Three U.S. ships have been granted the right to dock in Costa Rica. Members of the Plenario Legislativo voted to permit such access as a measure to support the war on drugs Wednesday, but opponents of the war in Iraq said that this permission in no way changed their position on that conflict.

Rogelio Ramos, minister of Seguridad Pública, requested the permission for U.S. Coast Guard visits in a note presented March 26 to the legislative body, according to a press release from the legislature. 

The access granted to U.S. ships is linked to a treaty between the United States and Costa Rica that joins them in the war on drugs, according to the release. The United States and Servicio 

The measure to allow the docking of U.S. vessels is continually brought up for review here. This go-around the measure passed with 37 votes in favor, according to the release.

The boats have been granted docking rights during April and the crews can have liberty ashore. Such legislative permission is required by Costa Rican laws.

Carlos Ricardo Benavides, a member of the Partido Liberación Nacional, said the position to allow the dockings should not be confused with the parties position on the war in Iraq, according to the release. That party is opposed to the war there but supports the drug war.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. trade representative has spotlighted foreign barriers to telecommunications markets.

One case that drew attention is that of México. Costa Rica was not mentioned in the report, but U.S. officials are known to be unhappy with this country’s monopoly telecommunications network.

However, even as late as Tuesday, a statement from Casa Presidencial said that outside access to Costa Rica telecommunication markets would not be permitted. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad will continue as the monopoly provider along with its subsidiaries.

The issue is critical because Costa Rica is now engaged in a negotiation for a free trade treaty between Central American nations and the United States. Telecommunications is believed to hold a high priority with U.S. negotiators.

A press release issued about the report says some countries charge unjustifiably high prices for connecting U.S. networks with domestic telecom networks. 

Listed as examples were Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Japan and Switzerland, as well as México.

Australia, France, Germany, Mexico and Singapore lack reasonable access to leased lines, the report said.

Mexico's government allows favored domestic companies to break domestic telecom rules, according to the report, adding that the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany have made progress in reducing telecom barriers.

Activists here are not letting up as more protests are being planned against the war in Iraq, and a student organization has announced its opposition.

Members of a political science group at the Universidad de Costa Rica issued a statement criticising the war effort. The group called on Costa Rica to restate its official position on the war and reclaim its standing as a promoter of peace.

Costa Rica is listed as a partner in the "coalition of the willing," as the group of nations that support the war is called.

The political science group asked that the government form a policy of supporting dialogue in the United Nations. 

Centro de Amigos para la Paz is one of the groups most outspoken against the war. The San José-based organization has been protesting since well before the war headed into its current hot phase.

The group issued a statement it said was for mass diffusion calling on all interested parties to join in a series of protests in Alajuela and Palmares.

The friends of peace gave two main objectives for their protests. The group also wants to convince Abel Pacheco to take Costa Rica’s name off of the list of willing coalition partners. Also, the group wants an end to the war.

The friends of peace said in a release that a petition is being formed to be presented to the Asamblea Legislativa. The Comisión Costarricense de Derechos Humanos will present the petition to the main legislative body of Costa Rica if enough names are gathered, according to the release.

Friday a candlelight vigil is planned at Parque Juan Santamaría in Alajuela starting at 7 p.m. Saturday. Sunday petitioners will be out in Palmares collecting signatures.

A group called Soñemos Alajuela is in the planning stages of an event in Parque Central de Alajuela which will involve artists and the general population. The group intends to cover the park with painted cans. Each can is to be painted with a theme of world peace, according to the release from the center of friends for peace.

Centro de Amigos para la Paz meets Wednesday at 4 p.m. to continue the anti-war campaign planning. The office is in central San José near Plaza de la Democracia. 

Security officials
to examine kite

What strange things are landing near Matina.

A resident, one Ubaldo Urtecho Espinoza, showed up at the police station there to report that he had encountered a strange object on the Finca 4 Millas, some 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) from Matina.

According to the subsequent police report, the object was like a kite and bore a drawing of the U.S. Flag.  It was more than six feet long and had attached a cardboard box, banners and some wires. 

Whatever it was, the object was not from outer space. It had writing that said some parts had come from Finland.

Officials from the Seguridad Nacional were to inspect the package, said police.
 

Hijackers capture 
Cuban boat off Florida

MIAMI, Fla. — Hijackers have taken over a Cuban pleasure boat in international waters off the state's southernmost tip.

It is not clear how many people were on board the boat when it was seized early Wednesday. International news sources quote a Federal Bureau of Investigations official as saying hostage negotiators are on their way to the scene.

This is the second Cuban hijacking in two days. On Tuesday, a man claiming to have two grenades hijacked a Cuban airliner on its way to Havana and forced the pilots to take the plane to Key West. The grenades were found to be fake.

