THE Presidents of Costa Rica, ElSalvador, Guatemala, Honduras,Nicaragua and Panama on Tuesdaysigned an agreement pledging to supportformer Costa Rican President MiguelÁngel Rodríguez (1998-2002) in his bidto become Secretary General of theOrganization of American States (OAS).New Salvadoran President ElíasAntonio Saca made the announcementshortly after being sworn in on Tuesday(see separate article).Representatives of the OAS’ 34 membercountries will meet in Quito, Ecuador,early next week to elect the organization’snext leader.Before this week, Rodríguez, whoannounced his candidacy last year and isrunning unopposed, had secured the supportof every OAS member countryexcept El Salvador and Nicaragua.Outgoing Salvadoran PresidentFrancisco Flores had not endorsedRodríguez because he himself was interestedin the position. However, incomingPresident Saca, during a visit toCosta Rica last April, said he wouldsupport a “hemispheric consensus” (TT,April 23).In April, Nicaragua President EnriqueBolaños conditioned his country’sendorsement on Costa Rica taking measuresto distribute land among the mostlyNicaraguan residents of the western SanJosé shantytown of La Carpio. Costa Ricarefused and a war of words ensuedbetween Bolaños and Costa RicanPresident Abel Pacheco.Land titles were just one of a series ofcomplaints voiced by inhabitants of LaCarpio this week during a violent clashwith police (see separate story).

LAW enforcement officials made severalmoves this week in an attempt to getto the bottom of a scandal that hasenveloped the Costa Rican Social SecuritySystem (Caja) since April.Police yesterday arrested WalterReiche, executive president ofCorporación Fischel, and a penal judge onWednesday suspended the nine membersof the Caja’s board of directors, includingexecutive president Horacio Solano, LaNación reported.Fischel’s lawyer, Randall Vargas, wasalso arrested.The Caja purchased nearly $40 millionof hospital equipment fromFischel’s parent company in Finland,Instrumentarium-Medko MedicalCorporation, as part of a plan calledProject Finland designed to updateCosta Rica’s hospital equipment (TT,May 14).La Nación published a report in Aprilshowing a sketchy link between formerCaja executive president Eliseo Vargasand a former Fischel executive. The paperreported that the executive, OlmanValverde, was renting a luxury home toVargas at half its value. Vargas resignedjust hours after the report was published,and Valverde followed suit.The nine directors will remain suspendedfor six months and must presentthemselves before a judge every 15 dayswhile prosecutors determine whether theyused public funds for personal gain inpurchasing four ads supporting Vargas inmajor newspapers.The advertisements cost ¢1,989,350(nearly $6,000) and called Vargas “a manof moral integrity, pure ethical principlesand a long career of public service characterizedby the transparency of each one ofhis actions.”The directors made the decision topurchase the ads the day after La Naciónpublished its first report about Vargas,according to La Nación.

AFTER a month and a half of negotiations,on Wednesday the LegislativeAssembly elected Álex Solís, a lawyerspecialized in Constitutional law, as thecountry’s new Comptroller General.Solís is expected to be sworn in onMonday by congressional deputies andimmediately assume his new position. Histerm will last eight years. He replaces formerComptroller Luis Fernando Vargas,who stepped down on May 7 after completinghis term.The Comptroller is the head of theComptroller General’s Office, the institutionin charge of reviewing the government’sfinances and all contracts and publicbids.Solís has said he will remain impartialas Comptroller and will not cave in topolitical pressure from any side.

TWO strangers with a macheteattacked a man last week after he confrontedthem about stealing turtle eggs in Barrade Matina, about 25 kilometers north of theCaribbean port town of Limón.Efraín Obregón, 41, works on abanana plantation, but was fishing at thetime he confronted the two.Luckily, someone who happened topass by the beach just after the strangersfled the scene helped get Obregón to thehospital. Doctors said it was a miracle hesurvived, and he is now in stable conditionat Tony Facio hospital in Limón.According to the Public SecurityMinistry, no arrests have been made in thecase.This is not the first time environmentaldo-gooders have been attacked orthreatened for their work. Police have yetto make progress regarding a death threatand an apparent attack by arsonistsagainst environmentalists working to savethe disappearing wetlands around CañoNegro (TT, May 14).

