THE president of the Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) this week warned that the dispute between the Costa Rican government and Alterra Partners, which holds a 20-year contract to remodel and operate Juan Santamaría International Airport, could permanently scare off foreign companies planning to invest here if the issue is not resolved.“We [AmCham members] have been terribly worried about the airport situation since last year,” AmCham president Carlos Denton told The Tico Times Wednesday during the chamber’s monthly luncheon event.“If this contract fails, that airport will be left as is [incomplete] for the next three to five years while the dispute is settled,” he said. “We want to have tourists. (…) We need there to be investment to improve the airport.”ALTERRA and the 14 foreign banks financing the project, along with the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT), the Technical Council of the Civil Aviation Authority (CTAC) and the airport’s inspector general, had reached an agreement in August 2001 on “development expenses” for the airport, placing them at $18.6 million, according to Public Works and Transport Minister Javier Chaves and Alterra executives (TT,May 7).However, the amount allotted for this expense in the original contract bid could not exceed $3.4 million, according to the Comptroller General’s office. The amount has been in dispute since last year and caused the banks to freeze financing for the project.Last week, the government announced it was beginning a two-month period of negotiations with Alterra, which if not successful could result in Alterra’s contract being revoked. Alterra has warned that if this happens it would sue the government for $150 million in damages.Chaves has asked the Comptroller General’s Office to reconsider its position. DENTON said it was up to the government to solve the dispute.“It [the dispute] affects all [public works] concessions – the road to [the Central Pacific shipping port of] Caldera, ports on both coasts and the road to [the Central Valley town of] San Ramón,” he explained. “There are also problems with the Pococí Prison (proposed for construction in the Caribbean-slope town of the same name) and Harken (oil explorations) off the coast of Limón.”These disputes (TT, Jan. 23, Feb. 6; 13, March 19) give foreign companies planning to participate in public works concessions here a bad message, he said. “The message Costa Rica is giving is a red card [used when a soccer player is being expelled from a game] – don’t do business because the Costa Rican government can’t be trusted,” Denton said.IN related news, outgoing Comptroller General Luis Fernando Vargas last week reiterated to a legislative commission charged with investigating the airport situation that the Comptroller General’s Office never approved the controversial agreement that sparked the government’s dispute with Alterra, the daily La Nación reported.Arnoldo Camacho, the airport’s current inspector general, told the same legislative commission days before that the Comptroller’s Office in 2001 said there was no cap on the development expenses, only to change its position last April.

IN his last public speech as U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, John J. Danilovich this week bid a fond farewell to the country, discussed the future of the proposed Central America Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) and expressed concern about the way the Costa Rican government has handled concessions awarded to U.S. companies.The speech was given Wednesday at the monthly luncheon of the Costa Rican- American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) at the Costa Rica Marriott Hotel in Belén, northwest of San José.Danilovich has served as ambassador to Costa Rica since October 2001. In February, U.S. President George W. Bush nominated Danilovich as U.S. ambassador to Brazil. The U.S. Senate still must approve his nomination.Although it is not known when the Senate will vote on the nomination, Danilovich will step down as ambassador to Costa Rica later this month, according to the U.S. Embassy in San José.A replacement ambassador has not yet been nominated. In the meantime, Chief of Mission Douglas M. Barnes will be the top diplomatic representative of the United States in Costa Rica, according to the embassy.DURING his farewell speech, Danilovich paid homage to the longstanding ties between Costa Rica and the United States.