AS anyone who has tried it probablyknows, the process of obtaining the stampof approval from the National TechnicalSecretariat of the Environment Ministry(SETENA) to begin work on a developmentproject of any kind may feel somethinglike time travel.SETENA uses paper. Lots of paper.For some projects, such as a house inan already developed area, the stack can beabout the size of a chemistry textbook.In other cases, such as a proposed goldmine or hydroelectric dam near a wildliferefuge, the stack becomes numerousstacks, and those can easily fill boxes orbookshelves worth of binders.The files are transferred from oneunderstaffed department to the next, andnew cases flow in faster than the employeescan send them along (see separatestory).As a result, developers sometimes haveto wait years to get SETENA’s approval,and, according to senior SETENA officials,some grow impatient and start constructionwithout it.WITH the problem intensifying eversince a 2002 Supreme Court ruling requiringSETENA to review every project in thecountry with the potential for any kind ofenvironmental impact, employees of theorganization say they are restlessly awaitingthe long-promised digitalization andrestructuring of the process that would cutdown on delays and paperwork.But the modernization of SETENAappears to be moving about as slowly asanything in the organization’s bogged downoffices.Mariano Peinador, head of theDepartment of Environmental ImpactStudies, said the process of modernizationhas been in discussion since the administrationof former President Miguel AngelRodríguez (1998-2002). The current modernizationproject was unveiled at the CasaPresidencial on July 23, 2002 by his successor,President Abel Pacheco.Since then, personnel have beenrequired to keep electronic copies of files,but they are normally only saved on floppydisks or CDs taped to the inside of thepaper file. The files are saved using numerousdifferent programs that are oftenincompatible, Peinador said.A new regulation signed three weeksago will require all files to be saved in onestandard format, he said, and will establishthat SETENA create a Web site containingall the contents of the files of every projectin PDF format. From the site, the publicwill be able to search the files to see if aproject has an approved environmentalimpact study, the status of the file, or anyother bit of pertinent information.Peinador said SETENA will have 15days after the regulation is published in theofficial government newspaper La Gacetato have the Web site up and running.“Theoretically,” he said. “I don’t thinkit will be that fast.”The regulation will also dramaticallysimplify SETENA’s structure, Peinadorsaid. SETENA is divided into a multi agencycommission and five other departmentscalled “processes.” He said whenthe regulation becomes official after itspublication, SETENA will have the commissionand two departments – InstitutionalManagement and Management ofProjects Requiring Environmental ImpactStudies.SETENA, created in 1996, currentlyhas 30 employees. Peinador said the newregulation will provide for 20 more,including a fourth lawyer for the LegalAdvising Department.Elizabeth Araya, one of SETENA’slegal advisors, told The Tico Times lastweek that one of the new employees (butnot the fourth lawyer) could be occupiednearly full-time sending faxes.Araya patted the massive file for theLas Crucitas project, a controversial open pitgold mine in the Northern Zone allowedto proceed in the face of a moratorium onmining because the company managing it,Industrias Infinitas S.A., had a governmentconcession before the moratorium went intoeffect.She said approximately 1,500 peoplehave formally requested to be included as“apersonados” in the file, meaning that eachone of them must be notified each time theproject moves one step further toward gainingfinal approval from SETENA – the laststep before mining can beginFOR example, she said, a public meetingto discuss the proposed mine is scheduledfor July 31. This entails that SETENAsend 1,500 faxes notifying the apersonadosof the meeting. If the date changes, SETENAmust send them all again.In spite of the digitalization, Peinadorsaid, for legal purposes it will still be necessaryto maintain paper copies of all SETENAdocuments – but they will no longer bethe only copies and they won’t be reliedupon for intra-office communication.Peinador said the regulation will bepublished in La Gaceta as soon as SETENAcan purchase space in the publication,but did not say when that might be.He said Environment Minister CarlosManuel Rodríguez has given the project“much priority,” but it has run into numerousadministrative delays.SUCH delays are something of a way oflife around SETENA, especially since the2002 Supreme Court ruling, employees say.The ruling established that any project,no matter the size, can cause significantenvironmental damage, Peinador said.Peinador, glancing at a backlog of 34environmental impact studies his departmenthas yet to review, said adapting to thenew influx of work since the ruling is“very difficult. A lot of work. Too much.It’s that way for all of us.”SETENA Secretary General EduardoMadrigal, who took the helm in 2002(TT, Dec. 6, 2002), was not available forcomment on the modernization processthis week.

