[dailyarchive/2005_03/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 04, 2005
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Central Bank President Sides With
Finance Ministry on Debt Question
Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez, president of the Central Bank, cast his tie-breaking vote on Wednesday in the conflict between “the Federicos” – siding with Finance Minister Federico Carrillo against legislator Federico Vargas, of the Social Christian Unity Party, and other Legislative Assembly members in an argument about the 2005 national budget.
(Click for more)
Honduras Drops Prostitution Case
Against Child-Welfare Activist
Tegucigalpa (EFE) – Honduran authorities this week dropped their investigation into allegations that a prominent child-welfare activist in Central Ame rica might have committed a crime by paying for sex with a former beneficiary of Covenant House, which takes in street children.
(Click for more)
Costa Rican Team Classifies For
Special Olympics Semi-Finals
Nagano, Japan – A Costa Rican floor hockey team overcame a packed game schedule and injuries to classify for the floor hockey quarterfinals of the 2005 Special Olympics Winter Games.
(Click for more)
Ronald McDonald Foundation
Sponsors IV Golf Classic
The IV Golf Classic, sponsored by the Costa Rican chapter of the Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation, kicks off today at the Cariari Country Club.
(Click for more)
March 04
Café Britt's Spanish Night
The flamenco dance group Cabales will perform tonight, followed by a dinner of Spanish paella and appetizers at the Don Próspero restaurant at Café Britt, Heredia, road to Barva, from the Automercado, 5 blocks north and 4 west; ¢7,000. Info and reservations: 277-1600.
Culture in the Outdoors, Summer 2005
--Today, 7 p.m.: “El Ojo del Crepúsculo” and “Datura Sanguínea,” dances by the National Dance Company.
--Saturday, 7 p.m.: “Las Brujas de Macbeth o los Tres Umbrales,” play by Grupo de Teatro Alquimistas
--Sunday, 4-8 p.m.: hip-hop workshop, food sales, concerts, clowns, and children in the arts at 6 p.m.
--March 11, 7 p.m., “Malasuerte,” dance by Losdenmedium Dance Group;
--March 12, 5 p.m., concert by singer Luis Ángel Castro and others;
--March 13, 4-8 p.m., dance workshop for seniors and general public, concert by a national band, clowns, at 6 p.m., “El Genio y la Lámpara Maravillosa,” dance and mime show by the National Dance Company;
--March 16-19, 7 p.m., “240” video festival, 222-2974, 221-2022.
Andrea Bocelli Concert
Saturday, 8 p.m., Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, Tibás, north of San José. Tickets on sale through Credomatic. Info: 295-9000.
Sixth Annual Canine Festival
Contests for dogs, cultural activities and food, Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Roosevelt neighborhood, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, 228-2397, 255-3757.
Edited By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Central Bank President Sides With
Finance Ministry on Debt Question
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez, president of the Central Bank, cast his tie-breaking vote on Wednesday in the conflict between “the Federicos” – siding with Finance Minister Federico Carrillo against legislator Federico Vargas, of the Social Christian Unity Party, and other Legislative Assembly members in an argument about the 2005 national budget.
Legislators, who redirected ¢86 billion ($191 million) away from interest payments on the debt in revisions to the original Finance Ministry budget, claim the ministry overestimated the amount to be spent on interest payments, and that there was a “cushion” of at least ¢73 billion ($158.7 million).
Carrillo denied this. When the conflict turned bitter, President Abel Pacheco asked Gutiérrez, in whom he said he “has faith, as in God,” to analyze the issue and decide who is right (TT, Feb. 11).
This week, Gutiérrez said not only that the ministry's calculations are correct, but also that bank analysts determined even more probably should have been set aside for debt interest payments, the daily La Nación reported.
The assembly will now have to pass an extraordinary budget redirecting the ¢86 billion to debt payments once again, and evaluate where cuts can be made to save some of the social programs that will now lack funds.
Honduras Drops Prostitution Case
Against Child-Welfare Activist
Tegucigalpa (EFE) – Honduran authorities this week dropped their investigation into allegations that a prominent child-welfare activist in Central Ame rica might have committed a crime by paying for sex with a former beneficiary of Covenant House, which takes in street children.
The move affects Bruce Harris, the former executive director of Latin Ame rica n programs for New York-based Covenant House, which operates as Casa Alianza in the region.
The special prosecutor's office for crimes against children, which was conducting the investigation, decided to close the case because it could not determine a crime had been committed, spokeswoman Lorena Calix told EFE.
Investigators also could not find evidence that Harris sexually abused children at Casa Alianza.
The British-born Harris, currently living in Miami, was fired from his Costa Rica-based post on Sept. 17, 2004.
The Honduras office of Casa Alianza, which works to protect the rights of street children in Latin Ame rica , said in a short statement on that date that Harris “recently paid for the sexual favors of a 19-year-old Honduran man at a Tegucigalpa motel.”
”The young man had been a resident of Casa Alianza until late 2002. Mr. Harris has admitted he acted improperly,” the statement said.
Harris, who is married and has two children, said in a statement issued in Costa Rica , where Casa Alianza regional headquarters are located, that he had resigned “to take some time for me and my family” (TT, Sept. 24, 2004)
Harris was in charge of the child-advocacy organization's operations in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico.
He led the campaign in Guatemala to bring a halt to the killings and torture of street children. By the end of 2001, more than 420 cases were opened against police officers and others in Guatemala suspected of committing these and other offenses against street children.
Covenant House and Harris were awarded the prestigious Olof Palme Prize in January 1997 by Sweden, as well as the 1999 International Award for Human Rights by the International Bureau of Children's Rights in Canada.
Casa Alianza was awarded the Conrad Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1 million in 2001 – the largest prize for humanitarian work in the world.
Harris was named in Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honors List in 2001 and admitted into the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
Covenant House is the largest privately funded children's services agency in the United States.
--EFE
Costa Rican Team Classifies For
Special Olympics Semi-Finals
Nagano, Japan – A Costa Rican floor hockey team overcame a packed game schedule and injuries to classify for the floor hockey quarterfinals of the 2005 Special Olympics Winter Games.
Since Feb. 26, when the games were inaugurated, the team took on a preliminary elimination round of eight games, two per day, against Kuwait, Bolivia, Cuba, Argentina, South African and European teams.
In addition to the games, the teams had to deal with extreme temperatures (-6 degrees), fatigue because of schedule changes, dietary changes and injuries produced by collisions and the physical toll of the sport.
This is the first time a Costa Rican team has participated in one of the seven sports offered at the Special Olympics Winter Games.
--Special Olympics
Ronald McDonald Foundation
Sponsors IV Golf Classic
The IV Golf Classic, sponsored by the Costa Rican chapter of the Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation, kicks off today at the Cariari Country Club.
More than 200 national and international golfers will tee off to benefit the language therapy service of the Fernando Centeno Güell Special Language Center, which helps 225 children.
A group of 100 players will begin at 7 a.m., followed by the other 100 at 12:30 p.m.
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