“Here in Costa Rica we are fortunate because we all do speak a common philosophical language, and the shared values of democracy and freedom have long made the United States and Costa Rica strong and stable allies,” he said. “…Our common values have a significant impact on our bilateral relations and have made possible the achievements we’ve attained in the last few years.”The ambassador spoke candidly about CAFTA, calling it one of the “greatest accomplishments” in relations between Costa Rica and Central America, one that will serve as an “engine for future economic growth in the region.”DANILOVICH said he doubts the U.S. Congress will begin debating CAFTA before the November presidential and congressional elections. The U.S. Congress will end its current session in July, and will not reconvene until after the elections.“It is a very difficult time for the U.S. Congress as a result of the situation in Iraq,” he said. “Most of the time they have left will be concentrated on that issue. I think that treaty won’t be discussed until the next session of Congress.”Danilovich said CAFTA would be debated, at the earliest, during the “lameduck” period of Congress – the time between the election and when newly elected leaders take office – if not later.He said he is confident CAFTA will be ratified by all seven participating countries in 2005.THE ambassador also took the opportunity to discuss the need for Costa Rica to resolve its disputes with U.S. companies to which it has awarded public works concessions.“One area that continues to raise grave concern is public sector concessions,” he said.“Quite frankly, and without attributing any specific blame, it is clear that public sector concessions need to be closely monitored. It must be understood that any responsible, potential investors will take serious note of this situation,” he added.“THIS is a problem for the country and the North American companies that come to work here,” he explained. “For many years they have had problems with the government. I think it is important for the government to solve these problems, especially once it begins the fight to get CAFTA approved.”Danilovich specifically mentioned conflicts between the Costa Rican government and Alterra Partners, the consortium that holds a 20-year contract to remodel and operate Juan Santamaría International Airport (see separate story), and Harken, whose contract to conduct oil explorations off the country’s Caribbean coast is in dispute.The Ambassador recommended Costa Rica’s government and the private sector team up to find “common-sense remedies” to these disputes.DANILOVICH concluded by thanking Costa Rica for being a friend and partner of the United States in the fight against drug trafficking, exploitation of children, human trafficking and terrorism. He congratulated Costa Rica on its human rights track record and particularly on its tough stance against Cuba’s human rights record (TT, May 7).“We value Costa Rica’s leadership in so many issues facing the hemisphere, especially on issues of human rights, including championing the rights of the people of Cuba,” he said.As Danilovich bid farewell to the country, he promised to maintain his commitment to improving relations between the countries.“I want you to know that, after I leave Costa Rica, whether in Brazil or elsewhere, you will always have a friend in me – just as I have always felt that I have a friend in you,” he concluded.

AT lunch the other day the talk came around to “our finest hour,” and Oscar Gutiérrez, normally almost taciturn, shouted over the babble “I shall tell you how we won the Austral for Argentina.” Oscar, from Buenos Aires, is of medium height but heavily muscled, and in superb shape for a man pushing 70.“The Austral,” he began, “is the event of the year in Buenos Aires: a boat race with crews representing 20 countries. The course extends 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) on the River Plate, with the unusual feature of a 100-meter portage midway over a low peninsular.“The catch is that only one crew at a time may cross the portage, in strict order of arrival. It might seem that the first to arrive wins the race, but the record shows the reverse, usually due to over-exertion in the first half.“BOAT races are won by careful planning and skulduggery – just as much as expertise. We started training six months early with the intention of arriving first at the portage by hook or crook, and first at the finish by stamina and will-power. Representing Argentina, the eight of us were at the peak of mental and physical perfection – we were young gods, holding the future in our hands. “It was a standing start, the Steward usurping the Cox’s normal function by shouting ‘Are you ready? Come forward! Paddle!’ firing his pistol on the ‘P’ of paddle.“The first 10 strokes at maximum rate produced no obvious leader, so our Cox edged us carefully toward our right-hand neighbor, Ecuador, until our blade tips were barely a meter apart.