FORMER Labor Minister VíctorMorales (1998-2002) on Wednesdayannounced his intention to run forPresident during the 2006 Presidentialelections as a candidate of the rulingSocial Christian Unity Party.Morales is the first member of Unityto officially announce he will seek theparty’s nomination.Morales said his aim is to “renovate andbring change to Social Christian Unity,” aparty which, analysts say, will have lostmuch of its appeal by the time the 2006elections begin. The party has held the presidencyfor two consecutive terms – formerPresident Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) and President Abel Pacheco, whowill step down in May 2006.

TAIWANESE Vice-President Dr. AnnetteHsiu-lien Lu is in Costa Rica this weekwith high-ranking officials from her governmentto “strengthen the traditional bonds offriendship and cooperation that existbetween both governments and peoples.”Her visit comes as investigative reportsof questionable financial ties between thetwo nations continue to surface.The Taiwanese government over thepast six years sent $4.8 million to a privateCosta Rican association, and that moneywas channeled to the Costa Rican ForeignMinistry, paying the salaries of 21 employees,according the daily La Nación.However, Taiwanese chancellor Tan-Sun Chen said that Taiwan contributed toCosta Rica solely for development projects,not for salary augmentations (TT, May 28).The Libertarian Movement on Tuesdayannounced it would present a motionrequesting that Foreign Minister RobertoTovar be censured because of the possiblemisappropriation of funds.Officials from the Taiwanese Embassyin San José told The Tico Times this weekthat Hsiu-lien’s visit, which beganWednesday, is not in response to the allegationsof a scandal, but was already a partof her scheduled agenda.WHATEVER the funds were intendedfor, they weren’t the only gifts fromTaiwan sent to Costa Rica.In April of last year, for example, the$26.1 million, Taiwan-funded “FriendshipBridge” over the Tempisque River inGuanacaste opened (TT, April 11, 2003).Taiwan has also contributed funds forinfrastructure projects such as a new highwayin the northern zone and the cruiseship dock in Puntarenas.Additionally, two anonymous donorsfrom Taiwan contributed some $500,000 toPresident Abel Pacheco’s election campaignfund – a possible violation of CostaRica’s Electoral Code.Shortly after the scandal was broughtto light last August, former TaiwaneseAmbassador to Costa Rica Steven Wangresigned. He denied it had to do with thescandal (TT, Sep. 12, 2003).TAIWAN’S history of such gifts hascome under intense scrutiny both in localand Taiwanese media reports.Taiwan’s involvement in the lucrativeshark-finning industry in Costa Rica hasalso drawn considerable controversy.A Tico Times investigation last yearfound that fishing vessels built and mannedby the Taiwanese, yet flying foreign flags ofconvenience, were able to illegally unloadtruckloads of shark fins at Costa Ricandocks – not attached to the shark’s body.Exported shark fins can bring up to$200 per kilogram in some Asian markets(TT, July 25, 2003).HSIU-LIEN’S delegation fromTaiwan includes the UndersecretaryGeneral of the Presidency, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations, the Vice-Minister of Government Information, theGeneral Director of the Department ofCentral and South America Affairs and theGeneral Director of Protocol.Hsiu-lien was also accompanied bymembers of the Consultation Counsels ofHuman Rights and Science and Technology,as well as a group of journalists.This is not the first time a high-rankinggovernment official from Taiwan has visitedCosta Rica during the two country’s 60years of foreign relations.According to Taiwan’s Central NewsAgency, President Chen Shui-bian visitedCosta Rica in August 2000, less than threemonths after he assumed the presidency.THE Central News Agency alsoreported that Costa Rican President AbelPacheco visited Taiwan with a 23-memberdelegation in 2002, where he received anhonorary doctoral degree in psychologyfrom Fu Jen Catholic University.Pacheco visited Taiwan again in 2003,according to officials from the CasaPresidencial.Costa Rica, as one of only 27 nationsthat recognizes the Asian breakaway country,shares important diplomatic relationswith Taiwan.In October 2002, for example, Taiwanthanked the Costa Rican LegislativeAssembly for passing a resolution urgingChina to remove missiles deployed in itssoutheastern coast, opposite Taiwan, theCentral News Agency reported.COSTA Rica and Taiwan also have animportant trade relationship. Total two-waytrade between Costa Rica and Taiwanreached $104.9 million in 2003.Costa Rican exports more than tripledbetween 2001 and 2003, increasing from$11.3 million to $38.5 million last year.Costa Rica’s main exports to Taiwan aremodular circuit parts, machine parts, freshfish, leather and cow skins and fiberglass.Total imports from Taiwan totaled$66.4 million in 2003. Similar importtotals have been reported since 1998.The largest Taiwanese import productsare components for textile production,plastic, screws, bicycle replacement parts,tires, circuit boards, vehicles and shoes,according to Costa Rica’s Foreign TradePromotion Office (PROCOMER).

