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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, September, 03 2004
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OPENING doors: The Global Alliance for Humane and Sustainable Development/Humane Society International has opened a regional office for Central America in San José. Mara Burr, of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (left), Marta Prado, executive director of the Global Alliance for Humane and Sustainable Development and the Humane Society International (center) and Andrés Riggioni, regional director for the Global Alliance for Humane and Sustainable Development (right) inaugurated the offices. |
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Caja Directors Formally Accused Of Misusing Public Funds
Six members of the board of directors of the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja) were formally accused yesterday of misusing public funds when they took out four ads in daily newspapers in support of former Caja president Eliseo Vargas, the Judicial Branch announced.
(Click for more)
Humane Society Opens
Regional Offices Here
The non-profit Humane Society/Global Alliance for Humane Sustainable Development this week inaugurated its regional office for Central America in San José.
(Click for more)
August Inflation
Registers at 0.97%
Fueled by higher housing and transportation costs, Costa Rica registered a monthly inflation of 0.97% in August.
(Click for more)
September 03
Face-to-Face Concert
Gabriela Zamora and the gospel choir Voices for Christ will perform works by Spanish composer Marcos Vidal in a concert entitled Cara a Cara, 8 p.m. Friday at the Laurence Olivier Theater in San José. Info: 223-1960.
Coast-to-Coast Race
Witness some or all of 24 hours of competition, including biking, hiking and sea kayaking, Saturday and Sunday, begins around Nuevo Arenal and Arenal Lake. Info: eventos@coasttocoastadventures.com
Terry Fox Run
A walk to raise funds for children's cancer research, includes performances by UCR's Experimental Choir and cheerleaders, 8:30 a.m. Sunday in La Sabana Park, west San José. Register at the Canadian Embassy, Oficentro, Building 5, Floor 3, or at the Residents' Association. Participants can also arrive early on Sunday and register there. Info: 257-6646.
Edited by Steven J. Barry
sbarry@ticotimes.net
Caja Directors Formally Accused
Of Misusing Public Funds
By Steven J. Barry
sbarry@ticotimes.net
Six members of the board of directors of the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja) were formally accused yesterday of misusing public funds when they took out four ads in daily newspapers in support of former Caja president Eliseo Vargas, the Judicial Branch announced.
The accusations, made by the Financial Prosecutor, have yet to be presented to a penal judge, according to a statement from the Judicial Branch, because the Attorney General and the accused are still reviewing them. Once a judge receives the accusations, a date for a preliminary audience will be set.
Vargas stepped down after La Nación revealed a questionable link between he and a former executive of the company Corporación Fischel, a Caja provider that also owns a chain of pharmacies. La Nación reported that the Fischel executive, Olman Valverde, was renting a luxury home to Vargas at half its value (TT, May 14).
The company, owned by the Finnish medical company Instrumentarium Medko Medical Corporation, won a $39.5 million hospital equipment contract with the Caja in 2001.
The day after he stepped down, the board decided to purchase the ads – which cost the Caja nearly ¢2 million ($4,545).
A penal judge in June suspended the board of directors for six months while officials investigated whether purchasing the ads constituted a misuse of public funds for personal gain – a crime known as peculado .
Fischel won the Caja equipment contract after the Legislative Assembly in 2001 approved a plan called the Finland Project, which entailed obtaining a $32 million loan from the Finnish government. Vargas, at the time a legislative deputy, brought forth the idea for the project.
The requirements the Costa Rican government later set for the company that would receive the contract excluded all potential competitors except Instrumentarium Medko.
Caja officials later announced in a statement “the pieces of hospital equipment purchased from Instrumentarium Medko Medical Corporation were not those outlined as priority needs by the directors of clinics and hospitals in the country.”
The purchases are currently being investigated by the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ), the Prosecutor's Office and the Comptroller General's office, which conducted administrative raids of Caja offices in May.
President Abel Pacheco also assembled a “commission of notables” to investigate the contract.
Humane Society Opens Regional Offices Here
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net
The non-profit Humane Society/Global Alliance for Humane Sustainable Development this week inaugurated its regional office for Central America in San José.
The group is working on several projects in the region, including one to help 3,200 rural Costa Rican cacao growers receive certification as organic producers and begin exporting to the United States.
It is also working with Costa Rica's Agriculture and Cattle Ministry (MAG) and the National Cattle Farmers' Corporation (CORFOGA) to improve practices in the beef sector and help producers begin exporting to the United States.
The Humane Society is also lending support to the Tortuguero Biological Station in the eastern province of Limón.
These projects were first proposed last year during the negotiations for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States.
During the first part of the trade-agreement negotiations, the Humane Society and several non-governmental groups sat at a special cooperation table where Central American countries discussed some of their needs (TT, Oct. 3, 2003). The projects do not depend on CAFTA's approval, however.
The Humane Society was founded in 1954 with the purpose of promoting the protection of all animals, including humans. It currently has more than 8 million members in the United States. The organization advises the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on trade and environmental policy.
August Inflation Registers at 0.97%
Fueled by higher housing and transportation costs, Costa Rica registered a monthly inflation of 0.97% in August.
Inflation for the first eight months of the year was 8.68%, the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reported.
Inflation for the first eight months of 2004 was 5.62%. Inflation for the last 12 months was reported at 13.05%.
In July, the Central Bank announced it would tighten the country's monetary policy to curb rising inflation. The measures included a rise in interest rates and an increase in the colón's daily devaluation rate against the U.S. dollar (TT, July 30).
The Central Bank originally set its 2004 target inflation at less than 9% (TT, March 26), but later revised it to 11%. If inflation meets or exceeds the new target, it will be at its highest level in six years.
Annual inflation in 2003 was 9.87%.
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