The hijacker surrendered to authorities upon arrival in Florida, and is being held by police. 

South Korean chips
subsidized, says U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Commerce has made a preliminary determination that semiconductors imported to the United States from South Korea were subsidized.

In a release Monday, the department calculated that the net subsidy rates for these dynamic random access memory semiconductors ranged up to 57 percent.

If the finding is upheld, the U.S. government will apply import duties to offset the purported subsidy.

Ex-top cop’s son
held in robbery

Agents arrested the son of a former director of the Judicial Investigating Organization on a robbery charge Wednesday morning. During the arrest a man suffered a gunshot wound, presumably from the weapon of an agent.

The arrested man is Rafael Angel Guile Higo, son of the former director of the same name. The Judicial Investigating Organization is the top investigating unit in the country and is attached to the judicial system.

The man was arrested at his home in Curridabat. That’s where a man identified by the surname Fallas suffered a wound to his foot. The current director of the organization, Jorge Rojas Vargas, ordered an investigation by the Oficina de Asuntos Internos, according to a spokesman for the agency.

The crime involved the attempted hijacking of a truck filled with money in February.

The strong winds and rain in the Northern Zone and along the Caribbean coast were expected to diminish today.

These areas and Guancaste were hit with raging winds and in some cases heavy rain. Roads were blocked by landslides in several places including the main San José Guápiles highway north of the Zurquí Tunnel.

Winds as high as 140 kph (some 87 mph) were clocked near Lake Arenal Tuesday. Strong winds, spawned by a cold front over the southern United States, continued to hit the country Wednesday. But they had become less violent by evening.

Guanacaste also suffered from the winds and rain. Low sections around Limón were flooded with as much as three feet of water.
 

Professional Directory A.M. Costa Rica's professional directory is where business people who wish to reach the English-speaking community may invite responses. If you are interested in being represented here, please contact the editor. Psychiatrists Dr. Luis Carlos Sancho Torres   bilingual psychiatrist (UCR) • consulting • depression  • schizophrenia  • psychiatric disability VA Affairs • evaluations for gun permits   • bipolar disorders • addictions  • methadone Available 24-hour a day children and adults office: 233-7782 beeper: 233-3333 lucasancho@yahoo.com Lawyers INVESTMENT RECOVERY CENTER Learn how to best protect your interests in the Villalobos case. Explore your options at http://www.irccr.net Also, we invite you to join one of the most active discussion groups on the case.  Find out what people who care are saying. Join at irccr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 232-8/16/03 Lic. Arcelio Alberto Hernández Mussio Attorney at Law, Notary Public Official Translator Corporate, Criminal, Constitutional, Family Practice. Property title searches and transfers. Official English/Spanish translation & interpretation We also offer the following services in association with Morning Star Investments CRI, S.A.: *Real Estate Investment opportunities *Money Management *Accounting Services e-mail: legalxpt@racsa.co.cr           Web: www.forovial.com Cell: 365-3088  132-5/29/ KEARNEY-LAWSON & Asoc.       Lic. Gregory Kearney Lawson, attorney at law Villalobos and Savings Unlimited Collections *Investments  *Corporations  *Real Estate Sales in Costa Rica *Tax Shelters  *Immigration *Intellectual Property     *Business procedures *Family and Labor Law     *Locate People *Private Investigations        Ph/Fax: 221-9462, 841-0007 gkearney_lawson@hotmail.com attorneykearney@yahoo.com Real estate agents MARGARET SOHN  of Carico 15 years Costa Rican real estate experience Member of the Costa Rican Real Estate Association, Lic. #1000  Member, Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce margaret@caricohenderson.com www.realtorcostarica.com (506) 232-5016 home   (506) 233-8057 office  (506) 382-7399 cell  229-8/9/03 Investments Investigators Empresa de Investigadores Internacionales S.A. Telephone (506) 280-5217  FAX (506) 280-5120 P.O. Box 297-2100 Costa Rica Cédula Juridica #3-101-097681-32 investigators@prodigy.net johnniechaverri@policeone.com 112-5/18/03 Web Design Personalized Web Design •Hosting •Promotion •Logo Design Prices so reasonable they will astound you Call for a quote:  220-4602 www.alegria-webdesign.com We have over 12 years international experience 214-7/14/03

The marijuana harvest has been in full swing in southern Costa Rica in the mountains inhabited by Indians. But the harvesters are police agents who say they have made a dent in the country’s marijuana supply.

Some 34 agents from various agencies worked for 22 days to clear marijuana, which is a principal cash crop for the impoverished Indians in the Talamanca region. Sometimes they had to walk for a day to get to where the plants were growing.