“The maneuver is, of course, totally illegal, but it is hard to prove intent in the frenzy of a start, and so is rarely penalized. At any rate, the prospect of blade lock is terrifying if you really believe it and, sure enough, their over-imaginative Cox believed, applied excessive rudder to steer clear, and lost half a length.“As we pulled away, we directed our wash into their path, ruining their timing, and they fell another length behind.“We moved over to our left-hand opponents, the Venezuelans, but they were made of sterner stuff and our blades were almost touching before their No. 7 caught a crab in the whirlpool left by our No. 4’s blade. With their timing totally lost, they swung off course and crashed into the Spaniards, leaving us only the Germans and the Brazilians to beat.“BY now it was too late to pull any more tricks, and sheer determination had to get us first to the low duckboards jutting out from the peninsular. We made it by half a length.“Racing shells are incredibly fragile, sometimes breaking in half if mishandled, but we unshipped our oars and plucked our shell from the water, lifting it upside-down over our heads, and wading to the portage without mishap.“Only the first arrival can afford to stroll here, regaining strength for the second half, while the rest wait at the duckboards in impotent fury.“We were three lengths ahead when the Brazilians re-launched their shell, and they never recovered. Our stroll had dispersed the lactic acid invading our abused muscles, allowing us a final spurt that put us four lengths ahead at the finish.“RESTING on our slides, a curious reaction set in; No. 2 burst into tears and immediately everyone but Stroke followed suit, weeping for our squandered strength.“It stopped as suddenly as it began, and we dragged ourselves up to the dais to be embraced by the President and awarded the halice.“I had given my all, and something more, for my country, and in my terrible exhaustion I vowed never again to step into a racing shell. So, oddly enough, my finest hour was actually just before the start, not after our triumph.”

IN spite of her desire for self-explanatory art, to hear Painter Jeannina Blanco talk about her paintings is the missing ingredient for a fuller appreciation of them.“My goal is to acquire the character of people and to somehow let the viewer understand, take it all as it is without having to explain,” she said at the opening of her exhibition May 4. “Music is to be played, and if I can conquer the sounds and make them come out of a painting then I have achieved my goal.”She paints mostly in oil on canvas, the subjects do not often digress from the symphony, people, or city scenes – storefronts, streets, marinas and the like – and backgrounds are often undefined, such as of broad strokes of color or a shading that highlights the subject.Hers is a provocative idea, though, of funneling a sound into paint. Though she chose others for her centerpieces, one painting at the exposition seems to encapsulate the concept. It is of a two-headed, multi-armed conductor, the extra appendages added to connote the swing of the baton and an emphatic jerk of the head. If the sound has not been incarnated, at least a vigorous moment in orchestral leadership has been detained.OTHERWISE, her attempts to paint sound have taken shape in numerous violin players from all angles, often alone, sometimes with the symphony. One of the pieces that has taken center stage is of the back of a woman’s shaggy head, the neck of a cello on her shoulder, silhouetted against a luminescent purple and violet background, the bulk of her shoulders and instrument mostly portrayed in a dusky blue.She began painting only eight years ago when she enrolled in classes at the Cannery Paints in Newport Beach, Calif., where she lived for 13 years. She moved away but borrowed from the styles of others and began to take an individual stand. She said her major influences have been the French impressionists John Singer and Richard Schmidt.In California, she started selling four to six paintings every month and made a full-time career of it. Now her collectors look for her pieces online at two Web sites since she returned to her native Costa Rica two years ago.Her exhibition, called “Blanco in Retrospective,” is a look at the artist’s evolution from her first painting to her most recent, representing, she said, a small portion of what she has done scattered over those eight years.BLANCO also offers courses in oil, drawing, acrylic, pastel and watercolors, she also instructs people in artistic therapy, caricature, and conducts weekend workshops. For more info about the exhibition at the Alta Hotel in Escazú, west of San José or about courses, call 289-5487 or 289-3782, or visit the Website www.artblanco.com, or see her short biography on www.askart.com.

