Constitutional court OKs
another free-trade bill


The Sala IV constitutional court ruled Wednesday that it did not find any constitutional flaws in a housekeeping bill related to the free trade treaty with the United States.

The magistrates, also by a majority vote, said they did not find fault with the speedy way the measure was put through the legislative process.

The appeals to the constitutional chamber of the Corte Suprema de Justicia came from legislative opponents to the free trade treaty.

The decision means that there is just one more free trade-related measure pending in the courts to put Costa Rica in full compliance with the pact.

The magistrates got an appeal on the intellectual property legislation, the Poder Judicial reported Tuesday. That is the last measure and it already has received one of two votes in the Asamblea Legislativa.

The housekeeping bill that the court approved Wednesday already has received one positive vote in the assembly. A second and final vote is expected when the lawmakers reconvene Monday. The bill makes a number of changes in existing laws to conform to treaty rules.

The positive vote by the constitutional court was expected. The court has pretty much approved the bulk of the free trade treaty implementation legislation when the measures were presented to it.

The intellectual property measure, who also has received an initial approval in the legislature, probably will receive a constitutional court vote next week.


Dalai Lama's uninvitation
blamed on lack of money


President Óscar Arias Sánchez, under fire for uninviting the Dalai Lama to Costa Rica, said he did so only because the event to which the spiritual leader had been invited was canceled.

Less generous individuals, called malintentioned by the president, said he may have done so to placate his new friends, top-level Chinese politicians.

Arias spoke after the weekly meeting of his cabinet at Casa Presidencial. He called press reports that he caved in to fears that he would offend the Chinese if he brought the Tibetan leader here imprecise.

Arias said that he had planned a second summit this year of Nobel Prize winners and world youth in September but that there was not enough money to put on the event. Among those who had been invited, said Arias, was the Dalai Lama.

He said he suggested to the Dalai Lama that he could visit in 2009, said Arias.

There is a worldwide campaign to force the Chinese to leave Tibet and allow the people there to determine their own political fate. The campaign has been sharpened by the Olympics in China and the belief that the Chinese did not follow through in improving human rights in the country of Tibet, which was an understanding that helped the country win the Olympic bid.

There are continuing protests in Tibet that generally result in harsh countermeasures.

Arias has been trying not to offend his new diplomatic partners in China and also to avoid criticizing Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, whose country supplies most of the petroleum used here.

Venezuela plans satellite


Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says Venezuela will soon have its first satellite in orbit.

Chávez, speaking during his Sunday broadcast to the nation, said the communications satellite will be launched in China. According to the president, it will be used by Venezuela's state television.

Chávez said Venezuela would like to launch a second satellite in coming years for observation and mapping purposes.