The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, July, 21 2004

STANDING tall: “La Chola de la Avenida,” a new, 2.1-meter statue, was inaugurated yesterday by sculptor Manuel Vargas (left) and San José mayor Johnny Araya (right). The 500-kilogram statue, on the Avenida Central pedestrian mall near the Central Bank in the heart of the capital, is intended to represent the strong, determined character of the women of the northwestern province of Guanacaste.
Tico Times/Julio Laínez

ICE Board Members Who
Traveled to Prague Fired
President Abel Pacheco yesterday announced he was firing two members of the Costa Rican Electricity and Telecom Institute’s (ICE) board of directors who traveled to the Czech capital Prague last October with a top Costa Rican official of Swedish telecom firm Ericsson.
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Health Minister Supports
Controversial Morning-After Pill
Public Health Minister María del Rocío Sáenz said yesterday she would support the distribution of the so-called “morning-after pill” in Costa Rica, although no proposals for its commercialization here have yet been made.
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July 21

National Dance Encounter
The National Dance Company is celebrating its XXV Anniversary with a series of shows and workshops with national and international dancers, actors, and musicians. As part of the celebration, the company will perform the show “Nadie Me Quita lo Bailado,” tonight at 8 p.m. at the Melico Salazar Theater. “The Thieves of the Pearl,” a mime show by Fred Herrera, will be performed tomorrow at 8 p.m. at Teatro 1887 in San José. Info: 222-2974.

Film Show
The film Estación Central will show today at 5 p.m., at José Figueres Cultural Center in San Ramón, Alajuela. Info: 447-2178, 447-2381.

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ICE Board Members Who
Traveled to Prague Fired
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

President Abel Pacheco yesterday announced he was firing two members of the Costa Rican Electricity and Telecom Institute’s (ICE) board of directors who traveled to the Czech capital Prague last October with a top Costa Rican official of Swedish telecom firm Ericsson.

Pacheco said he would make public a report with findings later this week. Until then, he refused to comment of the investigation’s results.

“It would be difficult to comment since it’s something that requires a lot of care,” Pacheco said during his weekly Cabinet meeting. “We do not want to make a mistake and would like to follow all the correct legal procedures.”

The government-appointed board members, Hernando Pantigioso and José Antonio Lobo, and ICE’s Sub-Manager of Telecommunications Alvaro Retana, traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to take part the International Telecommunication Union’s World Conference, Oct. 12-18.

However, Oct. 15-18, the ICE representatives were in Prague, accompanied by Ricardo Taylor, Ericsson’s top representative in Costa Rica. At the time, Ericsson was involved in, and two months later won, a $130 million public bid to supply ICE with 600,000 new cell phone lines.

The details of the trip were made public in February by Libertarian Movement Party legislators. However, it wasn’t until April that the Executive Branch began investigating the matter (TT, April 23).

Taylor, Retana and the two board members have maintained their innocence.

Retana has been on vacation since April 28 while ICE conducts an internal investigation of his actions. If he is found guilty of violating ICE’s rules, Retana could lose his job.

The daily La Nación yesterday reported the investigation is in its final phases.

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Health Minister Supports
Controversial Morning-After Pill
By Rebecca Kimitch
rkimitch@ticotimes.net

Public Health Minister María del Rocío Sáenz said yesterday she would support the distribution of the so-called “morning-after pill” in Costa Rica, although no proposals for its commercialization here have yet been made.

“We cannot speak of any technical or legal argument to prevent its registry,” Sáenz said at President Abel Pacheco’s weekly Cabinet meeting.

The controversial emergency-contraception pill can be used up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse to reduce the chance of pregnancy. Because the pill is taken after intercourse, some consider it abortion.

Scientists have not come to an agreement on the issue, Pacheco said at yesterday’s meeting. Some say it is abortion, ending a life that began at intercourse, while others say it is not.

“As I am Catholic, if it is abortion, I cannot support it,” the President said.

Roman Catholic Church representatives worldwide have expressed opposition to the pill. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends its use, and it has been approved in the Latin American countries of Mexico, Honduras, Chile and Nicaragua, according to Sáenz.

Sáenz said the Ministry of Health considers the pill contraception and not abortion, and supports its use after unprotected, violent or non-consensual sex.

No proposal for the commercial distribution of the morning after pill in Costa Rica has been presented to the government, Sáenz said, but if and when there is, the pill will follow the same registration process of all medications in Costa Rica, which takes about one month.

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Official Calls for Approval
Of New Immigration Law

Immigration Director Marco Badilla expressed his concern about the lack of a law criminalizing the act of human trafficking, and lamented that law enforcement authorities can only legally pursue persons suspected of international trafficking of minors or foreigners who re-enter the country illegally, the Public Security Ministry announced yesterday.

President Abel Pacheco seconded those concerns during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

Badilla called for the approval of the new immigration law being discussed by the Legislative Assembly, which would criminalize human trafficking, or “coyotaje.” The new law, if passed, would provide sentences of up to six years for convicted traffickers, and eight years for public functionaries found guilty of the crime.

Badilla’s announcement came after the capture of seven Ecuadorian citizens in the early hours of Monday morning, who police said had entered the country illegally and were in a car driven by a Costa Rican identified as having the last name of Aguilar. Two of the Ecuadorians were minors, and Aguilar will likely face charges for trafficking minors across international borders, officials said.

Immigration authorities are growing increasingly concerned with the number of South Americans entering Costa Rica illegally through the border with Panama, according to Immigration Police Chief Luis Diego Solano.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005