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Second news page |
 Click HERE for photo tour of 526 properties for SALE or RENT in Escazú, Ciudad Colón, Santa Ana, Rohrmoser, Curridabat, Heredia and the Pacific Coast. |
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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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planned for golfers By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
For those who need an excuse to tee off, the sixth annual “Have a Heart,” charity golf tournament will raise money for students and schools in the canton of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste. The tournament, at Hacienda Pinilla Golf Course, will start at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 14. Teams of four golfers will play in a scramble and the first, second, third and fourth place teams win trophies for their efforts. The cost is $99 per person and players are invited to attend the registration party Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. That party is scheduled for Villa Alegre Bed and Breakfast in Playa Langosta, just south of Tamarindo. The entrance fee will pay for greens fees, a cart and an awards luncheon. For more information, contact Suzye and Barry Lawson at 653-0270. Death toll for holidays was 29 from all causes By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some 29 people died throughout the country between Christmas Eve and the Sunday, the first day of the new year. The deadliest day was Christmas Day. Eight people died in traffic accidents and homicides. The youngest victim was 11-year-old Beatriz de los Ángeles Franco Lara. She died Wednesday when she was hit by a car in La Cruz, Guanacaste, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. The oldest, also hit by a car, was 63-year-old Arnulfo Solís Alpizar. He died Christmas Eve in San Marcos de Tarrazú, the investigating organization said. In all, nine persons were killed when they were hit by cars during the week. Nine more were murdered. Five persons died in traffic accidents, two drowned and four persons took their own lives. Year's first drug arrest takes place at airport By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Drug agents made their first drug arrest of the year only a few hours after it had started early Sunday morning. The arrestee, a Jamaican identified by the last name Schuaoz, is suspected of being a drug courier. Officers arrested him as he tried to board a plane bound for Miami at Juan Santamaría international airport, they said. Drug agents said Schuaoz looked nervous as he waited for his flight. That combined with his odd baggage, persuaded the officers to detain him, they said. Once the agents were able to search him well, they found 73 small packages of cocaine hidden in the lining of his pants, they said. In all, agents said they seized 945 grams of the drug. The 24-year-old suspect entered the country in December, said Rogelio Ramos Martínez, minister of Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison, agents said. Last year, agents arrested 29 suspected couriers in the Alajuela airport, they said. The suspects were North Americans, Spaniards, Nicaraguans, Italians and Mexicans among others, the security ministry said. Drug agents are seeking recruits who can drive By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Drug agents with the security ministry said Monday that they are recruiting at least 30 young people to help in the ministry's fight against drug trafficking in the country. Applicants must have completed high school and preferably have a driver's license. This means that the agents are primarily looking for agents older than 18 years – the minimum legal driving age in Costa Rica. The ministry said that those who are given employment will receive a good salary but will be subjected to an extensive hiring process. The Policía de Control de Drogas of the ministry is responsible for the seizure of nearly six tons of cocaine in 2005, as well as thousands of crack-cocaine rocks and marijuana, they said. Those that are interested can apply at the Policía de Control de Drogas building in the central building of the security ministry. For more information, call 227-6352. Driver dies in morning mishap By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The driver died and a passenger, his father, suffered serious injuries when their passenger car collided headon with a bus about 8:30 a.m. Monday. The dead man was identified as Óscar Eduardo Rodríguez. His passenger was Jorge Eduardo Rodríguez. Both are of San Ramón. The accident happened in the four-lane Bernardo Soto highway in El Roble de Alajuela. This is the main east-west highway west of San José. The bus, which was traveling from Alajuela to Atenas empty suffered heavy front end damage. The vehicle, a small Japanese-made vehicle was torn apart by the collision. |
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| It's non-stop TV ads from now until Feb. 5 election |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The political campaign took off again Monday as candidates inundated television stations with their spots. The day marked the end of the holiday truce that barred campaigning since Dec. 16. Now the gloves are off, and some parties that have not advertised in the past will be trying to deliver their message to voters. The television channels are showing up to four campaign ads during each prime time station break. Candidates do not have a lot of time. The presidential election is Feb. 5. Most politicians expect that the election will require a runoff between the top two vote-getters, who are likely to be Óscar Arias Sánchez of the Partido Liberación Nacional and Ottón Solís of the Partido Acción Ciudadana. |
The other candidates hope to attract enough votes to win seats for
their slate of deputies and attract enough support so they are rewarded
financially four years from now. Costa Rica provides campaign funds
