A deluge flooded lowland areas and riverside villages of the Caribbean-slope province of Limón for the second time in five months.Rivers engorged by a rainfall of nearly 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) in one week claimed the lives of three people and forced nearly 2,200 residents into temporary shelters in the country’s Northern Zone and Caribbean region.The water tore down, made impassable or otherwise damaged 50 bridges in the affected areas, according to the National Emergency Commission (CNE).The toll on other infrastructure as calculated by the commission Wednesday included eight damaged dikes, 50 sections of wrecked or debris-blocked highways and roads, 1,028 flooded homes, 32 schools in various states of disrepair and 5,000 hectares of farmland flooded. FOAM mats and blankets dotted the floors of 25 temporary shelters – converted schools and community halls – that contained 2,190 people by Tuesday morning, when the rains began to subside. The next day, the number in shelters had fallen to 900, and was expected to drop sharply thereafter as people returned to their mud-filled homes.The most affected communities were those in the Sarapiquí region in north central Costa Rica, including Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí in the Heredia province, and lowland areas of Limón, including Matina and the city of Limón.The Municipality of Sarapiquí reported landslides, floods and mud that covered 300 kilometers of roads and 5,000 people who suffered losses related to their homes, farms and animals.ON Tuesday, Javier Sandoval held his infant son Kelvin in a shelter in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí and listened to President Abel Pacheco address some concerns of those hosted there. Sandoval, who works on a banana plantation, arrived at the shelter Saturday night after rising water soaked everything he owned in his home in the nearby village of Naranjal. Ailaida Veda, from the same village, said her pulpería corner store was completely destroyed. “I don’t have anything left,” she said. “Someone has to help.”Pacheco was on just such a mission that day, making a lightning round of some of the most soaked and muddied villages, speaking with community leaders and citizens and making commitments to send government aid.STANDING in the mud front of her recently flooded home on a bank of the Quebrada Grande on the flanks of Puerto Viejo River, Mayra Alvarado tearfully accepted an offer from Fernando Trejos, President of the Mixed Institute for Social Aid (IMAS).Trejos, who accompanied Pacheco, gave the woman a four-month stay in an apartment in San José and new furniture.Families that qualify will receive ¢300,000 ($695) in relief aid, he said. “The damage is considerable,” Pacheco told The Tico Times. “Some things we can fix quickly, like the bridges that have been blocked,” and others will take more time, such as the structurally damaged bridges.He also expressed his sorrow over the deaths of two people (the third death was is covered later that day), and issued a reminder that “rivers are not a place to play.”OFFICIALS from the emergency commission had organized relief committees in the affected villages, uniting people in efforts to distribute supplies such as mattresses, blankets, food and gasoline.Floods of this magnitude occur about twice every year, and the CNE has plans to mitigate their damage.Costa Rica has 106 local and eight regional committees, 87 of which are equipped with stores of mattresses and blankets, according to CNE. The commission said 222 monitoring stations around the country are designed to give early warning of imminent disasters.Emergency officials also have trained regional student security teams to be prepared for disasters by learning first aid, fire prevention and evacuation of buildings.ANOTHER strategy to diminish flood impact, according to officials, is to choose better places to build houses. CNE president Diego Morales said, “We are working with local governments to help them develop zoning and land-use plans for the areas most vulnerable to flooding.” Before the recent flooding, the CNE had announced plans to prevent extensive damages during emergencies. Together with the Ministry of Transportation it has invested nearly ¢2 billion ($4.6 million) since January 2003 in the reconstruction of damaged roads, dikes, bridges and drainage ditches. Ironically, it had cited an example of dike repairs in Siquirres and Matina, two of the areas most affected in the floods that followed CNE’s announcement.Morales this week announced that during the same time period, the CNE has invested ¢3.08 billion ($7.1 million) in Limón.NONE of those measures apparently reached the lowland shantytown around the River Limoncito in Limón.There, Maria Solís and her family waded through waist-deep water for three days, stacked their scant furniture in one of the two raised bedrooms, and simply shrugged when the rusted refrigerator, on top of a wooden box, was slowly immersed yet again.Solís said their house floods three to four times every year, and she has photos of past floods showing her 12-year-old son swimming in the kitchen. Though her mother, who lives with her, has requested government aid and has filled numerous forms, the family has not received anything in 12 years, she claimed.How to HelpPEOPLE who wish to help with emergency relief efforts can bring diapers, sanitary napkins, bottled water and fresh or powdered milk to the nearest Red Cross facility or collection centers at Más x Menos, Palí or Hipermas supermarkets. Cash donations can be deposited into the following accounts: Banco de Costa Rica 91100-3, or Banco Nacional de Costa Rica 911-8.For more info, call the National Emergency Commission (CNE) at 210-2828 or online: www.cne.go.cr.