VIÑALES VALLEY, Cuba –Magical, surreal, serene – these are the adjectives that spill out at the first sight of the panoramic Viñales Valley, about 175 kilometers (109 miles) west of Havana in the prosperous tobacco-growing province of Pinar del Río. Often compared to the hills in a Chinese landscape, the defining landmarks here are the mogotes, round limestone outcroppings that look like mud pies left by a juvenile giant.The best view is from the terrace of Hotel Los Jazmines, 3 km (1.8 miles) outside the town of Viñales.Spread before you is a patchwork of green tobacco and manioc fields, outlined by unplanted red-clay strips and punctuated by A-frame, thatch tobacco-drying sheds. Here and there, tiny – at this distance – teams of yoked oxen plough, haul and strain, at the command of straw-hatted farmers. And everywhere, those improbable mogotes stick up their cow-licked heads.Just gazing out at the view with its ever changing play of light can be a holiday well spent. Los Jazmines and La Ermita, on the other side of town, both have rooms with a view.Neither is particularly luxurious and the food at both hotels is atrocious, but the views make up for it.A lot of independent travelers opt for casas particulares, private houses in and around the lovely town of Viñales, licensed to provide very reasonably priced lodging with breakfast and dinner included, for U.S. dollars.The other lodging option is the Ranchón y Finca San Vicente, set right in the valley in pleasant gardens next to the valley’s official tourist attraction – a network of limestone caves. These are, predictably, a tourist trap. The entrance to the Cueva de San Miguel ($1) is now a disco/bar. It is interesting to use the bathrooms here, though, since they are built right into the rock face. And there is a path through the limestone mountain that leads out to a recreated indigneous palenque village.The other major cave experience is the Cueva del Indio, where you pay $5 to wander along an illuminated cave trail to a hidden river, and then board a motorboat for a short ride out of the cave. It’s a tourist trap, but pretty much a de rigueur one. At the cave exit there is a large souvenir market and a chance to ride a docile, huge water buffalo named Tomás. An enterprising, rapid-sketch artist is on hand to sketch you aboard Tomás for $1.NEARBY is another of the valley’s vaunted sights: a monumental, fluorescent mural on a rock face, called The Prehistoric Mural. It is a very modern project, however, and the only thing prehistoric about is the rather bad depiction of ice-age creatures. The town of Viñales is a pleasant place to stroll. Both sides of the street have intact arcades to shade you from the sun, and the main street has a charming mix of vintage buildings.The central plaza has a picturesque church, frangipani trees, an art gallery, open-air souvenir market and a colonial-style cultural center. At the north end of the town is the lovely Jardín de Caridad, a peaceful botanical garden nurtured over decades by a pair of sisters. Entrance is by donation and you are treated to a huge plate of interesting and delicious fruits at the end of your garden walk.Tours of tobacco farms and cigar factories in Pinar del Río, where the best cigars in Cuba are made, are the most popular activities here. But my anti-smoking, nature-loving friend and I opted for a nature walk ($10/person) with Jésus, a high-school biology teacher who took us and about six other tourists on a wonderful four-hour tramp through the valley and up a mogote or two.Along the way we visited a tobacco-drying shed and learned that Castro gave up smoking cigars years ago for health reasons. Jésus spotted a Cuban Trogon for us, the national bird that has the same colors as the Cuban flag and sports a distinctive, scallop-edged tail. We were also entertained by the tiny Cuban Tody, a gregarious, fluffy pink, green and white bird that looks like a miniscule slice of watermelon.FROM the top of a mogote we enjoyed vistas of the valley and heard tales of the Aguáticos, simple people who settled here in the 1940s and practiced healing-water cures. Only a few of their basic houses remain, since authorities have hounded them out of their unorthodox water-cure business.The tour ended at a tidy farmhouse, sitting on a terrace looking out onto a pretty garden pecked clean by cackling hens with chicks and guinea fowl. We were treated to a cornucopia of fruit, unlike any we ever saw in a hotel or restaurant: a huge pipa (green coconut) each, followed by freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and platters of papaya, pineapple and sweet grapefruit – a true acid test! The lady of the house offered to show us her home, which has a vintage, aquamarine refrigeratorpowered by kerosene.Off the power grid, the farmers here rely on rainyseason streams to create enough hidroelectric energy to charge the batteriesfor their coffee mills and simple farm machinery.WE spent the next day wending our way through the valley on rented bicycles, easily and inexpensively ($5/day) obtained in Viñales. It was stop-and-go all the way, with picture-perfect views around every bend of the road just begging to be