AS the Central America Free-TradeAgreement (CAFTA) heads toward thelegislative bodies of the involved countries,environmentalists studying its potentialimpact insist it poses a threat to theregion’s natural resources.Since CAFTA negotiations with theUnited States began more than a year ago,trade officials have stressed not only theeconomic benefits they say it will bring,but also that the pact will improve enforcementof Central America’s existing environmentallaws.But opponents aren’t convinced.“Environmental legislation should berespected with or without a treaty,” saidManuel López, of the Costa RicanFederation for the Conservation of theEnvironment (FECON). “We believe thatthrough the free-trade agreement we won’tbe able to obtain the required balancebetween society and the environment.“We have yet to fully analyze all therepercussions of the agreement,” he admitted.“But what we have studied is enoughto conclude it should be rejected. At nopoint does it improve environmental conditions.It’s destined to put natural resourcesin the position to be exploited by transnationalfirms.”CAFTA, signed by the foreign tradeministers of the five Central American countriesand the U.S. Trade Representative May28 (see separate article), includes a chapterdedicated to the environmental obligationsof each country. In essence, Chapter 17obligates each country to enforce its ownlaws and makes it possible for countries tobe sanctioned when they consistently allowthe environment to be damaged in a waythat affects trade.“The environmental chapter includedin the free-trade agreement tends tostrengthen the institutional capacity ofCosta Rica to apply its own legislation,”Anabel González, head Costa RicanCAFTA negotiator, told The Tico Times.José María Villalta, an advisor toCitizen Action Party’s legislative factionwho has studied CAFTA’s potential environmentalimpacts, says that is not enough.“The main concern is that despite it havingbeen said the treaty would improve andstrengthen environmental protection,throughout the treaty’s structure we see theissue of environmental protection subordinatedto commercial interests,” he explained.THE biggest threat CAFTA poses,environmentalists say, is that it would limitthe country’s ability to reform andstrengthen existing environmental lawsand create new ones when necessary.In its first article, Chapter 17 recognizes“the right of each Party to establishits own levels of domestic environmentalprotection and environmental developmentpolicies and priorities, and to adopt andmodify accordingly its environmental lawsand policies.”However, opponents of CAFTA say it’simportant to dig below the surface.“The environmental impact of thetreaty is not limited to the chapter on theenvironment,” Villalta said. “It’s importantto look at all the chapters. Each has environmentalimplications.”ACCORDING to Villalta, CAFTAwill “permanently freeze” the country’senvironmental legislation as it is whenapproved. Any new laws, regulations orreforms to existing legisaltion would needto be compatible with CAFTA, he said.Under Costa Rican law, internationaltreaties ratified by the LegislativeAssembly have a higher rank than laws.The rank of treaties is second only to thecountry’s Constitution. If CAFTA is ratified,it will obtain this rank.Measures found to limit the trade andinvestment privileges agreed to underCAFTA could be overturned, he said.“Any measure established in a law, regulationor municipal disposition, even ifit’s based on the protection of the environmentand human health, which affects thepossibility of a company to generate profits,could cause the country to be sued,”explained FECON’s López.THIS is particularly worrisome consideringthe inadequacy of many of thecountry’s most important environmentallaws being studied by legislators right now,Villalta said, pointing to the proposedwater and fishing laws.During the past six years, Costa Ricahas been without a national law to governits fishing and aquaculture industries.Legal experts have warned this legal vacuumhas left open the door