Costa Rica Digest, Nov. 23

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Costa Rica News Digest
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*News Digest

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NEWS DIGEST
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*30 Years for Murder of Little Kattia

Thirty years in prison is the sentence against the man who killed nine year

old Kattia Vanesa González Juárez last year.

The penal court announced their decision yesterday following a two week

trial, where it was shown that Jorge Edwin Sánchez Madrigal acted with

premeditation to attempt sexually violate and then killed the little girl

when he believed he would be discovered. Sánchez has a history of murder.

The story unfolded July 4, 2003, when little Kattia went missing. A week

later the little girl's body was found by police who did a complete search
of

the surrounding areas where the little girl lived and was last seen alive.

Sánchez's house was searched when little Kattia first disappeared, as the

house was only meters away from the little girl's home and was part of the

initial search police made to find the missing girl. Police at this time

believed that little Kattia could still be found alive.

However, a week later, following an anonymous tip, Sánchez became a primary

suspect and a thorough search of his home revealed the body of the little

girl under the floor boards of the house.

Two men were arrested following the discovery, Sánchez and his friend, who

was later released as it was proven that the man was not in the house when

the little girl disappeared and was killed and had no knowledge of the

occurrence.

Police believe the little girl was murdered within hours of being abducted.

The three judge panel were fully convinced that Sanchéz acted with malicious

intent and treachery to lure the little girl. The court learned that his

intention had been to sexually violate the little girl. The court was told
he

did not. However, he decided to kill the little girl fearing his intentions

would be discovered, as he only lived a few houses from the little girl's

home.

The judges pronounced their sentence against the man, who may also face
civil

action for damages by the family. Sánchez stood silent before the judges as

he heard the sentence of 30 years in prison.

Little Kattia was not the first and only victim of Jorge Sánchez Madrigal.

Twenty one years ago, the man killed another neighbour while he was a minor

and was set free when he reached the age of 18.

The little girl's family were relieved of the verdict, though it does not

bring back their little girl or take away the pain.




*Personal Loans Between Guardia And Calderón Questioned

The "Presidential" scandals seem to have faded from the daily headlines,

however, the Fiscalía has not put it aside, nor has the local media, as they

continue to dig deeper into the affairs of former presidents Miguel Ángel

Rodríguez (1998-2002) and Rafal Ángel Calderón (1990-1994), as the two men

sit in prevention detention at the La Reforma prison.

Calderón is expected to leave the prison on December 22 when an appeal judge

overturned a lower court judge's order for nine months of preventive

detention.

Meanwhile Rodríguez will go before a judge in two months for a mandatory

three month review of his detention after an appeals court judge overruled a

lower court judge and sent Rodríguez to jail in stead of house arrest.

One key player in the Calderón case, Alfonso Guardia, a cousin of Calderón,

is being linked to more and more payments made to the former president and

others.

Telenoticias, television channel 7 news team, has uncovered a payment made
by

Guardia to Calderón for us$46.000 and another of us$41.800 to former
minister

for the presidency Rina Contreras, in March of 2003.

Guardia's lawyer send a letter to Telenoticias explaining that the payments

are not the only ones made my his client to his cousin and Contreras, as
they

represent payment for a personal loan.

The letter continued to say that 'I have relied on the support of friends
and

family, when they generously lent me money for my business ventures".

Former minister Contreras was quoted as saying to a Telenoticias reporter,

off camera, that "when he (Guardia) has been in a bad way, I have lent him

money..." However, Contreras, refused to answer questions if the loans were


documented, the amount or amounts and the dates.

Calderón's lawyer, Gonzalo Castellón, in a press statement said "Don Alfonso

and don Rafael Ángel are second cousins and there exists a financial
relation

between the two for more than 25 years." Asked if documentation exists of
the

financial transactions, Castellón said he cannot give a definite answer as

his client is not available at any moment for consultations while he is in

jail.

Both Castellón and Contreras were quick to point out that the payments

uncovered by Telenoticias are not related in any way to the ICE-Alcatel

scandal, are strictly a personal loan and based on friendship between the

parties.