MANAGUA – The Nicaraguan government’s decision to destroy 30% of its stockpiled surface-to-air missiles, known as SAM-7s, has been celebrated as a sign that civil authority has taken root in Nicaragua, and criticized as a weakening of the country’s defense capabilities.The Nicaraguan army began the disarmament process last week by destroying 333 of its 2,150 Soviet-made SAMs during a private event that was closed to the press for safety considerations. The army announced it would destroy another 333 missiles sometime in next two months in the presence of an international inspection team from the Organization of American States.PRESIDENT Enrique Bolaños first announced his administration’s intention to reduce its number of SAMs following a meeting last October with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who urged Nicaragua to destroy its missiles to prevent them from ever falling into the hands of terrorists. Bolaños’ proposal passed congressional vote last month and the army answered by destroying the first batch of weapons May 4.Military analysts are hailing the goodwill gesture as an indicator that Nicaragua’s army has become a professional institution in the 14 years since passing hands from the revolutionary Sandinista National Liberation Front to the state.“This shows there is a harmony between the military and civilian leadership; it is an important sign of maturity on behalf of both sides,” Joaquín Cuadra, former leader of the Sandinista Revolutionary Army and head of the Nicaraguan Army (1990-2000), told TheTico Times this week.BUT Nicaragua’s inability thus far to convince other Central American armies to follow its lead in reducing weapons has raised concerns among some nationalist hardliners that Nicaragua is making itself vulnerable to outside threats.Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua have all agreed to establish a “reasonable balance” of military forces, though the definition of a reasonable balance is – in Cuadra’s words – a “generic term” based on each country’s geography, population, maritime territory and national security threats.The result is an isthmus that some analysts claim is very imbalanced in terms of army sizes, defense spending and weapon technology.Honduras, for example, has not agreed to reduce its fleet of F-5 fighter jets, which are considered an offensive weapon. Nicaragua, by comparison, has no fighter jets and sold its Ukrainian made attack helicopters to Peru in 1990.In terms of defense spending, even demilitarized Costa Rica last year spent double Nicaragua’s entire military budget on police, national security and other defense expenditures, according to studies by veteran Nicaraguan defense and security advisor Roberto Cajina.THE reduction of armaments in Nicaragua has been opposed by the leadership of the opposition Sandinista party, which appears to disagree with the move for ideological, anti-Washington D.C. reasons rather than well-defined military or defense considerations.The most vocal opponent of the destruction of the SAMs has been Edén Pastora, a former revolutionary hero and Contra leader, who wrote a letter to the daily La Prensa saying that if he were head of the army he would resign in shame for having put political interests over those of national defense.Inside sources, however, claim the missile destruction might have more to do with political showmanship rather than a real reduction of active weapons.“THE army is destroying weapon technology that, in some cases, is 40 years old; they possibly don’t even work anymore,” said Cajina, who has worked the past decade as an advisor to the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and National Assembly. Cajina claims the move has deeper political ramifications.The fact that Washington asked Nicaragua to reduce its missiles and did not make specific disarmament requests of other Central American countries demonstrates that the old Cold War hardliners who have been invited back into the U.S. government by President George W. Bush still do not trust Nicaragua, Cajina said.“THIS should be interpreted as a vote of no confidence in the professionalism of the Nicaraguan Army,” Cajina charged. The advisor believes the controversy over the missile destruction never would have happened if Nicaragua had a coherent national defense and security policy, or, for that matter, any clear foreign policy.Because Nicaragua has not clearly defined its “real” or “potential” security threats, it has allowed the United States to do it instead by identifying drug trafficking and terrorism as the country’s #1 enemies – neither one of which poses a serious threat to Nicaragua, Cajina said.CUADRA disagrees. The former military leader and founder of the upstart National Unity Movement says Colombia’s narco-guerrilla groups pose a serious threat to Nicaragua.Evidence exists that these wealthy and armed groups have already infiltrated Nicaragua’s isolated Atlantic coast, where they have started to play on the separatist sentiments felt by many indigenous groups who have been marginalized by the government, he said.Military and defense leaders from Central America met in Nicaragua last month – in part – to draft a resolution defining the real and potential security threats to the isthmus. The document has not yet been made public.

