Foreign Direct Investment Here
Reaches $582 Million This Year

Costa Rica received $582 million in foreign direct investment in 2004 thanks to the expansion of businesses already installed in the country and the arrival of six new companies.

According to information from the private Costa Rican Investment Board (CINDE) published this week, this year businesses such as Avionyx, a software services provider for industrial electrical equipment, Merlín VME, another software developer, and Smith Sterling, a producer of dental pieces, all set up shop here.

One of the businesses that made a significant investment was the Colombia-based Proquinal, which opened a factory here that produces vinyl fabric, fake leather, foam mats and other products for export to the United States and Europe .

Proquinal's investment was $20 million, and its factory created 150 new jobs in the country, CINDE's press representative Edna Camacho said.

Holcim, a construction materials supplier, made the largest investment of the year when it expanded its Costa Rican factory at a cost of $70 million.

Camacho stressed that for Cost Rica to continue attracting foreign investment, improvements must be made in training human resources in specific areas such as the English language and information technology.

--EFE

Priest Might Face More Prison Time

The Costa Rican Prosecutor's Office has asked a judge to extend for six more months Catholic priest Minor Calvo's preventive detention order for allegedly authoring the assassination of radio journalist Parmenio Medina.

The Judicial Branch press office told EFE wire service that prosecutors also asked for an extension of the preventive detention order of Omar Chaves, a businessman also suspected of authoring the 2001 killing.

Both suspects, who have been charged with homicide, have been in prison for nearly a year.

Calvo will complete his current detention order next Monday, while Chaves completes his the following day.

The date for the trial will be determined at a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 24, according to the Judicial Branch.

Medina was a Costa Rican citizen of Colombian origin who directed a controversial Costa Rican radio show characterized by outspoken corruption accusations.

Chaves' lawyer, William Guido, told the press the Prosecutor's Office petition for an extension is part of a strategy to “continue the show” that has been staged around this case.

“Although I have not been notified, this petition does not surprise me. Since they told us about the preliminary hearing we understood these people (the prosecutors) will come up with any excuse to not release him,” he said.

In the next few days, a judge will decide whether to accept the prosecutor's request for additional detention time.

Medina died on July 7, 2001, after he was shot several times in the head and torso at close range in his car near his home in Heredia, north of San José .

In December, the Prosecutor's Office formally accused nine men of charges related to the murder.

Alleged Nicaraguan triggerman Luis Alberto Aguirre also is in preventive detention. His alleged accomplice, Costa Rican Dionisio Murillo, died months ago in a confrontation with the police after robbing a bank.

Colombian John Gilberto Gutiérrez is also detained for allegedly acting as an intermediary between the intellectual and material authors of the crime.

--EFE