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Happy Anniversary! San José’s National Theater is celebrating its 110th anniversary this month with dance performances, a photo exhibition and commemorative stamps. |
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Mónica Quesada | Tico Times
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| Prosecutors Request Figueres
Corruption Case Dismissed |
State prosecutors have requested that a corruption probe against ex-President José María Figueres (1994-1998) be dismissed for lack of evidence.
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| Stagno Addresses U.N. |
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno yesterday addressed the general debate of the 62nd session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York as part of a long lineup of speakers including the foreign ministers of Kenya, Uzbekistan, Canada and the Congo. |
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| Private Companies Unite with Police in Guanacaste |
The northwestern Guanacaste towns of Tamarindo and Brasilito are about to get new police stations, thanks to some help from the private sector.
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| October 3 |
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Reggae Festival with Mekatelyu
Bar Litros, Limón; also Friday, Discoteca Arco Iris, Quepos; and Saturday, Bar Babylón, Tamarindo; all at 9:30 p.m. Info: 390-9641.
Free Film
PYME (SITIADOS), directed by Alejandro Malowicki, Argentina, 2003, 1996, 7 p.m., Sala Calle 15, Ave. 2, Calle 13/15.
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Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net |
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Prosecutors Request Figueres
Corruption Case Dismissed |
By Blake Schmidt
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net
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State prosecutors have requested that a corruption probe against ex-President José María Figueres (1994-1998) be dismissed for lack of evidence.
Since 2004, state prosecutors have been investigating Figueres for allegedly receiving $900,000 between 2000 and 2003 from the French telecom giant Alcatel, which was awarded a $149 million contract to operate cell phone lines here in 2001.
Judicial Branch spokesman Fabian Barrantes said state prosecutors requested last week that the financial branch of the country’s criminal court dismiss the case, though the court has yet to decide whether it will do so.
Figueres, who has been living in Switzerland since 2004, has maintained that he received the money legally for consulting services, though he hasn’t come to the country to appear for questioning in the investigation (TT, Oct. 29, Nov. 5 2004).
Former President Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002) faces corruption allegations in the same Alcatel case and will have a preliminary hearing Nov. 5 (TT, Sept. 7). |
Stagno Addresses U.N. |
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno yesterday addressed the general debate of the 62nd session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York as part of a long lineup of speakers including the foreign ministers of Kenya, Uzbekistan, Canada and the Congo.
He touched on the need for multilateral peace efforts and strategies to combat global warming, among other topics.
“The 192 member states gathered here have not yet taken the qualitative step already called for by Woodrow Wilson in 1918 for our international order to be based not on ‘organized rivalries,’ but on organized common peace,” he opened his address.
He also called for countries to take global warming more seriously and take concrete actions to address it.
“We simply cannot continue to (dismiss) the evidence of climate change. Regardless of how inconvenient the truth may be, and our respective share of responsibility, the truth is here to stay... year in and year out, it reminds us of it with increasing frequency and intensity,” he said, pointing to Costa Rica’s environmental efforts such as the Coalition for Rainforest Nations as steps in the right direction.
Stagno mentioned the Costa Rica Consensus, an initiative often touted by him and President Oscar Arias that rewards developing countries for investing in social programs rather than arms.
The minister has been on a quest to gain Costa Rica a temporary seat on the U.N. Security Council. Costa Rica is vying with the Dominican Republic for a non-permanent seat on the council from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2009. The United Nations will vote on the matter Oct. 16.
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-Tico Times
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Private Companies Unite with Police in Guanacaste |
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net
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The northwestern Guanacaste towns of Tamarindo and Brasilito are about to get new police stations, thanks to some help from the private sector.
A group of area businesses has donated about $400,000 to build stations in these towns which currently lack them, Guanacaste National Police Director Hugo Uba told The Tico Times yesterday. Uba declined to name the businesses without their authorization.
“These police stations are going to give us the infrastructure to create an adequate and quality environment for the police to work,” he said.
Crime in Guanacaste beach towns has increased significantly in the past couple of years, from petty theft to armed home invasions (TT, Sept. 8).
The Public Security Ministry will supplement this effort by providing 20 police officers to work in Tamarindo and 10 in Brasilito as well as a new patrol car and two motorcycles for each town.
Uba said construction on the new stations should begin soon and that he hopes they’ll be open by December.
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