THE statue of former President José“Pepe” Figueres, who abolished CostaRica’s army in 1949, wore a rainbow flagand watched over the festivities during thesecond annual Pride in Sexual DiversityFestival at the Plaza de la Democracia inSan José on Sunday.Gay and lesbian singles and couples,transvestites and their supporters, familiesand tourists joined in the fun listening topoetry, a live rock band, a DJ and the grandfinale of a drag queen lip-sync.The morning threatened rain and theafternoon delivered sporadically, promptingfestivalgoers to open and shut rainbowumbrellas and run under the tented informationkiosks lining the plaza.Maurino Torres, who works for UnitedNations Population Fund, worked one ofthe booths and handed out flyers, pamphletsand red ribbons to raise awarenessof HIV/AIDS.THE festival is a way to show CostaRica the extent of sexual diversity in thecountry, Torres said, and to help and supportthe gay community at the same time.Manfred Gutiérrez, who runs a gay orientedtourism company calledMaguines Travel Service, says it’s importantthat businesses and organizations supportthe gay community.“We get stronger each year,” he said.“It’s very important that Costa Rica realizehow big the gay community is. There havebeen statistical estimates that say gays, lesbiansand bisexuals form 20-25% of thepopulation.“It’s important for our neighbors, parentsand grandparents to realize that thereare a lot of us,” Gutiérrez continued.“We’re not the only ones and we’re notweird. We’re human beings, too.”A few years ago, holding this festivalwould have been difficult, organizers said,but the country is slowly becoming moreaccepting of homosexuals.In the early 1990s there were policeraids on gay nightclubs, and in 1998protests forced the cancellation of a gayand lesbian tourism festival (TT, June 25).Gutiérrez says just being able to hold thefestival is proof that things are improving.Francisco Madrigal, administrative directorof the Central American Center for theInvestigation and Promotion of HumanRights (CIPAC), said the festival is importantfor the gay community to see theirstrength in numbers and see they are beingsupported. He estimated as many as 6,000people visited the festival throughout theday.“PEOPLE can be proud to see thequality of the organizations that are supportingus. We have about 20 differentbusinesses and non-governmental organizationshere today. We’re proud. It’s aboutpride,” he said.After the rain let up and the sun beganto shine, the plaza filled up as attentionturned to the stage where two drag queenstook turns lip-synching disco hits. Theytried to outdo each other with wigs andfeather boas, and pretended to be exasperatedwith one another.One of the last numbers was an emotionalrendition of “This is My Life,”which brought tears to the eyes of someaudience members.AFTER the final performance,Madrigal took to the stage, thanked everyonefor their participation and urged peopleto sign a petition asking for theremoval of Ombudsman José ManuelEchandi from his post. CIPAC also namedEchandi “Homophobe of the Year.”In response, Echandi told The TicoTimes this week that they have every rightto express themselves.“Obviously I don’t agree with them. Ihave not discriminated against them,” headded.In a letter to CIPAC last month,Echandi declined the group’s request forhelp in obtaining the same rights for gaycouples as for straight couples, and suggestedthe group take the matter directly tothe Legislative Assembly (TT, June 25).Madrigal said Echandi refused to helpbecause of political reasons.President Abel Pacheco last monthaccused Echandi of waging a political campaignto become a congressional deputy.The charge came in response to theOmbudsman’s annual report, which accusedthe Pacheco administration of lackingtransparency and not providing informationto the public (TT, June 18).