shot.Plus the “anatomically correct” narrow seats prompted many stops to relieve the agonizing pressure on muscles not used to such punishment.A disappointing experience at the only decent restaurant in town prompted us to seek out an illegal paladar, a private home where you can, for $10 per person, get a decent meal. Our first foray resulted in a wonderful dinner, eaten alfresco, on the terrace of a pretty house. We feasted on two large but unfortunately overcooked lobster tails, a delicious, perfectly cooked red snapper and generous platters of potatoes, sliced tomatoes and crisp manioc chips. Dessert was, disappointingly for me, fruit. When I askedwhere I could buy a cake or cookie in town,I learned to my shock and dismay that thereis not a single cake bakery in town.The next night’s paladar experience started off very clandestinely, as my friend and I following a young woman into one house and out the back door and through a garden toanother backyard. We ate at a picnic table with a French family, within sound and smell of the familypig. There were soggy shrimp and overcooked snapper, pale tomatoes and beans and rice.The meal here was a bit of a disappointment.But the owners did send out for some extra dessert: a plate of candied grapefruit rind in honey syrup, served with a chunk of dried, hard cheese. I ate every morsel. GETTING THERE: One daily, direct public bus travels from Havana to Viñales ($12), operated by Viazul. Havanatur also operates a bus with hotel pickups ($15).Plenty of casas particulares are in town, butmost only have a few rooms, so you may not start out at the one you prefer.The state-run hotels often cater to large groups. The quietest, most secluded option is the Ranchón y Finca San Vicente. Most travel within Cuba is handled by one of four state-run tour companies. Cuba package specialists in San José include Cubasol at 221-7421 and EASA at 256-5458 or e-mail cuba@easaalmendares.com.

TAMARINDO, Guanacaste – The first thing you will notice about Robert August, star of the 1960s quintessential surfing film “Endless Summer” is that in person he’s a fit 58-year-old with an infectious exuberance and a wicked sense of humor.He even once joked that he’s “the Sean Connery of surfing.”The second thing you will find out from the man who put Tamarindo, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste on the Pacific coast, on the world surfing map in “Endless Summer II,” a 1997 sequel film, is that his love for Costa Rica knows no bounds.That love of this country is one of the main reasons the legend moved the Robert August 2004 Surf & Turf event from August to May 13-20 this year. That way, more people can take advantage of planned events in better weather and there will be more money raised for the beneficiaries in Guanacaste.THE Robert August 2004 Surf & Turf is hosted by Tamarindo Vista Villas and will be filled with parties, golfing, surf contests and trips, bikini contests, dance competitions, autograph sessions, and much more.The entire event is open to registered Surf & Turf hotel guests, as well as area residents and tourists.The event features August, who will be joined by his “Endless Summer II” co-star, business associate, and regular surfing buddy Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, as well as former U.S. Surf Champion Longboarder Mark Martinson.Also attending is one of the first true innovators of surfing, Mike Doyle.For years, Tamarindo has been the adopted home of this surfing master. And between those water sessions, he and his gang have been spotted hitting balls at the golf courses in the Guanacaste area.STRANGELY, there’s always been some connection between surfing and golfing, but it was only four years ago that August decided to make the dual sports link an annual Costa Rican celebration.“Hey, when the tide’s wrong, or there are no waves, golfing is a fantastic release,” August said. So why is Robert August so important to Tamarindo and its community? “No. 1, because Robert’s such a fun loving, classy guy,” said Jeff Ruzicka, Vista Villas hotel manager.“No. 2, because he’s one of the original Rat Pack that made Tamarindo a surf destination. And, No. 3, he always brings the good-looking babes!” A new twist for this year’s Surf & Turf is the cumulative scoring system, where anyone who competes in both the golf and surf contests will have a chance to win both a new set of TaylorMade Golf clubs and a new Robert August What I Ride surfboard.BECAUSE August is conscious of the community, proceeds from the event will benefit Villareal High School and the Santa Cruz Orphanage.He has also opened both the surf contests and the golf tournament to individual competition.If someone plays golf, but doesn’t surf, or vice versa, there are still opportunities for prizes, from companies including TaylorMade Golf, Reef, Hacienda Pinilla Golf and Beach Resort, Spanners Inc., Sol Sun Block, Reactor Watches, Sex Wax and Tamarindo Vista Villas.The Robert August 2004 Surf & Turf is being filmed by Opper Sports and will be released as a home video next year. For more info, e-mail tamvv@racsa.co.cr or call 653-0114 ext. 0.For a complete listing of events, see the schedule below.

