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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, November 02, 2004

ARM in arm: Former Costa Rican Presidents José María Figueres (left) and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez greet each other as Figueres leaves office and Rodríguez enters in 1998. Both have been linked to a corruption scandal involving questionable payments from the French telecommunications firm Alcatel. Police yesterday raided numerous locations throughout San José in search of evidence related to the scandal, which is being investigated by the Prosecutor's Office.
AFP/Rodrigo Arangua

Ex-President Calderón Linked to
Another Alleged Loan Scandal
Former President Rafael Ángel Calderón, jailed in La Reforma medium-security prison while he is investigated on corruption charges, may have participated along with friends and family members in obtaining a $9.4 million credit from a state bank to construct a financially shaky hotel in Miami .
(Click for more)

Investigators Raid
Alcatel Advisor's Properties
Agents of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) yesterday raided the business facilities and residence of the French telecommunication firm Alcatel's technical and commercial advisor in Costa Rica , Leonel Barrios.
(Click for more)

U.S. Election Coverage
Available on Shortwave Radio
With U.S. President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry in a dead heat in the polls last night, on the eve of the U.S. national election, those interested in listening to election coverage today can tune into Voice of America radio.
(Click for more)

November 02

Annual Show and Sell
Find hand-painted dresses, Guatemalan jackets, jewelry, paintings, silver, beauty products, herbs, pottery, iron works, linens, crafts, pastries, and more, organized by the Newcomers' Club of Costa Rica for English-speaking women, 9:30 a.m.-noon at the Casa España, Sabana Norte. Info: 288-8619.

Day of the Dead Celebrated
Day of the Dead will be celebrated today with Mexican food and music at Lizar, on the east side of the car wash in Los Yoses. Info: 365-1700.

Ancestors at Museum Exhibit
Artist Paulina Ortiz opens her exhibit “Sewing Ancestral Languages” tonight. Visitors can enjoy her 10 medium-sized acrylics and some installations through the end of the month. The display is at the National Gallery, in the Children's Museum at the north end of Calle 4 in San José . Info: 272-6432.

Edited By Steven J. Barry
Tico Times Staff
sbarry@ticotimes.net

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Ex-President Calderón Linked to
Another Alleged Loan Scandal

Former President Rafael Ángel Calderón, jailed in La Reforma medium-security prison while he is investigated on corruption charges, may have participated along with friends and family members in obtaining a $9.4 million credit from a state bank to construct a financially shaky hotel in Miami .

Thelmo Vargas, former vice-president of the state-run Banco Internacional de Costa Rica (BICSA), told the press yesterday that in November 2000 he approved the credit to construct the Miami Crowne Plaza Hotel, of which Calderón owns 4.2%.

Vargas, who served as Finance Minister during Calderón's term as President (1990-1994), said yesterday that the credit was approved with “strictly technical” criteria, and that he had no knowledge Calderón was a member of the group at the time he approved the loan.

The credit was allegedly requested by Carlos Rodríguez Peyton, who served as a member of the board of directors in the Social Security System (Caja) and a representative before the Inter-American Bank of Economic Integration during Calderón's presidency. Rodríguez requested the loan as president of the company Cardel at Sawgrass.

At the time the credit was authorized, Calderón's cousin Alfonso Guardia, under investigation for allegedly having received payments from the French telecommunications firm Alcatel, was on BICSA's board of directors.

Thus far, the hotel has accrued net losses of $5.6 million, which has led BICSA to term the loan in risk category “C,” meaning some 20% of the loan is “unrecoverable.”

BICSA, the official purpose of which is to promote Costa Rican business abroad, is owned by the state banks Banco Nacional, which owns 80%, and Banco de Costa Rica, which owns the remaining 20%.

Santiago Morera, the bank's sub-director in Miami , said that though BICSA normally doesn't fund such projects, the hotel “looked like good business.”

-AFP

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Investigators Raid
Alcatel Advisor's Properties

Agents of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) yesterday raided the business facilities and residence of the French telecommunication firm Alcatel's technical and commercial advisor in Costa Rica , Leonel Barrios.

Alcatel has been implicated in the alleged payment of bribes to Costa Rican politicians and public officials.

A group of OIJ agents inspected Barrios' house in a luxurious residential area east of San José , while another group raided Elmec S.A. , Barrios' company, in a building also located east of the capital, in search of evidence for the case.

Police also raided the home of Alfonso Guardia, who is former President Rafael Angel Calderón's cousin. Calderón is currently in preventive detention at La Reforma jail and under investigation for allegedly receiving more than $1 million in questionable payments from private businesses.

The former President is accused of receiving illegal “commissions” connected to a $39 million government contract with a Finnish medical supply company to provide equipment to public hospitals within Costa Rica 's Social Security System (Caja).

The Prosecutor's Office ordered Barrios and Guardia to testify yesterday, after which a judge is expected to evaluate possible preventive detention.

According to press reports, a business presided over by Barrios transferred the sum of $1.1 million from Alcatel to UTS Holdings and NCR Holdings, both companies managed by Guardia.

Archangel Bahamas , another of Barrios's companies, allegedly transferred $50,000 to another corporation of Guardia's, Taurus S.A. , and $320,000 to ex-President Miguel Angel Rodríguez's Denisse S.A. , both located in Panama .

Rodríguez, who served as President from 1998-2002, resigned from his position as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) last month amid allegations of corruption, and is also in preventive detention in La Reforma as the investigation continues.

Calderón (1990-1994) is also in preventive detention at La Reforma while he is investigated on corruption charges related to the Finland contract.

--AFP

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U.S. Election Coverage
Available on Shortwave Radio

With U.S. President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry in a dead heat in the polls last night, on the eve of the U.S. national election, those interested in listening to election coverage today can tune into Voice of America radio.

Voice of America , a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government, can be found in Costa Rica at shortwave frequency 7405.

Voice of America broadcast from Belize can also sometimes be heard by scanning AM stations, according to James Latham, station manager for Costa Rica-based Radio for Peace International (RFPI).

RFPI is available at www.rfpi.org, however at this time the station only offers online broadcasting not available on shortwave.

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