica that will truly suffer, according to the ARCR. Once here, residents not only buy cars, homes and other goods, they also contribute to the social economy by getting involved in organizations, often offering expert advice, Piercy said.

Immigration director Marco Badilla told The Tico Times in April the goal of the legislation is not to eliminate foreign residents, but rather bring in more people as inversionistas.

“Many people don’t think of investing right away, before they have lived in a country for awhile, and get to trust it,” Piercy said.

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Former Labor Minister
Announces Presidential Bid
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

Former Labor Minister Víctor Morales (1998-2002) has announced his intention to run for President during the 2006 Presidential elections as a candidate of the ruling Social Christian Unity Party.

“I am here to officially announce my intention to run for President,” Morales told reporters and a handful of followers shortly after 3 p.m. yesterday.

Morales is the first member of Unity to officially announce he will seek the party’s nomination. He and other party members with presidential aspirations will meet in the party’s primaries next year.

Morales said his aim is to “renovate and bring change to Social Christian Unity,” a party which, analysts say, will have lost much of its appeal by the time the 2006 elections begin. The party has held the presidency for two consecutive terms – former President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) and President Abel Pacheco, who will step down in May 2006.

A self-described centrist, Morales promises to serve as a balanced alternative to the two polar opposites that, he says, dominate Costa Rican politics -- “the conservative sector which pretends to dismantle the state and the populists who believe in building the Costa Rica of tomorrow using the solutions of the past.”

The Morales 2006 campaign platform will be based on three main principles -- growth with equality, politics with ethics and democracy with participation. Those three principles will guide his policy decisions and are the base of what he hopes will be Unity’s “new development agenda.”

In terms of economic policy, he said he aims to deliver growth in a way that will create jobs and reduce poverty. There must be “a combination of the dynamism and innovation of private initiative along with the powers of promotion and redistribution of a state based on solidarity,” he explained.

His social policies will be centered on improving education. Morales said he is in favor of increasing the percentage of the country’s gross domestic product spent on education from 6% to 8%.

“The best inheritance that our children can be given is a good education,” he explained.

Morales says he is in favor of further decentralizing the Costa Rican government and granting greater autonomy to municipal governments.

He has also adopted what he considers a “critical position” on the Central America Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States and the opening of the country’s telecommunications and insurance monopolies. Morales said it is important to have an open discussion between all sectors of the population about the contents of the treaty. Only then, after getting all the facts, can legislators decide if CAFTA is right for the country, he said.

Morales, 46, was born in Aserrí, a mountain town south of San José, in 1958. He is the oldest of five children. He has a law degree from the University of Costa Rica. He married to Elizabeth López. They live in Aserrí with their three daughters.

His tenure in public office includes serving as Municipal Rector for Aserrí, Labor Vice-Minister, Labor Minister and legislative deputy.

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Police Break Up
Suspected Drug Ring

Two women and three men were detained by agents of the Drug Control Police (PCD) yesterday in three simultaneous operations, in Granadilla norte de Curridabat, east of San José.

Police claim the five suspects are part of an organized drug-distribution ring, selling crack cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana from a home in the San José neighborhood.

Investigation of the distribution ring began months ago, when PCD agents compiled at least 40 complaints from residents who claimed to have been directly affected by the sale of drugs in the zone.

PCD agents claim that one of the women arrested, a 30-year-old identified as having a last name of Iglesias, was the leader of the organization. Police say she contracted others to remain in the house 24 hours a day, to maintain a continual sale of the illicit substances.

The other woman was identified as having a last name of Ramírez, and is 82 years old. The men arrested were identified as having last names of Muńoz, Campos and Delgado.

During the raids, police claim to have discovered 237 prepared doses of crack, 260 grams of crack, three doses of ecstasy and ˘90,260 ($207) in cash.

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Suspects Arrested for
Alleged Sexual Abuse

Two Nicaraguan immigrants identified by police as having the last name of Tercero were detained yesterday morning for alleged sexual abuse against one of the men’s stepdaughters.

The 12-year-old victim told police that both her stepfather and his brother had sexually abused her on various occasions, according to the Public Security Ministry.

The suspects were arrested at a coffee plantation five kilometers north of San Joaquín de Flores, where they live and work, according to police. Present during the arrest were local police chief Ileana Brenes and local domestic violence official Omar Sandí, who were informed of the situation by the victim’s mother.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005