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24 Nov 2005 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, November 24, 2005
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Calderón Meets with
Past and Present Legislators
Celebrating just over a month free from house arrest, former President Rafael Angel Calderón (1990-1994) had lunch yesterday with a group of current and former legislators from the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC).
(Click for more)
Costa Rica to Pay Families of
Embassy Slaying Victims
The government of Costa Rica has reached an agreement to compensate the family of Chilean Embassy First Secretary Roberto Nieto, one of the victims of the slayings at the embassy in Costa Rica in July 2004.
(Click for more)
Meteorological Institute
Inaugurates New Web Site
Up-to-date weather information and new climatic studies, articles and interactive features and images are now accessible online at the National Meteorological Institute's new Web site, www.imn.ac.cr. The new site, which is at the same address as the old, is expected to upload at 9 a.m. today.
(Click for more)
November 24
Happy U.S. Thanksgiving!
Talk on “Fruit Therapy”
Nutritionist Ana Gutiérrez will explain the benefits of a fruit therapy at 6 p.m., Multiplaza Escazú, 800-542-7374.
Concert by GC Blues and Cool Azul
Both are bands from Oregon, tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., at Sony Bar, Moravia, 600 m south of Saint Francis High School.
Theater Time
Theater fans can enjoy watching one of the following plays, all in Spanish. “Dr. Einstein Imita un Gallo durante 5 Minutos Enteros” Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m., Giratablas Theater, across from KFC, Los Yoses. “El Premio Flaco” by Héctor Quintero, Mon.-Sat., 8 p.m., through Dec. 10, Teatro Oscar Fessler, 221-1273. “Él que No Llora No Mama” Comedy, Thurs-Sun., 8 p.m., El Ángel Theater, Av. Ctrl., Ca. 13/15, Cuesta de Moras.
U.S. Embassy Closed
In honor of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. It will reopen Friday at 8 a.m.
Edited By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Calderón Meets with
Past and Present Legislators
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Celebrating just over a month free from house arrest, former President Rafael Angel Calderón (1990-1994) had lunch yesterday with a group of current and former legislators from the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC).
Although Calderón, 55, is officially suspended from the party pending an investigation into allegations of corruption, the lunch was held as a demonstration of affection for the former President, explained former legislator Luis Manuel Chacón, who organized the event.
Calderón denied that the lunch, held at restaurant Il Ritorno de Casa Italia in San José, was anything more than a meal among friends.
“We are going to talk about the national reality, about personal things. We're friends who haven't seen each other in a year, getting together to talk,” he said before the gathering.
Calderón said he is not participating in the Unity campaign for either legislators or President, but admitted the February 2006 elections might be discussed at the lunch.
The Unity party and its presidential candidate Ricardo Toledo are facing historic lows in the polls, with Toledo trailing behind at least three other candidates.
“There are polls that put us in second, there are polls that put us behind – the big poll with be in February,” Calderón responded, adding that National Liberation Party candidate and fellow ex-President Oscar Arias will have the largest number of votes in the first round, but perhaps not enough to avoid a second round.
Calderón said he offers his opinion when asked regarding Unity's candidates, and that he has received great support from the party's leaders and base during his limited recent travels around the country.
The former President was arrested last year following allegations of corruption against him (TT, Oct. 22, 2004). He is accused of distributing a $9.2 million commission on a medical equipment purchase by the Social Security System (Caja), and served a series of preventive detention orders both in his home and at La Reforma Penitentiary in the province of Alajuela – as did his fellow ex-President Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002) – before being released last month.
See Friday's print or online pdf edition of The Tico Times for more on the Calderón reunion.
Costa Rica to Pay Families of
Embassy Slaying Victims
The government of Costa Rica has reached an agreement to compensate the family of Chilean Embassy First Secretary Roberto Nieto, one of the victims of the slayings at the embassy in Costa Rica in July 2004.
After 14 months of negotiation, the family accepted the $494,000 the country offered, an amount determined based on criteria established by the National Insurance Institute (INS), including Nieto's salary, his life expectancy and ancestry, among other aspects, Public Security Minister Rogelio Ramos told ACAN-EFE yesterday.
INS also presented the families of the other two victims, Cultural Secretary Rocío Sariego and Consul Cristian Yuseff, with compensation offers on Tuesday. Ramos preferred not to disclose the amounts of the offers, but said they were less than the amount granted to Nieto's family and will be paid between 2006-2007.
In Chile, Sariego's family sued the Chilean state for $2.5 million for neglecting its responsibility in managing the situation. The Costa Rican police did not initially enter the embassy to help victims because they did not have the Chilean ambassador's authorization, which they eventually obtained, allowing them to raid the building (TT, July 30, 2004).
The massacre occurred last year when Orlando Jiménez, a former policeman who worked as a guard at the embassy, supposedly angered by a change in job positions, shot the three victims before taking his own life.
– ACAN-EFE
Meteorological Institute
Inaugurates New Web Site
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Up-to-date weather information and new climatic studies, articles and interactive features and images are now accessible online at the National Meteorological Institute's new Web site, www.imn.ac.cr. The new site, which is at the same address as the old, is expected to upload at 9 a.m. today.
The main page features an interactive map of Costa Rica with weather information for seven zones throughout the country in graphics and information boxes that appear when the mouse pointer is dragged over them.
Among the new services are aeronautical information for airports that includes wind speeds, visibility, temperature and relative humidity; tide charts; weather maps; detailed information on climate change, hurricanes and tropical storms and earthquakes; a pull-down menu on the main page with moon phases, sun and moon rising and setting times; the official time in Costa Rica; and satellite weather photos. Parts of the site are in English – the option to switch languages is in a menu across the top of the main page.
Weather information is available for regions and for specific cities, and it is possible to contact the institute via e-mail. The service is free.
