TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) – Honduranauthorities are investigating whether themurder of incarcerated former congressmanArmando Avila, shot to death lastSunday in the Tegucigalpa Penal Center, isrelated to organized drug trafficking.Security Minister Oscar Alvarez confirmedpolice have identified the shooter,but they have not yet identified the intellectualauthor of the crime.The former deputy of the right-wingNational Party (PN) was serving a 20-yearsentence after being arrested July 5, 2003,along with 10 others who were caught bypolice while fleeing after receiving a drugshipment from a small plane in the municipalityof San Esteban, 300 kilometers(186.4 miles) northeast of the capital.Fellow inmate Cuvernal Alvarado, 23,shot Avila four times. He claimed hekilled the former congressman for personalreasons.Police, however, suspect Avila mighthave been executed to keep him from disclosingother members of a drug cartel inexchange for a reduced prison sentence.

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – Themarriage announcement of U.S. congressmanJerry Weller (R-Illinois) andGuatemalan congresswoman Zury RíosMontt, daughter of controversial formerdictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, hasbecome a hot political issue in Illinois,where the five-term Representative seeksreelection this November.Last week’s announcement of the twolawmakers’ engagement has become politicalfodder for Weller’s Democratic challengerTari Renner.“Congressman Jerry Weller is demonstratingquestionable judgment by aligningwith the family of one of the most horrendousdictators of the 20th century,” saidMatt Glavin, Renner’s campaign chief.“While the Department of State has distanceditself from Ríos Montt, Weller hascourted the daughter of the ex-dictator.”Efraín Ríos Montt, 77, was dictatorfrom 1982-1983, during which time hisgovernment employed “scorched earth”tactics that claimed the lives of tens ofthousands of mostly Maya Guatemalans.The former leader, who has been accusedof genocide in Spain, is currently facingcharges in Guatemala for inciting a violentriot during a reelection rally in July2003.The wedding between Weller and ZuryRíos Montt, which U.S. congressional historiansclaim would be the first-ever weddingbetween a U.S. congressman with anactive foreign lawmaker, is scheduled forNovember.

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – GuatemalanPresident Oscar Berger this week officiallykicked off a national disarmamentcampaign that aims to collect illegal firearmsin an effort to reduce violent crime, which hasclaimed almost 2,000 lives so far this year.The collection/amnesty program offersincentives for people who turn in multipleillegal weapons, including items such asbicycles, sewing machines, bags of cementand zinc sheeting for construction.“With the launching of this program weare sending a message to the nation thatunited we can all move forward and stopthese high indicators of violence that areaffecting us,” said Berger, who was accompaniedat the event by government leaders,school children and Maya icon RigobertaMenchú, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.THE week before launching “TheNational Disarmament Program,” Bergerlamented in a local press interview that hisgovernment has had a difficult time curbingthe recent wave of violence (TT, July 9).The disarmament program also mayinclude the destruction of the 28,000decommissioned guns already in the government’spossession, and could contemplatea bill to stiffen sanctions against thosewho carry un-licensed arms, according togovernment sources.In Guatemala, 250,000 guns of variouscalibers registered with the government arein citizens’ hands, along with an estimated1.8 million unregistered weapons, accordingto Minister of the Interior Arturo Soto.Soto said at least 1,950 have died inGuatemala this year because of violentcrimes, including 779 in the capital city.Concluding the ceremony, dozens ofGuatemalan children turned in toy guns inexchange for roses in a symbolic act callingfor a new culture of peace.