*Caldera Road Project Set Back, Again

Another setback for the Caldera-San José highway. Twenty six years in the

planning, one bridge here, some paved road there, the project has failed

again with the announcement yesterday by the foreign contractor, Concesiones

Viales S. A. (Covisa), who was awarded the contract for the work, telling
the

government it would completely stop work on the project.

The 76.8 kilometre road would go from the La Sabana to Cuidad Colon, through

Orotina and end in Caldera. It would reduce the total trip time to less than

one half hour where it takes now almost two hours to travel.

Ministro de Obras Publica y Transporte (MOPT), Randall Quirós Bustamante,

said that the project is not at a total end, as his ministry will try to

negotiate with the firm to save the project.

The Covisa contract was awarded in August of 2003 and work was to have

started in July of this year. The signs announcing the work were erected.
The

cost of the work was set at us$144 million dollars.

The reason for the Covisa resignation from the contract, according to the

MOPT minister, was a rise in the cost of combustibles that have seen an all

time record high in Costa Rica. The firm felt it could not financially

complete the contract with the high fuel prices that are now part of Costa

Rican life.


*United Nations Delays Action on Human Cloning Ban

The United Nations has delayed action on a human cloning ban.

The U.N.'s legal committee was unable to break an impasse between supporters

of a comprehensive ban on cloning and backers of a proposal that would
permit

the cloning of embryos for research purposes. Research cloning results in
the

destruction of embryos.

Although Costa Rica, the United States and other supporters of a

comprehensive ban on cloning said they had a majority of votes, they said it

would not have been possible to defeat a Belgium-led strategy to delay
action

for a year, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Costa Rica had lined up more than 60 co-sponsors for its comprehensive

prohibition, while Belgium had about 20 co-sponsors for its measure.

The legal committee agreed to receive a nonbinding resolution from Italy as

the basis for negotiations on the issue beginning in February, according to

the Tribune.

This marked the third year the U.N. has battled over human cloning without

adopting a ban, according to LifeNews.com. The legal committee debated the

issue for two days in October but had a deadline of Nov. 19 for action.

"It's our longstanding position that all human cloning is wrong, and we are

proud of our efforts to prevent human cloning," U.S. State Department

spokesman Adam Ereli said, according to Reuters. "So the fact that there

isn't any action by the U.N. to endorse cloning is a moderate success."

Countries that oppose a comprehensive ban do so primarily in order to permit

research on stem cells extracted from embryos.

Stem cells are the body's master cells that can develop into other cells and

tissues. They are found not only in human embryos but in adult sources, such

as bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and placentas. The procurement of stem

cells from an adult source does not harm the donor.

In addition to its destructive character, embryonic stem cell research has

experienced multiple failures, including the worsening of Parkinson's

symptoms in one human test group and a tendency to produce tumors in

laboratory animals. Adult stem cell research, meanwhile, has already
produced

more than 40 treatments, including the repair of damaged livers and remedies

for heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries.

United States President Bush has urged the U.N. to pass a total ban. In a

September speech to the General Assembly, he urged members to vote for the

Costa Rican proposal and thereby endorse a "basic ethical principle: No
human

life should ever be produced or destroyed for the benefit of another."


*Vacationer dies saving her husband from surf

A frequent vacationer at Playa Guiones attempted to help her husband who was

stuck in an undercurrent in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday afternoon. Her

husband survived, but the woman was unable to make it back to the shore and

drowned, officials reported.

The victim, Paula Smith, and her husband, Harvey, came from Tennessee to

vacation at their second home in Playa Guiones. They recently arrived in

Costa Rica to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, friends said.

Beate Klossek lives near the beach and witnessed the event while she was

riding her horse down the shoreline. She said she was riding down the beach

around 4:30 p.m. when she saw a woman on the beach waving her arms. This was

someone who was on the same beach as the Smith couple.

The woman appeared to have helped a man out of the water. The man she later

learned was Smith. Still in the water was Mrs. Smith.

The unidentified woman asked Mrs. Klossek to ride down beach to find people

who could help. Mrs. Klossek said she rode her horse to a group and found

several surfers who ran back to help search for the missing woman, later

identified as Paula Smith.