The U.S. government supplied several types of helicopters and crews to carry personnel and donated supplies for the Indians from Valle de La Estrella to the High Talamanca, according to a report from the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública.

This is the 12th such effort since 1998, and the ministry said that 7.4 million marijuana plants have been destroyed during that period. This latest effort resulted in the destruction of 290,000 plants, according to the ministry.

Members of the Comando de La Estrella, who are Cabécar Indians, were transported with other agents and served as translators, the ministry said.

Participating units were the Policía de Control de Drogas, the Unidad de Intervención Policial, the Servicio de Vigilancia Aérea and the Dirección de Sanidad. Also involved was the Fiscalía in Limón, the public prosecutor.

Some of the communities involved were Alto Telire, Cartagena de Valle de la Estrella, Piedra Meza and Cerro Duva Kicha.

A ministry spokesman said that far from being an individual occupation in the Talamanca narcotrafficking organizations have taken control.

This newspaper seeks the prompt return of two men who ran high-interest investment operations that have gone out of business.

Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho, 62, was associated with Ofinter S.A., a money exchange house, and with his own private investment business that had about $1 billion in other people’s money on the books.

Villalobos closed his business Oct. 14 and vanished.

Louis Milanes operated Savings Unlimited and several casinos in San José. He left the country with other members of his firm the weekend of Nov. 23. He may have as much as $260 million in his possession. Both operations catered to North Americans.

Villalobos and Milanes are the subjects of international arrest warrants.  Associates of both men have been jailed.

A.M. Costa Rica has posted a $500 reward for information leading to the detention of either man with the hopes that others will make similar pledges. The newspaper believes that investors only will see some of their money when the two men are in custody.

Milanes has few supporters in San José. On the other hand, as the letters frequently on this page show, Villalobos still has supporters who believe that he will reappear and settle his debts. They believe he is in hiding because of a predatory Costa Rican government.

Fools in investment,

It is abundantly clear, after seven months of not receiving a dividend check, no communication from Enrique, that we are indeed, vanquished.

Enrique has demonstrated, not by word, but by deed, the metal that he is made of. He has, in fact, abandoned those whom he once described as 'his friends."

ENRIQUE could have contacted investors thru his attorney, or thru personal letters or thru A.M. Costa Rica. ENRIQUE has demonstrated to all of us that he does not care, does not want, to communicate with those who believed in him. Ain't that a trip?!

You all best understand, this guy has abandoned his only brother, to languish in a jail. HIS BROTHER! Brothers and sisters in indebtedness, if Enrique abandoned his own blood to languish, you can't be surprised that he would abandon friends, can you?! Well, can you!?

The reason why you folks don't speak out in this matter is because you think that the fellow that you consider a saint, will behave more like a villain; will send you nothing of your investment. Hmm. Saint.

Last word; 'Will see to it that you don't receive a thing if I am arrested or if I die.' You got it, folks? Paula, his 20-some-year-old bride gets you hard earned investment. Love ya', Paula!

How many of you can truthfully say that you never, ever, lost sleep, never pondered what if, what if Enrique failed to respond to his responsibility?! Alas! None of you. None of you can tell me today, that you never ever considered Enrique not responding to his responsibilities.

Aren't you all amazed!? As you read that other investors in trust mention what you all suffered?! Checks, checks from Enrique that failed to clear?! How many of you didn't suffer from the same dang experience?! Enrique failing to deliver?!

Enrique spoke with the eloquence of the angels. However, when asked to respond as a child of God, Enrique abandoned us. 

In the vernacular of the United States Marine Corps, Enrique is a maggot. And you, dearest investors?! Of course, we all are Enrique's hosts.

If you all think that the lawyers and associations who advertise here and there are going to bring you your money back, you are dumb. Really dumb. 

Realize that honest, can I be saying this?! Honest lawyers demand one third of the booty. Kids! The folks who you all think represent you?! They will accept $250 and even mutter that they will accept 2.5 percent of YOUR investment as their revenue. Don't you realize that these guys will never have to earn, have to earn, what you all put into their pockets?! Be wise! Be wise, fellow investors!

We are victims. Enrique is a felon. He stole our hard-earned investments. God has nothing to do with it. Enrique has not communicated with you. Enrique has not communicated with his only brother. 

Enrique? Enrique be damned. And investor folk? He will. Enrique will be damned. He really thinks that he is going to be able to mutter to God, "Sorry. Didn't mean to hurt anyone." FACT! Enrique knows that he is responsible for the deaths of the German and the Massachusetts guy and yet, he leaves all of us in harm's way. 

As for you, Enrique? You will certainly go to Hell. God, The Lord, will never accept the notion that you, Enrique, can employ His name and screw those who believed in you. Enjoy the journey, Enrique.

Bill McWade
Spring Valley, N.J.