SAN SALVADOR (AFP) – The decisionby Salvadoran President Elías AntonioSaca to send a third contingent of troops toIraq next month is being criticized byopposition leaders and rights organizationsin El Salvador.“It is lamentable that the President issending more troops when the polls areshowing that citizens are against it,” saidJohn Nasser, spokesman for the oppositionleft-wing Darabundo Martí NationalLiberation Front (FMLN).Saca made the announcement Mondayin Washington, D.C., following a half-hourmeeting in the White House with U.S.President George W. Bush. However, hesaid his government had made the decisionseveral weeks ago.“We can’t abandon this effort when thesolution is on the way,” Saca said.RIGHTS leaders in El Salvadorresponded to the announcement with criticism,calling Salvador’s participation inIraq a “travesty.”“We are opposed to sending moretroops, because the worry and anxiety willcontinue for the humble families of thesesoldiers,” said Miguel Montenegro, presidentof the Human Rights Commission.El Salvador sent its first contingent of360 soldiers to the Iraqi city of Nayaf inAugust 2003. The second contingent oftroops was sent to relieve them inFebruary, and is scheduled to remain thereuntil the end of July.Saca, who has yet to ask congressionalpermission to send more troops, has notsaid how many soldiers he plans to send inAugust.El Salvador is the last country of aninternational unit known as “The UltraPlus Brigade,” following the pullouts oftroops from Nicaragua, Honduras, Spainand the Dominican Republic.

THE rapidly growing water lily iscausing serious problems in the Cachíreservoir, in the Orosi Valley east of SanJosé. But it could soon be a source of revenuefor residents of the area, who havebeen affected by an agricultural crisis,according to the Technology Institute ofCosta Rica (ITCR).The institute is promoting technologythat uses fibers from the lily to makepaper and cardboard.The aquatic plants cover 172 hectaresof the reservoir, and produce 150 metrictons daily, according to the institute.The institute is helping train smallbusinesses in the area in the manufacturingof water-lily paper. So far, 60 communityleaders have expressed interest,according to the institute.An agreement between ITCR and theCosta Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) hasallowed a loan of 30,000 square meters ofthe reservoir for 30 years for the extraction,processing and storage of water lily.The production of water-lily productswill not only provide jobs in processing,but also through related small businesses,which can focus on the design, packagingand commercialization of such products,the institute said

COSTA Ricans on average send 3.4million cell phone text messages eachday, according to the Costa RicanElectricity and Telecom Institute (ICE),the daily La Nación reported.Text messages are short messages ofup to 160 characters that are typed intocell phones using the number/letter keysand then sent to other cell phone users.According to ICE, text messaging is especiallypopular among young users.On average, each of Costa Rica’sapproximately 800,000 cell phone userssends 4.1 messages each day.The increase in the number of peopleusing text messages is part of a worldwidetrend, according to ClaudioBermúdez, acting sub-manager oftelecommunications for ICE. He cited thelow cost of text messaging as the mainreason behind its popularity.Text messages cost ¢1.5 to send. Cellphone calls cost between ¢23 ($0.06) and¢30 ($0.07) per minute.Text messaging generates 1.5% ofICE’s cell phone revenues, or about ¢4 million($9,000) a day. This amount is lowcompared to international telephone operators.Text messages generate approximately15% of European cell phone revenues,according to Bermúdez.