PICKINGS are slim for anglers in northern Guanacaste, on the Pacific coast, and the river is rising fast at Barra Colorado, on the Caribbean coast, but Sonny Kocsis managed to get clients a grand slam last Saturday, with a blue, black and striped marlin all on the same day.Gamefisher II skipper Richard Chellemi said only a handful of boats have been going out, with a few sails, but not up to what it should be for this time of year.According to Dan Wise, tarpon and snook were going strong up until last Saturday with clients at the Rio Colorado Lodge going three tarpon released for five in the air, and weighed in a 17- and 7-pound snook.Not a lot of rain at Barra according to Wise, but the river is up over the docks and a lot of debris is being washed down from the rain up the river.SOUNDS like fishing is better further south, according to reports from Banana Bay in the Golfito region and from clients fishing Quepos, which is not the norm for this time of year.John Langmaid, from Boston, emailed us after returning home from a trip to Quepos last week – reporting five sailfish releases, all more than 120 pounds, fishing the boat Karahé, and saw only two other boats on the water that day.Coincidentally, we received a report from Doug Huppe, from Kansas City, also fishing the boat Karahé for a day last week. They went four releases for five raised in six hours on the water, again all big fish.Also heard from Richard and Susan Hoel, who just returned home from Costa Rica, where they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on a trip arranged by Costa Rica Outdoors.THEY fished out of Playa Carrillo, and had high praise for Kocsis and his boat Wetass II. In four days they released 21 sailfish, two marlin, a dorado and three tuna.Joe Sullivan and Phil Glasgow, down for their third trip in as many years, is also a fan of Kocsis. He writes: “Too often Phil and I have found skippers in a lot of places far too prone to head home early with excuses that the fish just aren’t there, the weather isn’t right, etc., but Sonny is persistent … our last two trips with him have produced 21 sails and one marlin – far more billfish than most people even dream of seeing in a lifetime.”For more info on fishing or assistance in planning a trip to Costa Rica, contact Jerry at jruhlow@costaricaoutdoors.com or visit www.costaricaoutdoors.com Skippers, operators and anglers are invited to e-mail or call Jerry with fishing reports by Wednesday of each week. Call or fax: 282-6743 if calling from Costa Rica, or through the e-mail address above.

