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31 Oct 2005 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, October 31, 2005
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Suspect Arrested for
Alleged Hospital Arson
Authorities arrested a man, identified by the last name of Ledezma, last Friday for allegedly starting a fire at Calderón Guardia Hospital in downtown San José last July, said a statement from the Judicial Branch.
(Click for more)
Hurricane Beta Losing Strength
On its
Way Out of Nicaragua
Managua (ACAN-EFE) Hurricane Beta yesterday touched ground on the southern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua without claiming any lives, while experts predict it will lose strength as it crosses the country and become a tropical storm.
(Click for more)
New PARLACEN President
Advocates Entry of Costa Rica
and Belize to Central American
Parliament
Guatemala (ACAN-EFE) The new president of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), Panamanian Julio Palacios, said he will plead for the entry of Costa Rica and Belize, the only two non-member countries in the area, to the regional forum.
(Click for more)
October 31
LTG's Annual Spooky Multimedia Party
Tonight at 7 p.m., at the Blanche Brown Theatre, Escazú, reservations, 355-1623, intertica.com/ltg.htm
10th International Arts Festival
Registration open to professional and national groups (theater, music, dance), drop off proposals at festival office, Melico Salazar Theater, 3rd floor, Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., deadline Oct. 31, 223-6361, festart@racsa.co.cr.
Currency Museum Meeting
Conferences and informal lectures outside the Gold Museum, underneath Plaza de la Cultura in downtown San José.
Edited By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
Suspect Arrested for
Alleged Hospital Arson
By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
Authorities arrested a man, identified by the last name of Ledezma, last Friday for allegedly starting a fire at Calderón Guardia Hospital in downtown San José last July, said a statement from the Judicial Branch.
Ledezma, 24, worked as a nursing assistant at the hospital, the daily La Nación reported.
Four people saw the suspect come out of the storeroom where the fire was started, Jorge Rojas, chief of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) told Channel 7 News on Friday.
“He had a great amount of false degrees,” Rojas told the TV news station, referring to the suspect's allegedly false background.
Ledezma, currently completing a six-month preventive prison order, indicated falsely that he studied medicine at a university and had undergone studies in various fields, including fire fighting.
According to Rojas, no suspects other than Ledezma, arrested Friday morning, exist in this case.
If Ledezma is found guilty, he could become the person to have induced the most deaths in the country, according to Channel 7 News.
For his alleged crime, the suspect could face up to 20 years in prison, La Nación reported.
Police speculate that Ledezma may have started the fire in a desperate call for attention from his co-workers, according to the daily.
Rojas told La Nación the suspect's intentions were not to kill anyone.
“He had the idea of starting a fire he could control, but it got out of hand,” he said.
The tragic fire that raged at the hospital in pre-dawn hours on July 12 (TT, July 15) took the lives of 21 victims, including two who died after the fire.
Although OIJ has not found material evidence to support the arson theory, authorities suspected the fire was started with matches at a storeroom on the third floor of the hospital's oldest wing (TT, October 14).
Flames consumed the fourth and fifth floors of the hospital, where reconstruction is underway.
Hurricane Beta Losing Strength
On its Way Out of Nicaragua
Managua (ACAN-EFE) Hurricane Beta yesterday touched ground on the southern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua without claiming any lives, while experts predict it will lose strength as it crosses the country and become a tropical storm.
Beta penetrated Nicaragua Sunday at dawn as a category two hurricane, leaving only material damage that has not yet been quantified, according to Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños, who asked that assistance be delivered to those affected as quickly as possible.
The President expressed his optimism that the “unpredictable” Beta struck a sparsely populated region of Nicaragua.
“We have reports that in six communities in Karawala, where some 3,000 people live, the hurricane has ripped off the roofs of houses and completely removed them in some cases,” said General Omar Halleslevens, chief of the military.
Beta might become a tropical storm before possibly exiting the country this morning.
Forecasts on Saturday indicated the hurricane would strike Puerto Cabezas, north of Bluefields, on the Caribbean coast, but it changed its route and affected the southern Caribbean, with an estimated population of 156,000, instead.
Initial forecasts lead to the evacuation of 10,000 people in Puerto Cabezas and its surrounding areas.
The hurricane is expected to cross through the country's central area, passing through the Lake of Nicaragua, and affecting communities including Managua, Granada and León with rains.
Costa Rican authorities remained alert although Beta moved away from Costa Rica, where it caused rains on Friday.
New PARLACEN President Advocates Entry
of Costa Rica and Belize to Central American Parliament
Guatemala (ACAN-EFE) The new president of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), Panamanian Julio Palacios, said he will plead for the entry of Costa Rica and Belize, the only two non-member countries in the area, to the regional forum.
“We will work toward the incorporation of Costa Rica and Belize to our assembly, on first stance under the conditions most convenient to them,” Palacios said during his inauguration, celebrated Friday at a hotel south of Guatemala City.
The participation of these countries in the parliament would strengthen the representation of civil Central American society and contribute to the process of regional political integration, he said.
Palacios, who succeeded Nicaraguan Fabio Gadea in the presidency, also committed himself to promoting reforms to the treaty that gave life to the parliament to make it become “the most important institution in the Central American integration process.”
Presidents of each member country and each local Legislative Assembly would have to approve reforms to the treaty, which he expects to facilitate the entry of Costa Rica and Belize to the parliament, he told journalists.
Both countries have expressed interest in reforming the treaty to consider forming part of the parliament, he said.
PARLACEN, with headquarters in Guatemala, was created in 1990 and includes 20 legislators from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, while Mexico, Puerto Rico and Taiwan participate in the forum as observers.
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