[dailyarchive/2004_11/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, November 08, 2004
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| PROTESTS continue: Alfredo Espinoza, right, and Guido Figueroa hand out flyers on Friday stating the government has not taken promised action to open the monopoly of vehicle-inspection company Riteve SyC. Their efforts were part of a procession of trucks and other vehicles that crawled along the highway from San Ramón, northwest of San José, to the Casa Presidencial in Zapote, east of San José, in protest of not only the Riteve monopoly, but also government corruption and the proposed Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States. |
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Casa Alianza Closes
Costa Rica Operations
Following Ex-Director's Sex Scanda
The non-governmental children's rights advocacy organization Casa Alianza has announced it will close its operations in Costa Rica on Nov. 15, just weeks after director Bruce Harris was fired following charges that he paid for sex from a 19-year old Honduran man.
(Click for more)
U.S. Fugitive Arrested;
Suspected of Child Cruelty
Costa Rican authorities on Friday arrested U.S. citizen Mark Patrick Ariail, a fugitive who is wanted in the United States to face accusations of violence and cruelty against minors, according to a statement from the International Police (INTERPOL).
(Click for more)
Ex-President Calderón Moved
From Hospital Back to Jail
Former President Rafael Ángel Calderón, who was hospitalized Thursday for heart problems, on Saturday was taken back to La Reforma medium-security prison in Alajuela, northwest of San José, where he is serving a nine-month preventive detention order while he is investigated for alleged corruption.
(Click for more)
Ex-President Rodríguez
Paints His Jail Cell
Former President of Costa Rica and Ex-Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, painted his own jail cell at La Reforma medium-security prison, in Alajuela, northwest of San José, where he is serving a six-month preventive detention order.
(Click for more)
November 08
Photography Exhibit of Costa Rica from 1880-1930
Exhibit includes a scale model of San José, clothing and 150 photos, on display through December at the National Museum , Av. 2, Ca. 3/5. Info: 257-1433.
Blondie in Concert
Concert starts at 8 p.m. at the Planet Mall in San Pedro, east of San José . Tickets on sale at Hipermás ( San Sebastián , Curridabat and Heredia), Maxibodegas (Desamparados and Alajuela), Juan Bansbach Instrumentos Musicales (Multiplaza and San José ) and the Sharper outlet in the San Pedro Mall . Info: 207-2025.
Edited By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Casa Alianza Closes Costa Rica Operations
Following Ex-Director's Sex Scandal
The non-governmental children's rights advocacy organization Casa Alianza has announced it will close its operations in Costa Rica on Nov. 15, just weeks after director Bruce Harris was fired following charges that he paid for sex from a 19-year old Honduran man.
The president of the Christian organization, Tricia Cruise, made the announcement of the closure in a statement to the press, saying the funds that were used to maintain Costa Rican operations will be channeled into the organization's other projects in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico.
Casa Alianza maintained its Central American headquarters in Costa Rica, where Harris had lead it in a struggle against the sexual exploitation and general protection of children, especially street children, since it opened here in 1993.
“This was a difficult decision because of the incredible and strenuous work of those in the Costa Rican office,” Cruise said in the statement.
Child Welfare Minister Rosalía Gil told the press that four Casa Alianza officials requested permission from their superiors at its parent organization, the New York-based Covenant House, to create an independent foundation in Costa Rica dedicated to working with children.
The new organization would pick up the loose ends of the more than 1,000 investigations against suspects of sexual exploitation of children on which Casa Alianza Costa Rica had kept watch.
“I feel that, regarding complaints filed, Casa Alianza played an extremely important role in this country,” Gil said. “They were the ones who prompted certain well-known investigations.”
Harris, at last report living in Miami and cooperating with a Honduran investigation into his encounter with the Honduran man, had served as Casa Alianza's Latin American director for 15 years, during which time he and the organization are credited with having helped tens of thousands of children in Mexico and Central America (TT, Oct. 8).
The Costa Rican operation did not have shelters for children, while the other Casa Alianza facilities in Central America and Mexico shelter hundreds of children.
– AFP
U.S. Fugitive Arrested;
Suspected of Child Cruelty
Costa Rican authorities on Friday arrested U.S. citizen Mark Patrick Ariail, a fugitive who is wanted in the United States to face accusations of violence and cruelty against minors, according to a statement from the International Police (INTERPOL).
“Ariail is wanted for judgment before the Supreme Court of Carroll County, Georgia, for a formal accusation presented June 18, 2001,” in which he is implicated in “six charges of cruelty against minors (his two step-children), and one charge of physical violence,” the statement read.
“On March 30, 2001 , the North American was arrested for said charges. Later, he was granted bail,” according to the statement.
However, “ Nov. 12, 2001 , after not complying with an order to present himself before the court, a judge issued an arrest warrant,” INTERPOL said.
Authorities knew the man had entered Costa Rica in November 2001, and lived with a Costa Rican woman, the statement read.
He is now waiting for the Costa Rican First Circuit Penal Court of San José to process an extradition request made by U.S. government authorities.
– AFP
Ex-President Calderón Moved
From Hospital Back to Jail
Former President Rafael Ángel Calderón, who was hospitalized Thursday for heart problems, on Saturday was taken back to La Reforma medium-security prison in Alajuela, northwest of San José, where he is serving a nine-month preventive detention order while he is investigated for alleged corruption.
According to representatives of the Judicial Branch, the ex-President, who has been in prison since Oct. 22, was interned in the emergency room of a private clinic in San José after taking part in a court hearing during which his defense attorney appealed the preventive prison sentence (TT, Nov. 5).
Calderón, who was President from 1990 to 1994, has been accused of masterminding the distribution of a $9.2 million “commission” connected to a $39.5 million government contract with a Finnish medical supply company to update Costa Rica 's public hospital equipment.
Doctors said Calderón, 55, suffered an attack of hypertension and acceleration in the rhythm of his heartbeat that required his internment at the Clínica Católica, according to his lawyer Gonzalo Castellón.
He was released from the clinic after cardiologist Dr. Alfonso Obón declared his condition stable. He now has a blood-pressure monitor that will notify authorities if he needs further medical attention.
His appeal hearing has been rescheduled for today.
– AFP
Ex-President Rodríguez
Paints His Jail Cell
Former President of Costa Rica and Ex-Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, painted his own jail cell at La Reforma medium-security prison, in Alajuela, northwest of San José, where he is serving a six-month preventive detention order.
The former head of state is being investigated on charges of corruption and illicit enrichment, according to the Prosecutor's Office (TT, Nov. 5).
He painted the cell, as well as his shorts and t-shirt, aqua marine. On Saturday he received a visit from his son, Andrés Rodríguez, who was one of his principal advisors during his presidency, and who was out of the country but returned to visit his father.
Rodríguez, who was President from 1998 to 2002, allegedly received illegal “prize” money from the French telecommunications firm Alcatel for a lucrative government contract the company was awarded during his term in office.
The allegations prompted his resignation from his post as Secretary General of the OAS last month.
–AFP
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