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may be casing the property By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Don't give any information over the phone. That's a piece of advise for homeowners who don't want to be robbed, said a judicial official. One man contacted A.M. Costa Rica Tuesday and said he had been receiving calls from someone who said they worked for DHL delivery service. The callers say they have a package for him and ask for his exact address. They would not say who the package was from, said the man. Manuel Brenes Carillo, director of the Sección de Asaltos at the Judicial Investigation Organization, said Tuesday that he had not yet heard of many operations of this type, but that he would look further into the issue. Brenes said usually thieves and robbers case a house before they raid it. Many times robbers ring the doorbell and attack the person who answers, he said. In a previous interview however, he advised people not to give out any personal information over the phone as that potential robbers may call for information. Two held in murder of Nicoya taxi driver By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Agents of the Judicial Investigating Organization arrested two men Monday who are suspected of murdering a taxi driver in Nicoya Saturday. The two suspects, a 32-year-old Nicaraguan and a 19 year-old Costa Rican, were arrested after appearing at a local hospital with knife wounds and a story that was later contradicted by various witnesses, including the man who led them to the hospital, according to a release. The taxi driver, identified by the last name Villareal, 26, was discovered in the trunk of his abandoned car Sunday at noon, dead of multiple stab wounds in Nicoya. His wife had alerted officials after losing contact with her husband following a text message saying he was going to Santa Ana, the release said. The suspects arrived at the Nicoya Hospital Saturday night, one with a stab wound and another missing his little finger. Our reader's opinion
He would not prohibitthose victimless crimes Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I was surprised at the venom of a recent letter to the editor regarding prostitution. During my career as a sociologist in the field of drug abuse, I did some research on prostitution. In my experience, prostitutes are typically more disturbed emotionally than the average person and have a higher rate of self destructive drug and alcohol use. Clients of prostitutes, whether frequent or not, run the gamut of social class and emotional stability. Many are married, and some have seemingly good relationships with their wives except for this violation of their marital contract. Prostitution is certainly not the life I would want for my loved ones, and my experience is that being a frequent client of prostitutes does not come in the same package with an overall happy life. But prostitution and being a client are victimless crimes, no matter what your venomous reader says. Granted, others can get emotionally hurt by people who engage in these behaviors, but whether they are victims is up to them. Drug and alcohol use, gambling, prostitution, and certain sexual activities between consenting adults are all activities that have been condemned by many throughout the ages. There is a long and inglorious history of scapegoating and punishing people for these activities, very often making them criminals and sending them to prison. I urge Costa Rica A.M. readers to read Peter McWilliams' book, "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do." It is available free and is the most thorough review of victimless crime and social responses to them I have read. The author's libertarian stand is not hidden, but his facts are accurate and might give people pause. As a researcher I am trained to separate my personal feelings from my scientific observations, and I have done the same here. I applaud Costa Rica's stand on prostitution, and at the same agree that pandering or pimping is an activity that can easily be used to denigrate and manipulate prostitutes, as is drug selling or running casinos or state lotteries that can be used to prey on people's addictions. Costa Rica chooses to limit or prohibit these activities, but that is not the issue raised by your reader — it is the right of adults to use their own bodies the way they want, whether for sex, drugs, or rock and roll. John French
San Pablo de Heredia
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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Three Iraqis nabbed at Juan Santamaría with false passports
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By Elise Sonray
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Police have arrested what they say are three Iraqí men who had fake European passports and a Polish man wanted on charges of child kidnapping. The action took place at Juan Santamaría airport Monday. The men were all detained at an airport in Guatemala and send back to Costa Rica where their flight had originated, according to the Ministerio Público. Guatemalan airport police noticed irregularities in the men's passports and would not let them into the country, according to the ministry. The men were sent back to Costa Rica, according to a judicial press release. The three men said to be from Iraq had passports from Greece, England and Yugoslavia, according to the ministry. The ministry added that the men only spoke Arabic. Costa |
Rican immigration police determined the
three passports were false, said the release. Fransisco Castaing, director of the Policía de Migración said by telephone Tuesday that the men were taken to the prosecutor's office in Alajuela for holding. Castaing said he did not have many details about the men and did not know if they lived in Costa Rica or came into the country on a previous flight. A judge ordered that the three suspects be given three months of preventative prison for investigation of the use of fake documents. The criminal court in Alajuela also gave the Polish man with the last name of Marek three months of preventative prison. The ministry said in addition to face an allegation of kidnapping minors Marek was wanted on other charges in Poland. It was unclear if the four men were together. |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Jeremy Arias
Manuel Dinarte explains his work while the German ambassador, Wolf Daerr, enjoys a cup |
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Coffee is the guest of honor at a Museo Nacional reception
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By Jeremy Arias
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff A lively crowd filled a gallery of the Museo Nacional Tuesday to celebrate 200 years of coffee in Costa Rica. Rocío Fernández, museum director, joined German Ambassador Wolf Daerr and the Ronald Peters Seevers, Instituto del Café de Costa Rica director, to welcome guests while the museum plaza was made ready for coffee tasting. “Coffee has given much to Costa Rica,” Daerr said in his welcoming speech, “and the coffee of Costa Rica has given a lot to the world.” Following the greetings, the audience was given a brief but detailed history of one of the museum's works of art, a 1932 painting by Alajuela native Julio Solera Oreamuno titled “Café de Costa Rica.” German expert Volker Wünderich delivered the speech. In the plaza, guests crowded under the broad museum tents to sip coffee and enjoy pastries as a light drizzle began to fall. The national barista champion, Manuel Dinarte, awed |