to uncheckedfishing in the country’s waters (TT, Sept.12, 2003).According to Villalta, the governmentcharges vessels “symbolic” fees for licensesto fish in the country’s waters. Theindustry is loosely regulated and there arelimited efforts to stop over-fishing in thecountry’s waters.Under CAFTA, Villalta says, the countrywould not be able to modify fishingregulations in any way that would restricttrade, making it impossible for the govermentto enact tougher controls, he claimed.CAFTA would also make it impossiblefor Costa Rica to reform a controversiallaw allowing private generation of electricityin the country’s rivers (TT, Feb. 20),environmentalists claim.Mauricio Álvarez, FECON’S energyexpert, says this will lead to over-exploitationof the country’s rivers.According to FECON, approximately130 private hydroelectric projects have beenproposed in Costa Rica – 28 of them on theSan Carlos River in the Northern Zone.The law “doesn’t consider the effectsdams can have on a river, not just on fish andaquatic life but on all humans who dependon it,” Álvarez explained. “Energy productionis a way of privatizing water. It stops itfrom being used for agriculture and humanconsumption. Politicians have created a lawthat allows uncontrolled private generationof electricity. This law would be consolidated[if CAFTA goes into effect].”Making the current hydrocarbons lawpermanent would also make it impossiblefor the country to create a permanent banon oil exploration, Álvarez added.CAFTA would also limit the country’sability to limit sales of genetically modifiedorganisms (GMOs), say opponents.According to Eva Carazo of theBiodiversity Network, a ban on GMOs, oreven labeling requirements, could be considereda technical barrier to trade and disputedin CAFTA’s arbitration mechanism,(TT, April 2).WHILE trade ambassador Gonzálezadmitted she did not know the specifics ofthe environmental concerns expressed byVillalta and FECON, she said she considersthem unfounded.“There’s nothing there that prohibits usfrom determining the content of our ownlegislation,” she said. “In reality, in thatsense, the country can proceed as it sees fit.”

WITH demands to keep Costa Ricaout of the hands of the “imperialist” UnitedStates, an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 protestorsflooded San José streets Mondaywith banners, bullhorns and chants inobjection to the Central America Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA).Employees from dozens of public institutions,students and representatives ofhundreds of social organizations participatedin the march and work stoppage, thelargest since CAFTA negotiations beganwith the United States in January 2003.The march came just days after the toptrade officials of Central America and theUnited States signed the final version ofCAFTA last Friday (see separate article).Negotiations for the free-trade agreementended for most Central Americancountries in December and for Costa Ricain January (TT, Jan. 30).MAY began and ended with anti-CAFTA protests, as thousands of workersalso took to the streets May 1 to protest thetrade pact on International Workers’ Day(TT, May 7).“There have been other marches, butthis is the first that really focuses on justCAFTA… little by little we are understandingwhat it will really do,” said MarioRetana, a union leader for the NationalAssociation of Public and PrivateEmployees (ANEP), at Monday’s march.“We couldn’t take to the streets untilwe knew what it really said. Now I understandhow bad it really is,” he added.CAFTA opponents object to the openingof the telecommunications and insurancemonopolies, by allowing privatefirms to enter the country and competeagainst the Costa Rican Electricity andTelecom Institute (ICE) and NationalInsurance Institute (INS).They also object to the trade agreement’spotential negative effect on theenvironment (see separate article) and theopening of markets to subsidized agriculturalproducts from the United States.AMONG the chanting workers andstudents draped in Ché Guevara flags weresigns reading “El ICE no se vende, el ICEse defende” (ICE won’t be sold, ICE willbe defended) and “No al TerrorismoComercial” (No to commercial terrorism).CAFTA “benefits very few interests.Most Americans have very little to gain aswell. Mostly it benefits the large multinationals,like Standard Fruit, pineapplecompanies…” agreed Luis Vivanco, a visitingUniversity of Vermont professor currentlyteaching a cultural anthropologyclass on the effects of globalization onCentral America at the University of CostaRica.