THE largest earthquake recorded inCosta Rica this year struck in the PacificOcean 100 kilometers west of the coastof the northern province of Guanacastethis week.It hit Tuesday at 1 a.m. with a magnitudeof 5.8 on the Richter scale, accordingto the Volcanological and SeismologicalObservatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI),located at the Universidad Nacional(UNA) in Heredia.Though no damage was reported, thequake was felt throughout the westernside of the country and in the CentralValley.Its depth was a shallow 10 kilometers,according to OVSICORI.

MEMBERS of the government andbusiness sector on Tuesday unveiled theCosta Rican Chamber of Information andCommunication Technology (CAMTIC),which aims to promote Costa Rica’sgrowing technology industry.The announcement, which also introduceda new promotion strategy called“Costa Rica: Green and Intelligent,” wasspearheaded by the Ministry of ForeignCommerce (COMEX), the Costa RicanChamber of Software Producers(CaproSoft), and the Ministry of Scienceand Technology (MICIT).Alexander Mora, president ofCaproSoft, said the new chamber’s purposeis “the development of Costa Rica’spotential in the world.” It shares a visionof a high-tech convergence of informationand telecommunications resulting inincreased productivity, he said.Also on hand to address the crowd oftechnology industry workers and membersof the press were Roberto Echandi,assistant ambassador of trade with theUnited States; Luis Adrian Salazar, viceministerof Science and Technology; andCosta Rica’s Vice-President LinethSaborío, filling in for President AbelPacheco, who was in Guatemala for aregional integration meeting (see separatearticle).For more information about the newchamber, see www.camtic.org.

RESIDENTS and members of theNatural Resource Vigilance Committee(COVIRENAS) in the southern Pacificport town of Golfito announced this weekthat “unscrupulous” persons have dramaticallyincreased illegal hunting in theregion’s protected zones recently.Alcid Parajeles, a resident of Pavoncitode Osa, on the Osa Peninsula, saidhunting brigades are entering the protectedareas to kill highly endangeredjaguars and white-lipped peccaries, LaNación reported.Corcovado National Park is one of theareas that have been hardest hit by thepoaching problem (TT, March 19). A studyusing camera traps recently conducted byEduardo Carrillo of the UniversidadNacional showed that the jaguar populationin the park dropped from 150 in 1994 tojust 30 now.

DRIVE with care: In memory of the pedestrians killed by cars inSan José, dozens of large yellow hearts topped with stylized haloshave been painted on the city’s streets. Each heart representsone of 56 people killed while crossing the street so far this year.The heart logos are part of an awareness campaign that aimsto lower the number of accidents and encourage people to crossstreets at crosswalks and foot bridges.The director of the Transit Police, Ignacio Sánchez, said 50%of those killed on the nation’s highways and roads are pedestrians.Each heart, he said, is a symbol of a life cut short.

MEDICAL workers, patients, residentsand representatives of theUniversidad Nacional (UNA) in Herediaall agree a new hospital is urgently neededin this northern Central Valley town.The university joined in the clamorthis week for a new hospital to alleviatethe overcrowding and unsanitary conditionsof the current building, which isnearly 114 years old. UNA representativescited the “limitations” of the currentbuilding and the tremendous growth of theprovince’s population.The demand for health services inHeredia has risen 100% in the past 10years, according to the daily La Nación.The hospital began with 50 beds, now has163 and serves a population of 420,000.Patients and employees at the publicSan Vicente de Paul Hospital complainof rat droppings, cockroaches squishedamong the “sterile” patients’ gownswhere there is no space to hang themproperly, biting mites, pigeons betweenthe ceiling and the roof attracted by termites’sawdust, and long waits for non emergencysurgeries, according to LaNación.The president of the Social SecuritySystem (Caja), Alberto Sáenz, said $33million is available for a new building.A plot of land has been assigned to thefuture building, however, the quotesreceived for the design, construction andoutfitting of the hospital surpass the budgetby $14-16 million.Now, a committee of Caja chiefs isstudying the most economical options,including a redesign of the project tomake it fit the budget.

