The Central American airline TACA announced in a statement yesterday that on Feb. 2, it will become the first airline to fly directly between San José and Havana, Cuba.

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Public Education Vice-Minister José Lino Rodríguez, who was temporarily suspended late last year because of allegations he used his position to secure promotions for family members, resigned yesterday.

The government's Ethics Commission investigated the allegations against Rodríguez and concluded he had violated the Arias administration's code of ethics, according to Rodrigo Arias, the President's brother and spokesman. The Presidency Minister made the announcement at a press conference yesterday.

The case came to light in November after the daily La Nación reported that Rodríguez's wife, ministry employee Monserrat Vindas, received four raises in a single day. On Aug. 1, Vindas, an office worker at Braulio Morales School in Heredia, north of San José, was named a teaching candidate in Paquera, Puntarenas; given an administrative post; named a teacher; and then transferred back to Heredia.

These changes resulted in a salary increase of ¢150,000 ($291.26) per month, the daily reported. The vice-minister, who oversaw the infrastructure and funding of the country's public schools, told the daily the promotions are legal; he also stated that his wife turned down the raise, continued to work in the primary-school office, and then took disability leave.

I n his resignation letter, copies of which were provided to the press, Rodríguez said he had “thought about the negative consequences (these) accusations could generate for the government and my family, in view of the fact that most of (my family members) are Education Ministry officials, not because of favors, but as part of careers in education.”

Rodrigo Arias said the President has accepted Rodríguez's resignation in light of the commission's findings. A new vice-minister had not been named by press time.

The President established the Code of Ethics and the independent Ethics Commission in a decree he signed shortly after taking office in May. Its members are Dora María Guzmán, who was the first woman justice on the Supreme Court; Leticia Chacón, a former legislator; and Hernán Vega, former president of the Costa Rican Lawyers' Association.

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Officials reported good news yesterday for the Caribbean province of Limón less than a month after a massive chemical fire near the port of Moín – which officials called one of the worst disasters in Costa Rica's recent history – forced the evacuation of hundreds of area residents and left thousands without potable water.

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias told reporters that of the 20,000 left without water, service has been restored to all but 2,000. He said investigations by the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE) have shown that surface waters and ecosystems near the site of the accident “are returning to normal,” and that MINAE officials continue monitoring the area.

A team of health-care workers from the Public Health Ministry continues to visit communities in the area as a preventive measure, checking for reactions to the fire, which erupted Dec. 13 at a chemical storage facility belonging to Químicos Holanda Costa Rica S.A. Tanks of the flammable chemicals toluene and xylene exploded, sending a wide column of smoke into the air above the province and injuring three plant workers, two of whom died within days (TT, Dec. 15, Dec. 22, 2006). The third, Albert Sánchez, 33, is out of intensive care and in the plastic surgery unit at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José, according to hospital staff.

A total of 13 people have reported respiratory problems related to the fire to the Health Ministry, Arias said Wednesday.

Investigations after the fire showed welding work conducted near a tanker truck being filled with toxic chemicals caused the blaze, which lasted nearly 11 hours.

The Central American airline TACA announced in a statement yesterday that on Feb. 2, it will become the first airline to fly directly between San José and Havana, Cuba.

The airline will offer flights between the two cities on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, leaving San José at 10:45 a.m. and arriving to Havana at 2:05 p.m. The return flights to San José will leave Havana at 3:20 p.m. and arrive to San José at 4:40 p.m. The route will be serviced by an A-320 Airbus plane.

In addition to serving passengers traveling from Costa Rica to Cuba, the flight will also offer connections for those traveling to this Caribbean island from other Central American countries and Mexico, the statement said.

TACA decided to open up the direct Havana route to “offer our Central American users, especially Costa Ricans, direct access to one of the most charismatic cities in Latin America,” said TACA communications director Claudia Arenas, according to the statement.

A search on TACA's Web site found that the round-trip flights start at $330.

-Tico Times