the crowd with a demonstration of professional expresso preparation along with coffee institute representative Ricardo
Azofeifa. A barista, an English word, is one who serves coffee at a
coffee bar and is generally associated with upscale firms like
Starbucks. “Between these two tables we have every type of coffee you could want!” Dinarte boasted with a smile as he served out delicious cappuccino and espresso drinks. He represented the country in a world competition. A smooth, creamy layer of foam floated on top of the deliciously vanilla-flavored brew beneath, and the expertly blended caffeine-loaded cocktail seemed to emanate a pleasant, comfortable warmth in the stomach as the dark-blend aftertaste lingered happily on the tongue. In a country renowned for its coffee production, the champion barista did not disappoint, and Daerr became the latest in a long line of foreigners to delight in the particularly rich Costa Rican blend. Germany and France were the major importers of Costa Rican coffee during the early days of production. |
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9 out of 10 convicted in 2007 were men, judicial study finds
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
More than 90 percent of people convicted of crimes in 2007 were men, according to a study done of the court by Poder Judicial. The majority of those men were single, according to the study. Women made up just 9.2 percent of convictions. The study done by the Sección de Estadística del Poder Judicial, analyzed the people convicted last year. Courts sentences 3,736 persons to prison or to other measures, in 2007, according to the study. Of those convicted, 772 or 20.6 percent, were repeat offenders, according to Poder Judicial. More women than men were convicted of selling drugs and more men were convicted in crimes like robbery, according to the study. Eleven people from the United States received convictions, according to the study. According to the statistics, 97.3 percent of the people tried in court over drug involvement were imprisoned. For those tried in property crimes such as robbery and theft, 71.2 were convicted. |
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offense of aggravated robbery led to the highest number of
convictions, 630 in total, according to Poder Judicial. That
was followed by sexual abuse against minors with 331 individuals
convicted. Third was simple theft with 205 convictions. Out of the men convicted, 63.8 percent were sent to prison, 31.7 percent received a deferred sentence and 3.2 percent received fines. Of the men sentenced to prison, 564 were sentenced to between five and seven years. The Poder Judicial said 351 men were sentenced to three to five years. That total is 42.3 percent of the men serving prison sentences of three years or longer, said Poder Judicial. Of the 342 women sentenced, 51.2 percent or 175 were sent to prison, while 38 percent were given deferred sentences and 9.9 percent were was punished with a fine. Of those foreigners who received sentences, in addition to the 11 from the United States, 313 were Nicaraguans, 77 were Colombians and 17 were Panamanians Of those, 297 or 57.7 percent of foreigners who were convicted were sent to prison, 203 or 39.4 percent were granted the benefit of deferred sentencing and 15 or 2.9 percent were fined. |
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World trade talks collapse again over agricultural imports
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
World Trade Organization talks in Geneva have collapsed after members were unable to reach a compromise on agricultural import rules. Delegates said Tuesday the United States and developing countries were unable to settle a dispute over measures regarding protection of farmers in emerging economies.The measures would have imposed tariffs to protect farmers in case of a sudden surge in goods on the market or a drop in prices. Earlier, China and India accused the United States of refusing to negotiate on the issue while U.S. officials accused them of backing out of an earlier agreement. Pascal Lamy, World Trade Organization director general, |
described the
situation as a "serious setback" but indicated an interest in reviving
talks. Trade representatives from the United States and Brazil also
refused to discount future negotiations. The current negotiations, known as the Doha Round, have made little progress towards a world trade pact since they were launched in 2001. Disagreements between rich and poor countries have repeatedly stalled the talks. Among the issues was import duties on bananas from Latin America by the European Union. Earlier in the week it appeared that agreement had been reached on that point. Emerging nations have demanded wealthy countries reduce agricultural subsidies which they say give farmers in developed countries an unfair advantage in an open market. |
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Two paramilitary leaders admit drug smuggling roles By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Two Colombian paramilitary members have pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to drug trafficking charges, after being extradited from Colombia. The two right-wing paramilitaries entered guilty pleas in a Miami courtroom to helping to smuggle tons of cocaine from Colombia into the United States in the late 1990s. The men, Ramiro Vanoy Murillo and Javier Lindo face maximum prison terms of 17 years in the case. The two were among a group of 14 leaders of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, knownin English as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, who were extradited from Colombia in May. The 12 others, including former leader Salvatore Mancuso, are facing similar charges in other U.S. courts. Colombia decided to extradite the men after accusing them of failing to fulfill the terms of a government-backed peace agreement and of continuing to commit crimes while in prison. The government of President Alvaro Uribe says the peace plan has demobilized tens of thousands of paramilitary fighters and sharply reduced violence in the nation. University of Miami professor Bruce Bagley says scores of paramilitary members continue to operate across Colombia. "Many of them have not demobilized, others are re-forming. They continue to operate in drug trafficking. The fact that he extradited these top capos is an indication of just how concerned the Colombian government is," he said. Paramilitary leaders had opposed extradition to the United States where they face added charges and tougher prison terms than in Colombia. Bagley says the extradition shows the Uribe government is continuing to pressure the paramilitary groups in an effort to further advance peace efforts. Critics say Uribe extradited the men to keep them from testifying in Colombian cases that might implicate him and his associates in crimes. Antennas will block convicts' cell phones By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
What may seem like an obvious move, officials at the la Reforma prison in Alajuela have set up antennas to block cell phone signals. That's because prison guards are unable to keep illicit cell phones out of the hands of inmates. The convicts have been using the phones to manage criminal activities outside the prison, including various types of extortions, officials have said. Such crimes have been going on for years, but only now do prison administrators have a solution at just one facility in the country. The antennas emit a signal that blocks cell telephone frequencies within a half-mile radius. |
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