FOUR former functionaries of theCivil Aviation Administration receivedprison sentences Tuesday of betweenthree and nine years for corrupt practicesduring the administration of formerPresident José María Figueres (1994-1998), according to the Judicial Branch.Among those sentenced is formerCivil Aviation Director Nelson Rodríguez,who was sentenced to nine years inprison. Others sentenced were JoséFrancisco Nicolás, sentenced to threeyears; Freddy Badilla, sentenced to sixyears; and Jorge Arguedas, sentenced tofour years.Rodríguez was found guilty of chargesrelating to the illicit use of airline ticketsdesignated for Civil Aviation employeeswho need to leave the country for trainingcourses or to carry out the duties of theirpositions, La Nación reported.The charges against Nicolás also pertainedto the illegal use of such tickets,while Badilla and Arguedas were sentencedfor charges pertaining to fictitiouscontracts, La Nación reported.

COSTA Rica was shaken by more than6,000 earthquakes last year, although somewere nothing more than a shiver throughthe country’s faults.Regardless of size, seismologists at theUniversidad Nacional (UNA) in Herediarecorded every one.They have been doing so for the past 20years, thanks in part to the efforts ofCalifornia resident Karen Cook McNally.McNally is credited with establishingthe country’s national seismological networkin 1984 and was honored for doing sothis week.The UNA administration bestowed theU.S. seismologist with the 2004Universidad Nacional Medalla at a ceremonyTuesday at the Gran Hotel CostaRica in downtown San José.WHEN McNally arrived in Costa Rica in1981, at the invitation of the U.S. Embassy,the then-director of the University ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz, RichterSeismological Institute was greeted with littlemore than journals and photos to understandthis country’s seismological situation.Although parts of the country had beendevastated by quakes such as the one that hitCartago in 1910, no network existed torecord and evaluate the tremors, McNallysaid.However, she was inspired by the eagernessof the young scientists she found here,and decided to stay for several years, shesaid.“She became like a godmother to theseismic scientists here,” UNA rector SoniaMora said this week.McNally’s efforts have since providedscientists at the Volcanological andSeismological Observatory of Costa Rica(OVSICORI) at UNA with the knowledgeand tools to study the country’s quakes,particularly those that jolted the country in1990 and 1991.The data have not only been used to betterunderstand Costa Rica’s tectonic system,but have been shared with internationalnetworks.“COSTA Rica’s plate system is lesscomplicated compared to the complicateddynamics of, say, New Zealand, China orJapan,” McNally said. “So it is easier tounderstand.”Despite improvements in investigation,scientists are still far from being able topredict earthquakes, McNally said.However, they can say, for example,that because the fault line near Quepos, onthe central Pacific coast, is slipping, thelikelihood of a major earthquake there hasdecreased.She also said it is a myth that a seriesof small tremors make a larger quakeunlikely.“We expect that there will be another bigquake soon. The best we can do is first ofall identify zones where large earthquakesare most likely,” she said. “It seems to methat Mother Nature always has surprisesfor us. All we can do is build data, proposehypothesis, and hope one day we will beable to predict earthquakes in the shortterm. But we are not there yet.”The UNA Medalla is given to CostaRicans or foreigners who have inspiredsociety through art, science, humanities orculture, Mora said.