“I think it spells the end of a certainkind of life that (Costa Ricans) have cometo expect from their national experiment,”he added while observing the march.ROGELIO Cedeño, secretary generalof the Patriotic Union for Education (SINPAE),told The Tico Times, “Going intothis march we had modest expectations,and many people that we didn’t expecthave shown up.“People are conducting work stoppagesin other parts of the country. Thisreveals there is an outbreak of consciousnessamong the people of Costa Rica, theice has been broken, the fear is gone; thepeople have realized how much is atstake,” he added.Organizers estimated as many as20,000 people participated in the march,including 7,000 ICE employees – manywearing yellow ICE hardhats and singingthe ICE anthem – according to FabioChaves, president of ICE union ASEDICE.However, Public Security Ministryspokesman Nicolás Aguilar estimatedbetween 10,000 and 11,000 people attended.No problems were reported along themarch’s route, where 600 officers werepresent, Aguilar added.PUBLIC employees who attended themarch will have money docked from theirnext paychecks, Presidency MinisterRicardo Toledo announced on Tuesday.“I have asked don Pablo Cob (executivepresident of ICE) and the leaders of allother institutions and ministries, includingthe Education Ministry, to give me the lists(of people who missed work to march). Iwill also ask the Finance Ministry to verifythe names the executive presidents giveme as a way of cross-referencing the information.Just to be sure.”Teachers, environmentalists, Marxists,anarchists, dairy farmers from San Carlos,employees of the Ministry of Public Worksand Transport, the Social Security System(Caja) union and a nurses’ union could allbe found among the waving banners andprotest signs.ALSO donning their yellow and redcolors were members of the Citizen ActionParty (PAC), who made their anti-CAFTApresence well known at the march, withseveral of the party’s deputies speaking tothe crowd gathered outside the LegislativeAssembly in east San José, where themarch ended.The Social Christian Unity Party(PUSC) also had a presence throughdeputy Gloria Valerín.“We cannot allow this free-trade agreementto advance. This protest reaches allthe way to ICE (in La Sabana, in west SanJosé, where the march began). If that is nota poll, then tell me what is,” the congresswomansaid.However, some felt the protestors werejust looking for a day off.“The majority of the people don’tknow about CAFTA, a lot of these peopleare just here because they don’t have towork. And the students are just repeatingwhat they hear,” said Francisco Lee, whoworks at a photo lab along the march’sroute. He added he doesn’t know muchabout CAFTA, and doesn’t feel verystrongly either way about the treaty.KNOWLEDGE is lacking in theUnited States as well, Vivanco pointed out.“There is a total lack of knowledgeamong the (U.S.) mainstream. Unionworkers are very aware. But too much elseis going on for people to pay attention.This is just one more complaint against thecurrent administration,” he said.The march was just one way to raiseconsciousness, protestors said.Students from Liceo Dr. José MaríaCastro Madriz in Barrio Córdoba are raisingCAFTAawareness with the group HighSchool Action Against ImperialistOperations, which participated in themarch.“We are trying to spread the word toother schools. At each meeting we discusswhat we have learned recently about theeffects of the treaty,” explained 18-yearoldMarcela Granados.(Tico Times reporter Fabián Borges contributedto this report.)

