School's Out: Students around Costa Rica are out of school for the mid-term break, and families are taking advantage of the time off to spend vacation and relax. Yesterday, picnickers enjoyed La Sabana Park, on the western edge of San José, while a horse munched on grass nearby.

A Costa Rican citizen identified as Norman Medina, accused of sexually abusing a child, was arrested Friday at his home in the U.S. town of East Hampton, New York, according to a statement released yesterday by the international police agency Interpol.

Vacaciones Felices at the National Children's Museum
“Urban camp,” during the July vacation period, ages 5-13, today through Friday and July 9-13, National Children's Museum, San José. Registration: 258-4929, ext. 113, 114.

Robotics Classes for Summer Vacation
Ages 5-12, today through Friday, 2-6 p.m.; July 9-13, 2-6 p.m.; July 16-20, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-6 p.m., Laboratorio de Robótica, Pinares de Curridabat. Info: 271-5042, 880-2424, 350-3357.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Fed up with what they're calling out-of-date equipment and poor working conditions, workers in the Nutrition and Equipment departments of the Pacific port of Puntarenas' Monseñor Sanabria Hospital went on a partial strike yesterday to demand improvements, according to Luis Chavarría, secretary general of the Social Security Workers' Union (UNDECA).

“There are a series of problems at the hospital that have been going on for about two years,” Chavarría said, citing insufficient kitchen equipment, such as blenders and microwaves, and poor infrastructure that makes for “deplorable working conditions and health risks.”

In the Equipment department, where tools for surgery are sterilized, there is a “great risk that workers could get sick from handling contaminated materials,” said a statement released by UNDECA.

Starting at 3 a.m. yesterday, workers went on a partial strike with the goal of convincing hospital authorities to lobby before the Social Security System (Caja) to solve these problems. A new, properly outfitted kitchen was among their demands.

So as not to completely disrupt the hospital's functioning, workers continued doing some of their tasks, including sterilizing tools for urgent surgeries and preparing food for patients; however, they did not prepare food for employees as usual.

Chavarría said a group of Caja officials was headed to Puntarenas yesterday afternoon to meet with hospital authorities. Depending on the outcome of these meetings, the union would decide how long to continue the strike, he said.

“We have asked authorities of the (Caja) for the urgent solution of this problem and we invite them to negotiate as soon as possible,” the statement said.

Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal yesterday commented on the Colombian government freeing five men who allegedly plotted to kill him and Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias.

Costa Rica “respects the decisions of Colombian authorities, and they respect ours,” Berrocal said in a statement from the ministry.

Authorities believe five Colombians arrested in Costa Rica late last week – identified by the last names Angulo, Martínez, Casares, Flores and Olaya -- were sent here by a Colombian drug cartel to kill Berrocal and Arias as an act of vengeance against Costa Rica, where 40 metric tons of cocaine were seized from boats transporting them from Colombia during the past year. The five arrested were deported to Colombia Saturday.

Berrocal said the Colombian government was forced to release the alleged hit men from police custody because they faced no pending criminal charges in Colombia.

Nevertheless, investigations of these five men will continue in both countries, he said.

Arias, who is also the brother of President Oscar Arias, will not be making any public comments about the situation, according to a statement released yesterday by Casa Presidencial.

-Tico Times

A Costa Rican citizen identified as Norman Medina, accused of sexually abusing a child, was arrested Friday at his home in the U.S. town of East Hampton, New York, according to a statement released yesterday by the international police agency Interpol.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, together with Costa Rican Interpol officials, located Medina, a former police officer, after a judge in the Pacific port of Puntarenas issued an international warrant for his arrest in October 2006.

Investigations revealed he entered the United States legally in December 2006 with a temporary tourist visa, the statement said. Medina faces deportation to Costa Rica.