A three-month investigation by CasaAlianza Honduras in tandem with theTexas-based newspaper the DallasMorning News discovered the formerwhereabouts of a fugitive priest wanted inCosta Rica to face charges of sexuallyabusing a child.Father Enrique Vásquez, 44, fled a ruralvillage in Honduras, where he had workedin a parish for six months, one week beforeCosta Rican authorities issued an arrestwarrant with the International PoliceAgency (INTERPOL).He was gone when authorities arrivedin the village, Guinope.Vásquez has been wanted since 1998when the family of the alleged victim filedcharges against him in Ciudad Quesada,also known as San Carlos, in Costa Rica’sNorthern Zone. The alleged abuses, thechild’s mother told The Tico Times thisweek, took place over a 10-month periodin the mid-1990s when her son, an acolytein Vásquez’s church at the time, was 10and 11 years old.THE Vicar of the Honduran Catholicchurch, Ovidio Rodríguez, defended thedecision to let the accused priest work inGuinope, and told AFP wire service lastweek “there was no reliable evidenceagainst him.”Bruce Harris, regional director of CasaAlianza, the children’s rights advocacygroup that assisted with the investigation,said, “The important thing is that, little bylittle, the circle is closed and we hope it ispossible to capture him quickly so he canconfront Costa Rican justice.”El Heraldo, a Honduras daily, reportedthat Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez wasresponsible for appointing Vásquez to theparish, but he was unavailable for commentas to whether he knew about the chargesagainst the priest. The Dallas MorningNews reported that Cardinal Rodríguez, aprominent candidate to succeed Pope JohnPaul II, assigned Vásquez to two remoteparishes from last year until March.A week of silence from the diocese ofSan Carlos, in Costa Rica, was broken thisweek after Bishop Ángel San Casimiroreturned from a trip out of the country.The bishop spoke to the press onMonday, saying he “did not lie” when hetold a state prosecutor that he did not knowwhere Vásquez was, though he admittedthat he later sent the priest money whenVásquez was in Mexico.“When the prosecutor sent me the twoletters (asking where Vásquez was) I, atthat time, responded that I didn’t knowwhere the father was. The prosecutor didnot ask me to tell him when I found out.”San Casimiro admitted that on twooccasions he sent Vásquez money whilehe was in a religious rehabilitation centerfor people with emotional problems inMexico and said he spoke with the fugitiveby phone.“I helped him not so that he can evadejustice, but so that he can face it with a littlemore dignity,” San Casimiro said.Casa Alianza’s coordinator of the LegalSupport Program, Rocío Rodríguez, said ina statement from the organization that thechurch knew where Vásquez was and didnot do anything.“The bishop cannot say that he did notknow that he should have supplied theinformation to the authorities. It’s a disrespectfulargument that does not take thesuffering of the (alleged) victims seriously,”Rodríguez said.Costa Rican authorities submitted theinternational arrest order for VásquezMarch 15 of this year – a tardy response,according to Casa Alianza. The family ofthe alleged victim requested CasaAlianza’s help in February of this year,which prompted the organization to call forthe arrest order.THE older brother of the alleged victimfiled an accusation of sexual abuse againstVásquez in March 1998, then withdrew itin July of that year upon receiving an out ofcourt settlement of ¢300,000 ($1,100using that month’s exchange rate) from thepriest’s family, his mother said.The alleged victim filed an accusationagainst the priest in December of that yearand received ¢1 million ($3,700 using thatmonth’s exchange rate) as a settlement, hismother said. However, the public prosecutorrejected the settlement, saying the accusationsare too serious.The mother of the two, whose name iswithheld to protect the identities of hersons, told The Tico Times, “I’m seekingjustice for myself, my child, and all thechildren in the world who are experiencingthe same. I want him to go to jail. I don’twant money, I want justice.”RAUL Muñoz, lawyer for the family,told The Tico Times, “They (the church)say he is innocent, but it’s an abuse, aninsult, because the only person capable ofsaying that is a Costa Rican judge. Thechurch should not hide people who arewanted.”He said his clients are looking into thepossibility of filing charges against thosein the church who may have been involvedin sheltering the priest.Since the family’s request, Casa Alianzahas been working with INTERPOL to findVásquez.“It’s odd that Vásquez left the villageshortly after Casa Alianza requested aninternational arrest order,” Harris said. “Itwould appear that someone is keeping himwell informed about what goes on in CostaRica.THIS is the second time authoritieshave discovered Vásquez’ whereabouts.He worked at a parish in Hartford, Conn.,in the United States, from 1999 untilOctober 2002, according to the DallasMorning News.At that time, however, no internationalarrest warrant had been issued.