HUNDREDS of Lenca Indians blocked the northbound highway connecting the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula on Tuesday to protest deforestation by landowners in the northwestern departments of La Paz, Intibucá and Lempira.The indigenous group, members of Honduras’ Popular Indigenous Civic Council, blocked the road 240 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa and demanded the government do more to prevent logging.“We feel bad when we have to take actions that affect motorists, but this is in defense of the forests,” said protest coordinator Salvador Zúñiga, who added that the indigenous council has been seeking dialogue with the government for the past two weeks.Government officials insist they have been in a process of dialogue with the indigenous group for more than a year, but that the indigenous protestors don’t understand the concept of private property. “We have to respect private property and as long as the owners of these properties comply with technical regulations, especially the maintenance of watersheds, they are in their right to exploit their forests,” said Gustavo Morales, director of the Honduran Corporation for Forest Development.

THE U.S. Embassy in Managua this week confirmed that Nicaraguan Supreme Court Judge Rafael Solís has had his U.S. visa revoked by the U.S. State Department for his alleged involvement in corruption. The specific allegations of corruption were not made public.Solís, a sympathizer of the left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front, denied ever being involved in any cases of corruption, arguing that the U.S. decision was politically motivated.The United States also denied entry to Managua Criminal Court Judge Ileana Pérez, who has been involved in the corruption case against former President Arnoldo Alemán. Pérez also denies any involvement in corruption.In the past three years, U.S. officials have revoked the visas of former President Alemán and former Tax Director Byron Jérez, both serving time for corruption against the state.

NICARAGUA and Honduras this week were named two of the 16 impoverished countries to qualify for a new $1 billion U.S. development fund called the Millennium Challenge Account.Created last February by the administration of President George W. Bush, the fund aims to assist development initiatives proposed by qualifying countries chosen for taking steps to improve governability and rule of law, while fighting corruption and promoting market opening.The 16 finalist countries, chosen from a list of 63, were announced Monday during a conference in the White House with President Bush, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, and diplomats representing the qualifying nations.Bush lauded Honduras for its efforts to improve education and health care in recent years, noting that the Central American nation’s 96% immunization rate is among the highest of poor countries.The qualifying countries must now present proposals asking for a specific amount of money with detailed accounts of how the funds will be spent. Not all countries will receive the same amount of development aid.Nicaragua’s Minister of the Presidency Eduardo Montealegre announced this week that Nicaragua’s proposal would include a request for funds to support small agricultural and business initiatives, as well as money to finance municipal health, education and infrastructure development. He did not mention how much Nicaragua would request.The U.S. Congress this year appropriated $1 billion for the millennium account, and the Bush administration hopes the fund will increase to $5 billion by 2006.Of the 16 countries, Bolivia was also selected to participate, with the remaining 13 nations representing Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

THE Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) has offered to pay $1 million to help compensate for the asphyxiation of thousands of fish in the Peñas Blancas and San Carlos rivers last year, La Nación reported.It is unclear if this will settle the case before the Environmental Tribunal in the Ministry of the Environment and Energy.The massive kill was caused by sediment- filled water released Oct. 30, 2003 from the recently built Peñas Blancas Hydroelectric Dam. ICE officials have accepted responsibility for the incident, which environmentalists say caused “irreparable” damage (TT, Feb. 20).The San Carlos River suffered a second massive fish kill last month, which authorities believe may have been caused by the inadvertent explosion of a huge tank of molasses at a sugar plant called Quebrada Azul (TT, April 30).

