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23 Dic 2005 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, December 23, 2005
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The Tico Times wishes all of our subscribers and readers a very happy holiday season. This edition contains our special Year in Review section and will remain online for two weeks. The first edition of 2006 will be published on January 6. The Daily News page will not be published next week. Look for the Daily News page on Monday, January 2. Our offices will be closed starting today, December 23, and reopen on Monday, January 2 at 8 a.m. Happy Holidays! |
Wanted U.S. Sex Offender
Caught In Playa Flamingo
Costa Rican and International Police (Interpol) officials arrested U.S. citizen James Colwell, 65, Wednesday, in Playa Flamingo, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, on charges of sex abuse against a minor.
(Click for more)
Foreign Trade Minister
‘Disappointed' by Legislators
Foreign Trade Minister Manuel González on Wednesday said he was “disappointed” by the delays that have plagued the discussion of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) in the Legislative Assembly's international relations commission.
(Click for more)
Thousands of Nicaraguans
Head Home for Holidays
An average of 1,500 Nicaraguans return daily to their home country from Costa Rica to spend Christmas and New Year's with their families, official sources said yesterday.
(Click for more)
December 23
Christmas Party for the Children at the PANI Shelter and Foster Care in Santa Cruz
People are invited to contribute with plastic cups, plates and spoons, drinks and money to pay for the entertainment. The party is Dec. 23 at 11 a.m. at Salon de Profesores Pensionados de Santa Cruz, 400 m. to the right of Luis Li Lo Store. Info: 653-0270.
International Bicycle Tour
One of the best-known bike competitions in the country, finishes today approximately at noon-2 p.m. at the National Stadium, west La Sabana Park.
Edited By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff
lbaxter@ticotimes.net
Wanted U.S. Sex Offender
Caught In Playa Flamingo
Costa Rican and International Police (Interpol) officials arrested U.S. citizen James Colwell, 65, Wednesday, in Playa Flamingo, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, on charges of sex abuse against a minor.
According to a statement from Interpol, Colwell is “wanted for the evasion of a 30-year sentence,” imposed by the Walworth County Circuit Court in Wisconsin after violating the conditions of his parole.
In addition, he is awaiting sentencing for another case in Wisconsin.
On Feb. 15, 2000, Colwell pled guilty to two charges of sexual contact with a minor under 13 years of age, and on May 12 was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
However, the sentence was suspended and he was given 30 years of parole with a series of conditions.
In February 2004, however, U.S. authorities determined that he had violated his parole, and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections issued a warrant for his arrest. Colwell then fled.
According to the statement, U.S. authorities consider Colwell a “sexual predator” who poses a “continued and present danger to children.” According to Interpol information, Colwell entered Costa Rica in January 2004 and worked in real estate.
Costa Rican authorities have not said when Colwell will be extradited to the United States.
--ACAN-EFE
Foreign Trade Minister
‘Disappointed' by Legislators
Foreign Trade Minister Manuel González on Wednesday said he was “disappointed” by the delays that have plagued the discussion of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) in the Legislative Assembly's international relations commission.
“I suspended my personal plans and immediately returned to the country as some legislators demanded my presence,” González said in a statement. “It's lamentable that the legislative commission postponed the hearings (on CAFTA) until February of next year,” when legislators will return from their 45-day holiday break.
President Abel Pacheco submitted CAFTA to the commission on Oct. 21. The commission is required to hold hearings on the agreement and issue a report before sending it to the floor the assembly to be voted on. Legislators can approve or reject the agreement but not modify it.
“I am very disappointed by the work done this month in the international relations commission, which didn't advance,” González said. “Time was not taken advantage of.”
González added that legislators have dedicated their time to making “impertinent and inappropriate attacks that have nothing to do with the substance” of CAFTA.
“I feel things are getting out of hand. There is shortsightedness. We don't see the things we are losing and the world that awaits us,” González added.
Costa Rica is the only CAFTA signatory country that has yet to ratify the agreement. The agreement will enter into effect on Jan. 1, 2006 between the United States and the Central American countries that have modified their legislation to comply with CAFTA. The names of these countries will be announced before the end of the year, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
-ACAN-EFE
Thousands of Nicaraguans
Head Home for Holidays
An average of 1,500 Nicaraguans return daily to their home country from Costa Rica to spend Christmas and New Year's with their families, official sources said yesterday.
Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños traveled Wednesday to the border station Peñas Blancas to welcome the returning countrymen.
“We are continuing to create more and more employment so that you all do not have to leave to another country to look for work. We welcome all those who are returning to their country to spend Christmas and New Year's,” Bolaños said at the border.
An estimated 500,000 Nicaraguans reside in Costa Rica, having left their home country in search of work and better opportunities.
The exodus of Nicaraguan workers comes in the midst of historically tense relations between the Costa Rica and Nicaragua following the deaths of two Nicaraguan immigrants whose untimely ends have, in the eyes of many, especially Nicaraguans, been tied to xenophobia. Nicaragua has also decried Costa Rica 's decision to take a longstanding dispute over its navigational right to the San Juan River, which divides the two countries and belongs to Nicaragua, to the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
--ACAN-EFE
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