A legislative commission investigatingnew Comptroller General Álex Solís hasbeen given another month to determinewhether members think the head inspectorof government contracts should keep his job.The commission will investigate 13charges against Solís – 11 cases of suspectedfalsification of signatures on legal documentsand a possible irregularity in obtaininga land title for a parcel of land originallyfrom the Agricultural Development Institute(IDA), which provides agrarian welfare.Commission members will also analyzeSolís’s alleged involvement in financingthe smuggling of Costa Ricans into theUnited States.SOLÍS was informed of the officialaccusations Wednesday and has five workdaysto respond to the commission.At a press conference last week – hisonly appearance before the press since thelegislative commission was formed – hetold reporters, “I recognize that in my life Ihave made mistakes and sinned. But I wantto tell you that I have never benefited froma wrongly earned colón, nor have I abusedany public post.”At the July 1 conference, he rejected arequest by 40 deputies of the LegislativeAssembly to resign (TT, July 2).He said his past was widely known bydeputies, some members of the press andex-President Oscar Arias when he wasnamed to the eight-year position by theLegislative Assembly June 7.He asked why, if they knew before,there is now so much fury and discord (TTDaily Page, July 5).AS comptroller general, Solís is incharge of reviewing all the government’sfinances and all contracts and public bids,particularly in search of irregularities orcorruption.The commission originally was given 20days to investigate Solís, which would havebeen up today. But after Solís rejected lastweek’s request by 40 deputies to resign, thecommission was given more time and theauthority to recommend his removal.Former Comptroller General ElíasSoley (1987-1992) said the Assembly’smotion last week asking Solís to resign is a“dangerous legislative practice.” Congressshould listen to Solís’s defense before acting,he told the daily La Nación.Solís, along with brother Ottón Solís,former presidential candidate and head ofthe Citizen Action Party (PAC), will testifybefore the commission.An investigation into Alex Solís’s pastfor allegedly signing his brother’s signaturerevealed accusations that from 1998 to 2001he lent money to Southern Zone residents,which reportedly was used to pay costlycoyotes and passage into the United States.People often mortgaged their homes toborrow the money and some SouthernZone residents told daily newspapers theirhomes were repossessed when they wereunable to pay the debts (TT, July 2).SOLÍS said July 1 that while as alawyer he did participate in mortgageloans, he cannot control what people dowith the money once they receive it. Hedenied participation in an organization oftransporting people to other countries.The legislative commission will notmeet while Solís reviews the accusations,although it will meet during the assembly’srecess, which ends July 19.Solís, or a representative, will beallowed to be present at the hearings, althoughthey cannot question witnesses. Onlydeputies are allowed to ask questions in suchcommissions, according to LegislativeAssembly spokeswoman Shirley Gutiérrez.PAC representatives last week soughtthe testimony of Arias before the commission,saying he originally supported Solísas Comptroller General, and later said heshould resign.However, the commission decidedArias will not have to testify, because he“has nothing to do with it and they don’twant to make a political show of everything,”Gutiérrez said.

U.S. senators John Cornyn (R-Texas)and Richard Shelby (R-Alabama)addressed a large crowd at the U.S.Independence Day picnic at the CerveceríaCosta Rica in Alajuela last Saturday.The two legislators visited the countrylast week as part of a brief trip to CentralAmerica to explore the potential of the yet to-be-approved Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with theUnited States.“We’ve had a wonderful time inCentral America, learning not only moreabout our shared values as part of theAmericas but also the great potential ofthis country and other Central Americancountries,” Cornyn said.“We’re privileged to celebrate theFourth of July with you here today and seesuch a tremendous representation ofAmericans in Costa Rica who are the trueambassadors of our nation to this nationand other nations in this area,” he added.Shelby agreed.“When I see the flag flying, and I seeyou all here representing America, I feelvery proud,” he said.Cornyn urged the crowd to rememberAmerican soldiers engaged in conflictaround the world.“I hope that today we will think aboutthem often, and say a prayer for them andtheir safety,” he said.Cornyn said he and Shelby began theirtrip in Guatemala “and we’ve been workingour way south.”“We’re glad to be here, to learn a littlebit more about Costa Rica and CentralAmerica, and how important our relationshipis,” Cornyn said at the picnic, organizedby the American Colony Committee(see separate article).“We’re not missing [the United States]at all,” he added.