AFTER a series of controversial political deals, congressional deputies on Saturday elected legislator Gerardo González, of the ruling Social Christian Unity Party, as president of the Legislative Assembly for the 2004-2005 term.“I’m committed to working to find points of equilibrium between the different political factions,” González said following his victory.He said his main priorities are the approval of the proposed Permanent Fiscal Reform Package and the Central America Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States.The legislative directorate, elected every May 1, is in charge of hiring personnel, receiving reform motions for bills and reports issued by legislative commissions and, most importantly, setting the legislative agenda.OF a possible 57 votes, González received 28 – 18 from Social Christian Unity, five from the Libertarian Movement, four from the Patriotic Bloc and one from Costa Rican Renovation deputy Carlos Avendaño.Three deputies – Aída Faigenzicht of Unity and Humberto Arce and Emilia Rodríguez of Patriotic Bloc – cast blank votes. Under Legislative Assembly voting rules, the blank votes were transferred to the candidate with the most votes, leaving González with 31 votes – two more than he needed.His nearest opponent, Sigifredo Aiza of National Liberation Party, received 17 votes – all from members of his party. Epsy Campbell of Citizen Action Party received eight votes – all from members of her party. Independent deputy José Francisco Salas received one vote – his own.TO secure the support the Libertarians, González agreed to a controversial request to discuss the opening of the Riteve SyC monopoly on the mandatory annual vehicle technical inspection, reduce wasteful spending by the Legislative Assembly and not create any new legislative commissions that include representatives of social sectors, particularly unions.“For us, the most important thing was to have a say in defining the legislative agenda that would allow us to promote change in the country,” explained Libertarian deputy Carlos Herrera.AVENDAÑO conditioned his support on being allowed to remain head of the Assembly’s Permanent Child-Welfare Commission.The four Patriotic Bloc deputies gave González their support in exchange for having one of their own – Juan José Vargas –elected Vice-President of the Assembly.As part of the agreements reached by this unlikely political alliance, Herrera and Mario Calderón of Unity were elected First and Second Secretary, respectively. Avendaño and Elvira Navarro of Patriotic Bloc were named First and Second Pro-Secretary (replacement secretary), respectively.

LIBERTARIAN legislative deputy Carlos Herrera says he is investigating the sudden and unexpected decision by the San José Municipality to shut down the sports wagering operations at many of the city’s casinos.Although three months have passed since the New England Patriots squeaked past the Carolina Panthers at Super Bowl XXXVIII to win the U.S. National Football League (NFL) championship, it is still unclear why city officials stormed into two of San José’s best-known casinos on Super Bowl Sunday and shut down their sports desks, also known as sportsbooks (TT, Feb. 13).Since then, the Municipality says it has shut down sports wagering at 10 casinos in San José. City officials say betting on sports is illegal in the country’s casinos because no law exists that specifically regulates the activity and so it is their obligation to shut them down.CASINO owners are holding their ground, arguing the lack of a law specifically banning the activity is proof of its legality.Representatives of several casinos said they are taking legal action against the Municipality, fighting what they consider an arbitrary and unjustified abuse of power by the city government.Herrera, a member of the Legislative Assembly’s Commission on Casinos and Gambling, considers the matter of vital importance. He says he is concerned about the jobs of the casino employees affected by the closings.His investigation into the matter is informal and will not have legally binding conclusions, he pointed out.“The Legislative Assembly cannot interfere in this matter, it is a municipal affair,” Herrera said. “We are investigating the situation to make sure the sports-betting operation closings were not being used to pressure casino owners into making additional payments to the Municipality.”HERRERA admitted the investigation has not advanced much, and he accused the municipality of being unwilling to cooperate.“We have faced total secrecy,” Herrera told The Tico Times on Monday. “A law of silence has been applied in the municipality. It has made it impossible for us find out what the municipality’s reasons for acting were.”Herrera says he is concerned the closings might not have been based on valid legal parameters.Julio Cascante, of the municipality’s Permits Office, says his department is determined to enforce the municipality’s interpretation of the law. He insisted that since there is no such thing as a permit for conducting sports betting, all casinos that have sportsbooks are violating the law.“WE have been conducting routine operations,” Cascante explained. “The permits department conducts regular checks of all businesses to verify they have the required operating permits. These are regular sweeps and don’t necessarily target sportsbooks. However, if we do find a sportsbook operation, we will close it.”The sweeps have the full support of San José Mayor Johnny Araya and the city council, he said.He said several casinos affected by the measures had filed complaints before the municipality and the courts.“Some have taken legal action,” he said. “We are aware of at least four that have tried to reopen. We’re awaiting the final court decision. We have given our technical criteria. It will be up to the courts to uphold or reject what the municipality maintains.”MEANWHILE, the sportsbook areas of several San José casinos remain closed. Casino Club Colonial’s sports desk, one of the two shut down on Super Bowl Sunday, has yet to reopen its sports desk. Club Colonial is in the process of taking legal action against the municipality, according to casino owner Shelby MacAdams.MacAdams said he has yet to receive concrete reasons from city officials explaining why Club Colonial’s sports desk was shut down.“I really don’t know [the reasons behind the Municipality’s actions],” he told The Tico Times via fax. MacAdams said the casino’s accountant was in the process of determining the effects of the closure on casino revenues and how that might affect personnel.Gregory Ruzicka, manager of Hotel Del Rey, also shut down by officials that Sunday, confirmed he had voluntarily decided not to resume sports wagering operations because they “weren’t very profitable.”Representatives of the nearby Tropical Casino’s sports desk, which appeared to be open, said they had “no comment” on the matter. Representatives of the Horseshoe Casino also declined to comment.THE controversy has renewed discussion of casino regulation or, more importantly, lack of it. Although advances have been made in recent months toward replacing the country’s outdated 1920s gaming laws, much remains to be done.Commission members admit the bill they are working on does not include attempt to regulate casino sports-wagering desks.“Sports wagering is not a casino activity,even if it takes place inside a casino,”explained Roy Thompson, an aid to deputyFederico Vargas, a member of the commissionand a long-time proponent of gamblingregulation. “By the term casino, we understandgaming tables and slot machines.“THIS type of wagering is not regulatedby the casino legislation under discussion,”he said. “It should be part of sportsbook regulations.However, sportsbook regulationshave only recently started being discussedby the commission (TT, April 2).”Herrera says he understands the needto regulate the activity, but is not sure how.“We understand [casino] sportsbooks aredifferent from casino games and online gamblingcall centers,” he said. “We are awarethis intermediate activity exists. It must bediscussed and included in legislation.”

