[dailyarchive/2004_09/Week2/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, September, 08 2004
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ANOTHER one says goodbye: Presidency Minister Ricardo Toledo resigned yesterday - becoming the 12th minister to resign since President Abel Pacheco took office in May 2002. |
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Presidency Minister,
Finance Vice-Minister Resign
Under pressure from the country’s business sector and the government’s economic team, Presidency Minister Ricardo Toledo yesterday announced he would step down from his post on Friday.
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Government to Meet
With Riteve Tomorrow
Riteve SyC officials arrived from Spain yesterday for a meeting tomorrow with Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, Javier Chaves, after weeks of controversy regarding the company’s monopoly on mandatory vehicle inspections.
(Click for more)
Earthquake Hits
Central Pacific Coast
The University of Costa Rica’s national seismology network announced an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale hit Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast yesterday.
(Click for more)
September 08
Women's Club Monthly Meeting
The Women’s Club of Costa Rica will meet today at 9:30 a.m. at InBio Park in Santo Domingo de Heredia. Info: 282-6801, 241-3013.
Concert “Canciones Cercanas”
Gerardo Mora, Bernal Villegas, Marta Fonseca and Gonzalo D’ Trejo will perform a repertoire of their own songs at 9:30 p.m. at the Jazz Café in San Pedro. Info: 253-8933.
Dance Show
Members of El Barco (the National Dance Company), under the direction of dancer Jimmy Ortiz, will perform the dance show “Tiempo Sucesivo” tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at the Teatro 1887 in the FANAL Culture Complex, Av. 3, Ca. 17 in San José. Info: 222-9398.
Edited by Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net
Presidency Minister,
Finance Vice-Minister Resign
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net
Under pressure from the country’s business sector and the government’s economic team, Presidency Minister Ricardo Toledo yesterday announced he would step down from his post on Friday.
Regarded as President Abel Pacheco’s right-hand man, Toledo will be the 12th minister and the second Presidency Minister to step down since Pacheco took office in May 2002. Starting Monday, Toledo will return to the Legislative Assembly and resume his position as a congressman for the ruling Social Christian Unity Party.
The Presidency Minister is generally the President’s chief political advisor and his liaison to Congress. Toledo is the second minister to resign in the past week.
In the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 31, Toledo, along with Labor Minister Ovidio Pacheco and Public Works and Transport Minister Javier Chaves, signed a controversial agreement with representatives of more than 30 labor unions and transport driver associations that ended eight days of public unrest (TT, Sept. 3). As part of the pact, the government agreed to increase the salaries of the country’s 157,000 public employees by 0.5% above a previously agreed on 4.5% raise.
While the agreement succeeded in putting an end to the protests that paralyzed the country (TT, Aug. 27), it alienated the government’s economic team and the country’s business sector. Finance Minister Alberto Dent and Ronulfo Jiménez, Pacheco’s top economic advisor, said the country could not afford the additional salary increase and resigned in protest. Replacements have not yet been named.
Citing the same reasons as Dent and Jiménez, acting Finance Minister and Finance Vice-Minister in charge of expenditures, Silena Alvarado, resigned from her post on Monday.
If a new Finance Minister is not named by Friday, José Armando Fallas, Finance Vice-Minister in charge of income since May of this year, will serve as acting Finance Minister until a replacement is named.
Yesterday, during his weekly Cabinet meeting, Pacheco said he would begin interviewing candidates for Finance Minister that afternoon.
During a press conference yesterday afternoon, Toledo defended his actions, and said he is leaving to “restore calm” to the President’s Cabinet.
“The agreement signed by the three ministers resolved the crisis,” Toledo told reporters. “If I had to do it again, I would. To this day, I don’t regret anything I’ve done as Minister of the Presidency.”
The salary increases will cost the government ¢3 billion ($6.74 million) this year - a small cost compared to the approximately ¢5 billion ($11.23 million) the country lost during each day of the protests, Toledo said.
Toledo, 46, was named Presidency Minister in June of last year. He replaced Rina Contreras, who resigned under pressure from opposition legislators (TT, May 30, 2003).
Before being named to the post, Toledo served as a congressman for Social Christian Unity. During his time as Minister, Toledo returned to the Legislative Assembly several times to vote on key issues.
Government to Meet
With Riteve Tomorrow
By Rebecca Kimitch
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Riteve SyC officials arrived from Spain yesterday for a meeting tomorrow with Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, Javier Chaves, after weeks of controversy regarding the company’s monopoly on mandatory vehicle inspections.
Riteve spokeswoman Vilma Ibarra said yesterday the meeting’s agenda has yet to be set, and Riteve officials will attend with the intention of listening to government officials.
The meeting is in accordance with an agreement struck between the government and the National Civic Movement - a collaboration of labor unions and drivers’ and mechanics’ associations - to end eight days of public demonstrations and roadblocks (TT, Sept. 3).
Under the agreement, signed Aug. 31, the government committed to meeting with Riteve officials within eight days to discuss renegotiating the business’s contract regarding its right as an exclusive provider.
The meeting comes as the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) announced changes easing the requirements of the mandatory vehicle inspections performed by Riteve.
The reforms, also part of the strike-ending agreement, would relax vehicle inspections on many points. Functioning speedometers, tires with low tread, non-working reverse lights and tinted windows will no longer be considered cause for failure of the inspection, according to MOPT information released last week.
The final list of inspection changes was expected from the MOPT Public Transportation Council yesterday and not available by press time. The list must be published in the official government newspaper, La Gaceta, before it can go into effect.
Read The Tico Times print or digital pdf edition Friday for the full story.
Earthquake Hits
Central Pacific Coast
The University of Costa Rica’s national seismology network announced an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale hit Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast yesterday.
The quake’s epicenter was 20 kilometers southeast of Playa Dominical, about 22 kilometers deep, according to the report. The quake, which occurred at 4:44 a.m., was a result of the process of subduction of the Coco and Caribbean plates, according to the network.
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