FREE Ride: Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) magistrates Eugenia Zamora (left) and Luis Antonio Sobrado (center) listened yesterday afternoon as Alfredo Villalobos, a member of the Alajuela Chamber of Bus Line Operators, announced the chamber will offer free transportation to all citizens on whatever date the TSE chooses for a binding referendum on a free-trade pact with the United States. Both Villalobos and Sobrado called for other bus companies nationwide to make a similar gesture; Sobrado said transportation donations could save the tribunal, required by law to provide free transport to all voters in the case of a referendum, as much as ¢100 million (approximately $192,000).

Gas prices in Costa Rica are about to jump for the ninth time this year as soon as the latest increase approved by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) yesterday goes into effect, according to a statement from the authority.

Indigenous Fair
Talks, exhibits, cultural shows, today through Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m., Central Park kiosk, Buenos Aires, Southern Zone. Info: 771-5273.

Cultural Festival
Organized by INCAE Business School, including talks, games, contests, food, etc., today through Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., INCAE campus, La Garita, Alajuela, northwest of San José. Info: 207-2025.

By Blake Schmidt
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net

Closing statements in the trial of financier Osvaldo Villalobos, accused of fraud, money laundering and illegal financial intermediation in connection with an unregulated high-yield investment operation called “The Brothers,” are expected next week.

The defense called its last witness to the stand yesterday, and state prosecutors told The Tico Times their last witness is expected to appear in court Monday.

Villalobos and his fugitive brother Luis Enrique allegedly ran the defunct high-interest personal loan business to the tune of an estimated $800 million (TT, Feb. 1, 2003). The Brothers shut down in late 2002, Luis Enrique disappeared, Costa Rican authorities froze as much as $12 million in Villalobos bank accounts, and thousands of “investors” were unable to retrieve the money they had “loaned” the operation in exchange for monthly interest payments of 2.8-3%.

Costa Rican authorities began investigating the business after Canadian police launched an investigation into $350,000 that alleged drug smugglers deposited with the Villalobos group.

Osvaldo Villalobos has always maintained that he ran a legitimate currency exchange business, Ofinter S.A., and had nothing to do with his brothers' loan business.

State prosecutor Walter Espinoza told The Tico Times the last witness, one of the affected investors, will appear Monday. Closing statements will begin after that witness has appeared. Espinoza said closing statements from the defense and prosecution in this trial, which began in early February (TT, Feb. 9) could finish as soon as April 27.

Judges will then have up to 10 business days to declare a verdict.

About 15,000 baby chickens were purchased by Nicaragua from a Costa Rican poultry producer this week as part of a program called Zero Hunger launched by the Nicaraguan government to combat malnutrition, according to Orlando Núñez, director of the program.

These chickens, most of which are female, are the first of 90,000 birds Nicaragua hopes to buy from its southern neighbor this year.

Alfonso Valerio, president of Nicaragua's Association of Small and Medium Poultry Producers, said the chicks arrived Tuesday in incubators shipped from the Costa Rican company Cría Aves.

Through the Zero Hunger program, poor rural families in the Caribbean and northern sections of Nicaragua, the poorest areas of the country, will receive five female chickens and one male so that they can collect eggs and breed the birds for meat.

The association plans to raise the baby birds at a special facility for a few weeks before distributing them, in hopes of preventing the spread of diseases.

The program seeks to benefit 5,000 families this year, and the overall goal set by President Daniel Ortega is for 75,000 families to benefit during the next five years.

Núñez said the program also involves distributing livestock, pigs, rice, and beans to poor families as well as offering them loans to purchase land and farming equipment.

-ACAN-EFE

Gas prices in Costa Rica are about to jump for the ninth time this year as soon as the latest increase approved by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) yesterday goes into effect, according to a statement from the authority.

The price of one liter of super gas will jump from ¢533 ($1.02) to ¢568 ($1.09), while one liter of diesel will cost ¢375 ($0.72), up from ¢362 ($0.70). Kerosene will increase from ¢385 ($0.74) to ¢403 ($0.78), and one liter of jet fuel will cost ¢409 ($0.79), up from ¢394 ($0.76).

The National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) requested these increases, citing increases in the price of petroleum derivatives caused by a shortage in U.S. gas reserves.

These price adjustments will go into effect as soon as they are published in the official government daily La Gaceta. They were sent to the National Printer yesterday and are likely to be printed April 25, the statement said.