Poll Says Ex-President’s IF the country elected its next President today, former President Oscar Arias (1986-1990) would win, according to a recent poll conducted by CID-Gallup for the daily newspaper La República and television network Repretel.Surveyors interviewed 1,240 Costa Ricans over the phone April 17-22. The poll claims a margin of error of plus or minus 5%.Arias’ popularity has surged since he officially declared his candidacy in March (TT, March 17). He has a 71% approval rating.When asked what party they would vote for, 42% of those surveyed said National Liberation Party – the party Arias belongs to. This was the first time since 2002 that more than 40% of Costa Ricans supported one party.Under Costa Rican law, a candidate must obtain at least 40% of the vote to be elected President. If no one receives that amount, a runoff election must be held between the two candidates with the most votes.Approximately 19% of voters said they favored the ruling Social Christian Unity Party. Citizen Action Party had the support of 5% and the Libertarian Movement 4% of voter support.

FRANCESCO Pécora, a 39-year-old Canadian investor, has accepted thousands of dollars from citizens of the small town of Paquera on the Nicoya Peninsula, promising to eventually finance development of a university, a hospital, hotels and casinos in the Pacific coast town, La Nación reported.Pécora has offered the Association for Integral Development of Paquera (ADIP) more than $134 million for various business operations, without having demonstrated he indeed has the money. Pécora claims to represent the U.S.-based companyEuro Capital Group, which he said has more money than Bill Gates.“Bill Gates hasn’t got anything,” he told La Nación. “For us, two billion dollars is nothing.”However, no record of the company exists, either on the Internet or with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Still, Pécora says he is under no obligation to provide proof of his fortune.“We’re going to give proof when we want to,” he said.ADIP has already given Pécora some $12,000 in checks.La Nación reported that Pécora is registered as the executive of a Costa Rican company called Grupo Euro Capital F.I., S.A., headquartered in Hatillo, an impoverished San José neighborhood.Pécora said of Paquera, to which he has promised a new ferry that has yet to arrive, “They don’t even know where they are. They’re primitive here. Primitive.” Pécora also has two charges pending for allegedly writing bad checks totaling $55,000. He must present himself before a judge every 15 days and is prohibited from leaving the country, La Nación reported.