A series of irregularities surrounding nearly $40 million worth of Finnish hospital equipment purchased by Costa Rica’s Social Security System (Caja) has led to full-scale investigations by several government agencies.The purchase of 3,037 items – including equipment for administering anesthesia, beds for intensive-care patients and X-ray machines – came after the Legislative Assembly in 2001 approved a plan called the Finland Project, brought forward by then-legislative deputy Eliseo Vargas, later appointed president of the Caja.The Finland Project entailed obtaining a $32 million loan from the Finnish government that the Caja would use to update the nation’s public hospital equipment.THE total purchase amount ended up being $39.5 million, $7.5 million of which the Caja paid from its expense account. The remaining $32 million was financed through Sampo Bank of Finland, using a special no-interest credit account the government of that country uses to promote the sale of Finnish products while assisting developing countries.The requirements that the Costa Rican government set for the company that would receive the contract excluded all potential competitors except one: Instrumentarium Medko Medical Corporation, represented in Costa Rica by Corporación Fischel.According to a release from the Caja Board of Directors, “the pieces of hospital equipment purchased from Instrumentarium Medko Medical Corporation were not those outlined as priority needs by the directors of clinics and hospitals in the country.”At least seven high-cost machines purchased in the deal are not even being used, the daily La Nación reported last week.VARGAS was appointed executive president of the Caja in 2002, and came under scrutiny last month when La Nación revealed an apparently sketchy deal between the Caja head and a Fischel executive named Olman Valverde.Valverde purchased a luxury home in an upscale San José neighborhood for $735,000, the paper reported, and then rented it to Vargas for just $2,500 a month – less than half of similar homes around it rent for. Just hours after publication of the report, Vargas resigned. Valverde later followed suit (TT, April 23).The Caja board then requested that the possibility of a private contract between Vargas and Valverde be investigated, along with the possibility that Caja leaders worked to “unduly benefit” Corporación Fischel.VARGAS’ successor, Caja medical manager Horacio Solano, requested a complete report of all transactions between the Caja and Fischel during his first day on the job. The Prosecutor’s Office requested the Comptroller General’s inventory of Vargas’ belongings, and a prosecutor specializing in financial crimes was assigned to the case.Shortly after stepping down, Vargas testified before the Social Affairs Commission of the Legislative Assembly to explain his resignation. He told the commission he had previously attempted to buy the house but was rejected, and the money he was going to use had been registered with the Comptroller General’s inventory of his belongings. He said the deal was well within the limits of the law and called La Nación’s report a journalistic novel.”HOWEVER, Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) agents, along with personnel from the Prosecutor’s Office and the Comptroller General’s Office, conducted five nearly simultaneous raids last Friday morning of Caja offices, Fischel’s offices, and the residences of Vargas, Valverde and Fischel’s lawyer, Randall Vargas.Additionally, President Abel Pacheco this week assembled an investigative commission of “notables” who will have three months to come up with a report about the inconsistencies.“We don’t know what happened,” Pacheco told The Tico Times on Tuesday during a visit to Limón to assess the flood damage there (see separate story). “We are looking into it. It’s hard to take action based on rumors.”“FOUR citizens of the highest caliber are intervening. They are honest and intelligent and they will get to the bottom of this,” the President said.The four citizens Pacheco was referring to included former Supreme Court magistrate Hugo Picado, Industry Chamber president Rafael Carrillo, former Caja executive president Alvaro Fernández and former Finance Minister Federico Vargas.The day after accepting the appointment, Picado announced his resignation from the commission because of a potential conflict of interest. He said he had worked as a consultant for a prestigious law firm that had provided “assessment services” for the Finland Project.During this week’s Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Pacheco said he had received numerous denouncements for not having included a woman on the committee.The President said the oversight was his fault, and announced that Dunia Chacón, former president of the Superior Penal Court, would take the place of Picado on the investigative commission.PACHECO said he wanted a four-person rather than a five-person commission so that in the event they were evenly divided on an issue he could “mediate” and offer his advice.The commission will not only investigate the Finland Project, he said, but also the Spanish Project, a similar arrangement between the Caja and the Spanish government involving $60 million worth of equipment.The Comptroller General’s office also announced it will install a team at the Caja headquarters to investigate the loan from Finland.Another resignation related to the scandal was that of former Chamber of Commerce president Emilio Bruce, also the president of the Board of Directors for Fischel. Bruce resigned from his position at the chamber last week.“Life has unsuspected turns,” Bruce said during his resignation speech. “Today I live one of those turns.”Bruce insists that Fischel did not pay for Vargas’ luxury home and that it must have been the result of a private transaction between him and Valverde.THE Legislative Assembly announced this week that deputies would further discussion on a law proposal designed to prevent “corruption and illicit enrichment of public functionaries.” The current law governing corruption of public officials was passed in 1983.According to a statement from the assembly, its revision is now necessary because of “the impact of technology on financial information systems.”During his weekly radio address on Sunday, Pacheco said, “Know this, corrupt gentlemen and corrupt ladies: If you put your hand out, I will cut it.”Meanwhile, current Caja director Solano insists his agency is not in a state of crisis and will continue functioning normally.THE Tico Times asked for comments from Fischel about the government investigations and whether the company was conducting an investigation of its own.Lauren Carvajal, a spokeswoman for Corporación Fischel, told The Tico Times via e-mail that “the position of the business for the time being is to not further discuss the themes mentioned out of respect for the commissions chosen for the investigation of this case.”(Robert Goodier contributed to this article.)

