The country has kicked off a $1.6 million campaign to inoculate nearly 300,000 citizens, the elderly and youngsters under 5.

Leading the parade to the flu shot was President Abel Pacheco, who received his inoculation at the hands of Rocío Sáenz, the minister of Salud. He appeared in his undershirt on national television.

The campaign is being financed in part by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, the organization that runs the hospitals and would bear the costs of any hospitalizations due to flu.

Those who are not members of the Caja’s medical system, including many expats here, can obtain shots at the local pharmacy. The cost will be about 3,500 colons (about $7.75), said a health ministry spokesperson.

The best time to get the shots is between now and April when the rainy/flu season starts.
 

Bolaños gives talk,
seeks end to crisis

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — President Enrique Bolaños gave a generally conciliatory speech to the national assembly dominated by his political enemies Monday.

The president called for a national understanding that would help Nicaragua move from the current constitutional crisis that could bring the country to the edge of armed conflict.

However, the assembly is poised to ratify a reform of the government that would turn the country into a parliamentary democracy. Already the body has stripped the president of the power to appoint a minister.

Some 90 percent of the assembly are either supporters of the Frente Sandinista del Liberación Nacional or the Partido Liberal Constitutionalista. Both Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega and Liberal leader Arnoldo Alemán have joined forced to unseat the serving president.

Alemán, himself, is technically a prisoner under house arrest on his sprawling hacienda, although he has been free to meet with other politicians.

The United States supports Bolaños and has been working on his behalf.

Bolaños has threatened to seek foreign troops under an agreement with the Organization of American States if his hold on power is lessened by the assembly. That would pit foreign troops against the Nicaraguan military, which generally does not support Bolaños.

Newcomers planning
traditional area teas

The Women’s Club of Costa Rica starts 2005 with its traditional neighborhood teas for members, friends, and newcomers. The first will be Wednesday, Jan. 26, for women in the east side of San José and the Central Valley.

There will be five teas in all, scattered throughout the valley. Newcomers are encouraged to come to any of the gathering to meet local women enjoy an afternoon with friends, the group said. 

The meetings will take place every Wednesday through February, visiting different regions. Each tea will begin at 2:30 p.m.

The second tea, will be for women in Coronado, Guadalupe, Moravia and Tibás  Feb. 2. Then Feb. 9, a gathering will be held for women in Rohrmoser, Pavas, Sabana, and La Uruca. The following week, on Feb. 16, women in Escazú and Bello Horizonte will meet. Lastly, a meeting will be held for women in Santa Ana and Ciudad Colón Feb. 23. 

For information regarding placement of the individual teas or any other questions, contact Anne at 267-7042.

Policeman takes bullet
as four are arrested

A Fuerza Pública officer suffered a bullet wound to the groin Monday as police shot it out with four robbery suspects in La Aurora de Alajuelita.

Injured was Carlos Carvajal. He was one of several officers who gave chase when they saw four men running from the Supermercado Bellota. The men were running to get in a vehicle.

Later police found guns and a substantial amount of cash among the men’s possessions.

Officials said they believe the men are members of a gang that has been robbing commercial establishments and delivery trucks in Alajuelita and Escazú.

Quake rattles valley

A 4.0 earthquake, blamed on a local fault, rattled the Central Valley about 6:32 a.m. Monday. The epicenter was placed in the vicinity of Aserrí, the mountain town south of San José. No damage was reported.

New road to be opened

The Municipalidad de Desamparados will inaugurate a new, half-kilometer (third of a mile) section of Calle Sur in Torremolinos Wednesday. The project was a joint one between the municipality and the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes.

BOGOTÁ, Columbia — A top Colombian official has denied Venezuelan allegations that Colombian police lied about where they captured a leftist rebel leader.

Colombia's Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe says neither the Colombian army nor other authorities violated Venezuela's territory or that of neighboring countries. Colombia says its security forces arrested Rodrigo Granda Dec. 14 in the Colombian city of Cucuta near the Venezuelan border.

Chavez says cell phone records show that Granda made a phone call from Caracas shortly before his capture.

The Venezuelan president says the incident could affect bilateral relations, which have been improving in recent years.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Authorities here say they have captured a Nicaraguan man who attempted to assassinate Honduran President Ricardo Maduro.

Police say they arrested the 40-year-old man, Jose Leonidad, who was armed with a grenade launcher and 

Honduran authorities increased Maduro's personal security in December because of threats by drug gangs.

Dec. 23, alleged gang members killed 28 people on a public bus.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Organization of American States has expressed its solidarity with victims of the Asian tsunami tragedy, saying that what happened to countries in the Indian Ocean region made clear "that the world is one in its vulnerability to natural disasters."

And the disaster may lead to early warning systems in the Americas.

In a statement, the chairman of the OAS Permanent Council, Manuel Maria Cáceres, said many OAS member countries, including the United States, have offered financial or technical assistance to the nations affected by the giant tsunami. Several of the affected countries, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, are permanent observers at the OAS.

The OAS added that its acting secretary-general, Luigi Einaudi, has said that he will convene a meeting of the Inter-American Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction as soon as possible, with a view to improving regional and global cooperation in disaster relief, including the establishment of early-warning systems.

The OAS recalled that many Central American and Caribbean nations have suffered devastating floods and hurricanes, most recently in the Caribbean in late 2004, and noted that historically, tsunamis have caused colossal damage along the coasts of Chile and Peru.

The OAS's Cáceres said that "we in the Americas who have experienced such devastation from natural phenomena send our most profound and heartfelt condolences to the Indian Ocean nations that with the tsunami disaster have suffered enormous damage, and pledge to continue sharing with them our expertise and resources to confront the difficult situation affecting the region."

More than 150,000 people died, and more than 500,000 were injured after a powerful earthquake triggered gigantic tidal waves in the Indian Ocean region.