Swearing In: U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who recently swore into their two-year service during a ceremony at the home of U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale this week began working with youth and economic development projects in communities around Costa Rica.

The Supreme Elections Tribual (TSE) yesterday began sending boxes of electoral material to precincts around the country in preparation for the nationwide referendum on the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) to be held next month.

Movie Forum
Forum on “Zeitgeist,” a full-length documentary on religion, Sept.11 and the U.S. Federal Reserve and IRS, 6:45 p.m., Big Mike's, Bello Horizonte, Escazú. Info: 289-6333, 821-4708, 289-6087.

Opera Concert
By mezzo-soprano Ana Caridad Acosta, 7 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, San José, Ave. 2, Calle Ctrl. Info: 257-6005.

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

Hiding people in baskets to slide them by cable across a river was among tactics police recently discovered human smugglers have been using along the Panama border.

Immigration Police and Border Police recently set out to find “dead points,” or areas with now police surveillance used by coyotes, said Public Security Ministry spokeswoman Ingrid Luna.

They focused on the Southern Zone areas of San Jorge, Laurel, La Cuesta, Brujita, Pueblo Nuevo, Coto, La Gamba, La Unión de Limoncito, San Vito de Coto Brus, Kamakiri and Jabillo and several rivers, according to a statement from the ministry.

In La Gamba, they discovered a cable that had been strung from one side of a river to the other and was used to slide a basket across with people hiding inside. They also discovered that a ferry crossing the river at La Balsa was being used to traffic illegal immigrants.

At a checkpoint set up at Kilometer 37, police arrested one Salvadoran, three Ecuadorians, one Cuban, three Nicaraguans, one Colombian and one Panamanian who lacked identification to prove they are in the country legally.

The Panamanian border has become a popular crossing point for people to enter Costa Rica illegally from many countries to the south, Luna said.

“The problem is that the border is very long and mountainous,” making it difficult for police to catch illegal activity, Luna said. “We're trying to combat human trafficking and also the trafficking of drugs and arms, which are very easy to get here from Panama.”

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

Perhaps drivers will forget the hours spent in downtown San José traffic snarls once the streets are slick with new pavement, but yesterday that end seemed out of sight for many frustrated commuters.

Drivers honked, yelled and sighed their way through the city, forced to find new routes because of streets blocked off for repair by the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT).

The good news: the ministry hopes to complete the San José street repair project by Friday, weather permitting, according to MOPT spokesman Juan Carlos González.

Tomorrow, workers will be repaving Calle 0, from the Pacific Train Station to the Caribbean bus terminal.

They will continue working on this main thoroughfare all week, ripping up old pavement at night and pouring the new layer during the day to minimize the time streets must be closed, González said.

This will affect several roads entering San José via Calle 0 including the those coming from San Sebastián, Paso Ancho, Barrio San Martín, San Rafael Abajo de Desamparados, Concepción de Alajuelita, San Juan de Dios and Poás de Aserrí.

These drivers will be directed to take alternate routes to enter and leave downtown.

Those driving to downtown from the northern suburbs of Guadalupe, Tibás, Santo Domingo de Heredia, Coronado and Moravia will also need to use alternative routes this week

The Supreme Elections Tribual (TSE) yesterday began sending boxes of electoral material to precincts around the country in preparation for the nationwide referendum on the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) to be held next month.

These boxes are making their way to 4,932 polling places in the country's 81 cantons, according to a statement from the TSE.

The Tribunal is using helicopters, SUVs, trucks and boats to get the boxes to remote, difficult-to-access parts of the country. Workers started yesterday with the Caribbean and Northern zones and some parts of the San José area and will continue tomorrow with the northwestern Guanacaste province; the Pacific Puntarenas province; Alajuela, northwest of San José; and the rest of the San José area, the statement said.

Material will be delivered Wednesday to the Southern Zone, the eastern province of Cartago and Heredia, north of San José.

Costa Ricans will take to the polls to vote on this controversial U.S. trade pact Oct. 7. The referendum will be the country's first.