PRESIDENT Abel Pacheco made an about-face regarding his stance on the war in Iraq Wednesday, claiming he never supported it to begin with.When asked by The Tico Times whether his decision to support the war had changed in light of the recent scandal over prisoner abuse by U.S.-led forces, the President responded, “You are misinformed. I never supported any war.”President Pacheco’s decision to offer “moral support “for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq led to Costa Rica being named among the “coalition of the willing” – the list of nations that supported the invasion, though it was not sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union or NATO.THOUGH opponents said being named in the list violates Costa Rica’s policy of neutrality, Pacheco maintained his position.He defended his stance by quoting former President Luis Alberto Monge (1982-86) as saying “When confronted with terrorism, Costa Rica cannot remain neutral.” The President declared his support soon after the war began last year, both in an official press release and a full-page ad in the daily La Nación newspaper (TT, March 28, 2003).“We are supporting the cause of freedom, and opposing terrorism,” Pacheco said last year. “On one side there is good, and on the other side there are terrorists.” THE decision is perhaps the most controversial of Pacheco’s administration.An injunction against him was filed before the Supreme Court because of the decision, which received sharp criticism from Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi, who said Pacheco had violated 15 laws and international treaties ratified by Costa Rica. The court has not yet ruled on the case.Thousands of Costa Ricans protested the President’s decision almost daily last year (TT, April 4, 2003).Former President and Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias (1986-1990) met several times with Pacheco about his war stance.ARIAS announced publicly that it was unwise for Costa Rica to back the “illegal” war, adding that the invasion was “like beating up a drunk.”Former President Rodrigo Carazo (1978-1982) said he was “very, very pained by Pacheco’s decision to support the war,” and claimed the President was “putting Costa Rica’s tradition of peace at stake.”Sources from within the Legislative Assembly told Tico Times’ reporters last year that Pacheco had considered asking U.S. President George W. Bush to remove Costa Rica from the list of countries supporting the war.But spokespersons from the Casa Presidencial said the Executive Branch “never even contemplated the possibility” (TT, April 4, 2003).AFTER the capture of Saddam Hussein in December of last year, Pacheco said he wished the conflict would end soon. “I hope the United States begins to think about evacuating and letting the Iraqis take over their own country,” Pacheco said (TT, Dec. 19, 2003). “I hope (the capture of Saddam Hussein) is a way to close this chapter.”Despite the controversy surrounding his support of the war, political analysts say it has not had much of a long-term impact in the country.“Because we are so far away, most of our political agenda issues are home on a different track,” said Luis Guillermo Solís, a political analyst at the University of Costa Rica (UCR).THOUGH thousands of Costa Ricans protested last year, fewer than ten people attended a protest march commemorating the one-year anniversary of the war’s beginning (TT, March 26).However, protestors in Costa Rica brought up the subject again during a massive march May 1 in San José, recreating images of torture scenes published by the media and demanding an end to the war in Iraq.During his farewell speech on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador John Danilovich, soon to leave Costa Rica (see separate story), thanked Costa Rica for its support in the war on terror, although he did not specifically mention Iraq.“Costa Rica continues to be a steadfast ally, friend, and most importantly, a partner in the fight against terrorism,” Danilovich said.