based on the percentage of the popular vote. Among the smaller parties there is a growing stop Arias movement. Such parties only will have power in the legislature if there is no clear majority from a more established party. Many of the new parties are groups who have fractured off the party of Solís or Arias' Liberación. An Arias-Solís runoff would be a clear test of public opinion on the free trade treaty with the United States. Arias supports the treaty, and Solís does not. Several legislative candidates for smaller parties are waging a one-issue campaign against the treaty hoping to attract enough votes to win a four-year job. |
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| Bush health officials stress preparing for pandemic |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Although the H5N1 strain of avian influenza — or bird flu — that has resulted in the deaths of 74 people in Asia and millions of birds throughout Asia and parts of Europe has not yet demonstrated the ability to spread easily among humans, the international community must take steps now to prepare for a possible pandemic, Bush administration officials said on two talk shows Jan. 1. “The virus continues to spread in wild birds across the world. There is no reason to believe that at some point it will stop. We need to be prepared,” Michael Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said on CNN's Late Edition. "Viruses know not sovereignty. They understand no political boundary. They travel by the rules and laws of nature and there are many of them and they are continually changing and working their way toward ways to adapt so that they can inhabit human hosts and other living things," he continued. Dr. Julie Gerberding of the Centers for Disease Control agreed on CBS’s Face the Nation. “We've probably never been closer to a pandemic," she said. "[W]hen we see the ominous signs of this very bad virus continuing to propagate [in Asia and Europe], we do need to take it seriously and solve some of the problems that would be in our way for an effective response in the United States." Dr. Gerberding noted that the world has experienced three flu pandemics in the last 100 years, "and there's certainly every reason to suspect that it will happen again." |
"And that's why, whether we're preparing for H5N1, or some future
pandemic, the steps we're taking now really will save lives and will
really help us do more to protect people in the future," she said. Leavitt and Gerberding emphasized the importance of establishing a reliable vaccine supply system, of developing more and better anti-viral drugs to prevent a flu outbreak and of strengthening the U.S. health care system at every level. "We've got to get a vaccine supply that we can count on. We've got to get more and better anti-viral drugs. And we've got to have every single link in our public health system as strong as it can be so we can detect this problem and do the things at the local community level that we need to do to save lives," Gerberding said. Gerberding identified vaccine production and modernization as well as the U.S. health system’s capability to withstand a surge in care requirements to be the biggest challenges facing the United States in the event of a flu pandemic. Countries that have reported cases of bird flu include Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Turkey, Croatia, Romania and Greece. Human illnesses and deaths from bird flu have occurred in China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. In all but one case, the path of infection from sick birds to humans has been readily identified, with poultry workers, farmers, people who have slaughtered chickens and children who have been playing in yards with infected chickens among the most frequently reported cases. |
| All U.S. land border entry points now have biometric devices in use |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The U. S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, an automated entry-exit program created by the Department of Homeland Security, has completed installation of biometric entry capabilities at all ports of entry along the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders, the department said in a Friday press release. “US-VISIT is making America safer by enhancing our border management system with next-generation technologies and processes to address the emerging threats, challenges, and opportunities of our 21st century world,” Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said in the press release. |
The program compares biometric data such as digital and inkless
fingerscans and digital photos, as well as biographical information
collected by the Department of State, against U.S. terrorist and
criminal watch lists to identify and intercept criminals and violators
who try to enter the United States. Congress required that US-VISIT install biometric entry capabilities at the 50 busiest land border ports by December 31, 2004, and at the remaining land border ports by December 31, 2005. According to the department, biometrics have enabled US-VISIT to intercept more than 970 people with histories of criminal or immigration violations at U.S. ports of entry. |
| Bolivia's Evo Morales is off to Caracas to confer with Hugo Chávez |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
LA PAZ, Bolivia — President-elect Evo Morales is slated to arrive today in Venezuela for talks with President Hugo Chávez. Although officials have not released details of the meetings in Caracas, analysts say the two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues. The two men, along with Cuban President Fidel Castro, |
are
united by their leftist ideologies and staunch opposition to U.S.
influence in the region. Morales has vowed to reverse a U.S.-backed
campaign to eradicate coca,
the main ingredient in cocaine. Bolivia is the world's third-largest
producer of coca, a popular medicinal plant used by the country's
Indians. Morales' visit to Caracas is the first stop on a global tour that will also take the newly elected socialist to countries around the globe, including Spain, France, Belgium, South Africa, China and Brazil. He takes office Jan. 22. |
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