Truck, Taxi Drivers to Protest
Riteve Monopoly , U.S. Trade Pact

Unsatisfied with the government's effort to open the monopoly Riteve SyC has on mandatory technical vehicle inspections, drivers of semi-trucks, taxis and other vehicles have announced they will return to the streets today in protest.

The vehicles will caravan from San Ramón, northwest of San José , leaving at 7:30 a.m. , to the Casa Presidencial, southeast of San José , arriving in the afternoon.

The caravan will not block roads and will travel in a pacifist spirit, according to leaders of the National Civic Movement, a conglomeration of unions and professional drivers' associations organizing the protest.

In addition to protesting Riteve, the activity will protest government corruption and the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

In an official statement, movement leaders said that with the reelection Tuesday of U.S. President George W. Bush, who supports CAFTA, they must reiterate their opposition to the trade pact, which has yet to be ratified by the participating countries.

Participants in the movement said they feel the government has not made sufficient steps in opening the Riteve monopoly, which they say is in violation of Costa Rica 's Constitution.

In late August, the National Civic Movement organized 10 days of roadblocks and protests against Riteve, CAFTA, and other issues, that paralyzed the export sector (TT, Aug. 27).

An agreement to end the protest was reached between movement leaders and the government, in which the government agreed to explore renegotiating Riteve's controversial monopoly, among other things (TT, Sept. 3).

Legislators Reject Videoconference
Meeting Proposed by Figueres 

A Costa Rican legislative commission yesterday rejected the possibility that former President José María Figueres be allowed to explain via video-conference, from Switzerland, the circumstances under which he received more than $900,000 in payments from the French telecommunications giant Alcatel.

The legislators demanded that Figueres, who served as President from 1994-1998, present himself before the Legislative Assembly's Commission on Public Expenditures Dec. 9, as they requested last week.

Figueres responded with a letter saying that a videoconference would be the best option to “be able to make the appointment rapidly,” because, he said, until the end of November he has various appointments to attend in Geneva , Bangkok , Berlin and Brussels . He did not specify what the appointments would be.

Legislators told the press that if Figueres does not present himself before authorities here, they might ask the Prosecutor's Office to request an international capture order for him.

The Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday that it would investigate the payments made to Figueres, but that the former head of state is not a suspect of any crime.

Allegations of the payments prompted Figueres to resign as the head of the private, Swiss-based World Economic Forum because his work for Alcatel constituted a conflict of interest, though he maintains he is not guilty of any wrongdoing.

Figueres is one of three former leaders of Costa Rica to be implicated in alleged corruption scandals.

Former Presidents Rafael Ángel Calderón (1990-1994), and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) are currently in custody while the Prosecutor's Office investigates the allegations.

--EFE