WHEN the Health Ministry announcedearlier this year a decree to prevent theabuse and neglect of pets, some quippedthat dogs and cats had more rights thantheir owners.However, the Humanitarian Associationfor the Protection of Animals has launched acampaign to show that the abuse of one isoften a sign of abuse of the other.Not only do abusive parents and spousesoften take their aggression out on pets asmuch as they do family members, but achild’s violent behavior toward animals cansuggest propensity for future violence,according to the Humanitarian Association.The logic then follows that the preventionof pet abuse can lead to the preventionof domestic abuse, and vice versa, accordingto the Humanitarian Association,which runs an Heredia animal shelter.WITH prevention in mind, theHumanitarian Association brought thisconnection to the attention of judges, publicdefenders, prosecutors and social workersat a forum earlier this year.The efforts took on international significancelast month when shelter officialswere contacted by the U.S.-based Peoplefor the Ehtical Treatment of Animals(PETA). PETA wants to use a HumanitarianAssociation video made by Dr. FranzVega, a forensic scientist for the CostaRica’s Supreme Court, which demonstratesthe correlation between pet anddomestic abuse.Shelter officials hope that by educatingplayers in Costa Rica’s judicial systemabout the correlation, they can help curbboth animal abuse and domestic violence.“When they first invited me (to theforum), I thought it was a joke,” saidRolfedo Chaves, a public defender inCartago, who attended the forum. “But Ican already see the relationship.”Chaves was hesitant to say he wouldbegin considering animal abuse a seriouscrime, but he did say the information wasimportant to take into consideration amongall the evidence of a case.Others were more convinced.“THE mistreatment of animals can bea key, if a judge sees violence against petsin a home, it gives him another piece ofevidence about what is happening there,”said John Walter Acosta, a psychologistwith the Judicial Branch.Social workers can use the correlationbetween pet abuse and domestic violence ina similar manner when observing homes,said social worker Rosario González.Instead of just observing children andparents, social workers should look at thecondition of animals to see if they are wellfed and groomed, or injured and afraid.Social workers could be tipped off to othertypes of violence, she said.IN 88% of pet-owning families wherechild abuse is present, at least one familymember had abused animals, according toa survey of New Jersey’s Division of Youthand Family Services.In two-thirds of those homes, the abusiveparent had injured or killed a pet.In addition, surveys of women seekinghelp for domestic abuse reveal that up to70% of those who owned pets reported theirabusive partner also hurt or killed their pets.Pets often keep victims of abuse in theabusive situation, according to DianaFernández, secretary of the HumanitarianAssociation’s board of directors. Victimsare afraid to leave their beloved pets inviolent homes and cannot take the animalsto shelters, she explained.Domestic abusers also exploit familymembers’ – particularly children’s – bondswith pets by threatening to hurt or kill animalsif they are not quiet about domestic orsexual abuse.Violence against animals is used toexpress and maintain power and scare peopleinto submission, González said.ABUSE against animals not only servesas a sign of other violence that may be happeningwithin a home, it can also be an earlymanifestation of violent tendencies when achild is the abuser, according to Acosta.U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) research of serial killers in the 1970srevealed that most, as children, killed ortortured animals.“This does not mean that everybodywho commits violence against animals willbecome a serial killer,” Fernández said.“But there is a common link.”Recognizing this at an early age willnot only help prevent additional violentacts against animals, but the possibility ofmore serious crimes in the future, she said.IN February, the Ministry of Healthissued the Regulation of Reproductionand Responsible Ownership of Pets (TT,Feb. 20).This decree says pet owners are responsiblefor providing pets with healthy livingconditions, a sufficiently long tether whentied up and rabies vaccinations.In addition, owners can be held liable fortheir pets’ attacks or aggressive behaviortoward others. As a regulation, rather than alaw, this does not set specific punishmentsfor non-compliance, according to Fernández.Punishments for animal abuse areinstead described in the penal code, she said.The current law says people who mistreat,injure or cause the unnecessary death of animals,or force animals to do excessive work,will be punished from five to 30 days.THE connection between animalabuse and other violence is a relativelynew concept in society, Fernández said.

and food costs, Costa Rica registered6.26% inflation during the first sixmonths of the year, the NationalStatistics and Census Institute (INEC)reported on Monday.Inflation registered at 1.07% duringthe month of June. Inflation for the firstsix months of 2003 was 4.34%. Inflationduring the past 12 months was reportedat 11.89%.In January, the Central Bank had setits inflation target at less than 9% (TT,March 26). The target rate will likely berecalculated when the Central Bankrevises its monetary policy for the secondhalf of the year. Annual inflation in2003 was 9.87%.