GOLFITO, Puntarenas – Three yearsafter the brutal murder of U.S. college studentShannon Martin in this jungle porttown on the Golfo Dulce, in the SouthernZone, 48 students graduated from theEnglish center founded in her name.Her mother, Jeanette Stauffer, spentthe years after her daughter’s death dividingher time between helping prosecutorspursue the killers and drumming up fundsfor the English center, which she foundedin an attempt to open the doors of opportunityfor residents of the impoverishedport town (TT, Feb. 20)Nineteen students of the Coast GuardAcademy, where the center is located, oneCoast Guard instructor and 28 members ofthe community graduated last week fromlevel one of the school’s AmericanLanguage Course.ROWS of navy-uniformed CoastGuard officers broken up by plain-clothedcommunity members attended a grandceremony of assorted activities. It was anevent of gracious speeches, a demonstrationby the Academy’s Tae Kwon Do students,a folk dance performance and acomic skit written and performed inEnglish by students of the center, followedby a dinner attended by Stauffer,who traveled from the United States forthe event.“My daughter’s spirit has guided me togive back to the community she loved,”Stauffer said in her address. “The sixmonths she spent here were some of themost special in her life. I look out and seepeople so beautiful – you’re the kind ofpeople you want to see succeed.”English teacher Sara Hoskins may beable to lead the students to that success.Like Martin, she attended the Universityof Kansas; she is a longtime resident ofGolfito and holds a Master’s degree ineducation administration.BRANCHING from the curriculum ofthe American Language Course, sheencourages practical application of Englishboth in and out of the classroom. Threetimes every week, she said, her studentsmust speak with a native speaker, watchTV or listen to music in English, then writeabout the experience.“BEING able to teach at this centerhas been very special for me,” she said.“Since I knew Shannon, it makes mehappy to be a part of such a positive wayto share the memory of her.”One of those among the graduatingclass, Arnoldo Arias, 19, appreciates thetime his teacher dedicates to them.“When I began I didn’t understandmuch, but now I can distinguish somephrases and I speak more,” he said.Marisol Ferreto, 25, also among the firstgroup to graduate, said “Sara gives us confidenceand helps us express ourselves.”THE English courses are free and donot require applicants to have a high schooldiploma – unlike free government-sponsored English courses. So thewaiting list is long.Some, like Ferreto, who is a secretaryfor a finance company, cannot afford topay for courses at private schools.“Learning another language is superimportant,” she said. “It creates a circlewhere everyone is going to learn – I teachit to my brothers, they teach it to ourcousins, and so on.”The idea for the center sprung fromconversations between Stauffer and thedirector of the Academy, MarioBarrientos. He said he believes Golfito isthe up-and-coming jewel of tourism inthe country and employers will seekEnglish-speaking residents to staff theirhotels and travel agencies.“WE joined forces for a single goal:the teaching of English to the communityand the Coast Guard,” he said. TheAcademy provides a space for the Englishcenter while the Shannon Lucile MartinFoundation pays for materials and thesalary of its teacher.One of the graduation’s distinguishedguests was Costa Rican Coast GuardDirector Claudio Pacheco, who praisedStauffer’s efforts from behind the podiumand from behind his dinner plate later thatevening.“It’s impressive how out of a verytragic moment something good hasarisen,” he said. “Instead of being sour orbitter, (Stauffer) created somethingworthwhile and good for the country.Who would have thought somebody fromTopeka, Kansas, would have such animpact on Golfito?”THE Shannon Lucile MartinFoundation is a non-profit organizationestablished in memory of the 23-year-oldstudent who was stabbed to death at nightwhile in Golfito completing research for astudy-abroad project in 2001.Two of the three Costa Rican suspectswho stood trial for the killing were foundguilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.Kattia Cruz and Luis Alberto Castro werealso fined a symbolic $1 each in civil damages(TT, Nov. 21, 28, 2003).A third suspect, Rafael Zumbado, wasabsolved of charges because of lack of evidenceagainst him.FOR more info, visit the foundation’sWeb site at www.shannonlmartin.org, emailinfo@shannonlmartin.org.

FORMER Justice Minister JoséMiguel Villalobos on Saturday named hisnew political party the DemocraticNational Alliance (ADN).The party plans to provide disenfranchisedvoters with an alternative duringthe 2006 presidential and legislative elections(TT, May 7).On Tuesday, Villalobos told The TicoTimes he would “indeed” run for bothPresident and legislative deputy for theprovince of San José in 2006.“We have a message of optimism;Costa Rica is worth it. Costa Rica can dareto define its own development model,” hesaid.