"The surfers helped look, but it was getting dark and many people had to go

back to their homes," Mrs. Klossek said by telephone Monday night.

The body eventually washed up on the shore about an hour later and after
many

of the surfers had gone home.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Smith, 58, is survived by three daughters.

Playa Guiones is one of the principal beaches in the vicinity of Nosara. It

is known to be in an area where many foreigners live. The beach is on the

west shore of the Nicoya Peninsula.


Man breaks both feet in waterfall accident

A U.S. citizen suffered serious injuries when he attempted to jump from a

waterfall in San Isidro de El General. The incident ocurred Saturday about

10:30 a.m.

The injured man, Richard Saint Roman, 25, from Panama City, Fla., had
arrived

in Costa Rica Nov. 8 on vacation. He went on a horseback tour to the

waterfall Nahuyaca with some friends.

Roman attempted to jump from the waterfall and slipped. He said he broke
both

his feet, two ribs and sprained his wrist in the fall. " I don't really

remember much, it all happened very quickly," Roman said from his hospital

bed in San Isidro.

Roman is in Hospital Escalante Pradilla but will be transferred soon to

Hospital Cima in Escazú. He said that he has not been told by doctors how

long it will take for him to recover.


Delta adds new flights connecting with Atlanta

Delta Air Lines said it will be increasing the number of flights scheduled
to

Costa Rica due to the growing popularity of Costa Rica as a tourist resort.

An additional daily service will begin between Atlanta and San José Dec. 18.

This flight will offer a 9 a.m. departure from San José and a 6:15 p.m.

return flight from Atlanta. The aircraft is a Boeing 757 with the capacity
to

transport 183 passengers.

"Delta Air Lines will continue to offer more to our customers, " said Jorge

Fernandez, vice president of the International relations at Delta Airlines.

" "Today we are responding to a high demand of flights to San José, with

additional services."

Delta Air Lines began operating direct flights to Costa Rica between Atlanta

and San Jose in 1998. Costa Rica began to expand its tourism base, and as a

consequence Delta Air Lines increased its services. It became the first

international airline to offer a permanent service to Daniel Oduber

International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. Delta Airlines is now offering

six weekly flights from Atlanta to San José.

As of Dec. 18, Delta will depart Juan Santamaría Airport at 9 a.m. and
arrive

in Atlanta at 2:02 p.m. and at 3:00 p.m. with an arrival at 8:01 p.m.

Flights will leave Atlanta daily at 10:13 a.m. and arrive at Juan Santamaría

Airport at 1:17 p.m. and at 6:15 p.m. with a 9:21 p.m. arrival here. All

times are local.


*Quake toll $2.9 million

The toll for Saturday's earthquake near Quepos is at least 1.3 billion
colons

in housing alone, officials said Monday. That's about $2.9 million.

Some 132 homes were destroyed, and 94 were in the Parrita-Quepos area,

officials said. The rest were scattered through Puriscal, Terrazú,

Alajuelita, Vásques de Coronado, Desamparados and León Cortés, said Luis

Diego Morales at a press conference.

Morales is president of the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y

Atención de Emergencias. He also listed 27 points of damage in roads and

highways and seven educational centers with damage, including ones in
Escazú,

Acosta, Aserrí and in the earthquake zone.


*Not only is there lots of art, but train rides, too

This year's Festival Internacional de las Artes is concentrated at the

Estación al Pacifico, the old train station that is so much part of Costa

Rican history.

Surrounded by old rail cars and locomotives, visitors will find booths, art

objects for sale and handicraft.

Earlier this station was the main transportation point for the exportation
to

Europe and North America of what we know today as golden grain or coffee. It

is at Avenida 20 at Calle 2, just eight blocks south of Parque Central.

This belle époque structure helped open the doors to the exportation of many

Costa Rican products, including the bananas, which quickly developed another

important age for the Costa Rican economy.

Inside one senses the golden age of rail when trains ran from the Caribbean

to the Pacific. Today a visitor will find handcraft from all over Latin

America and Europe. Also many other art forms are represented, including

music, theater and dance.

The arts festival runs through Saturday with handfuls of events each day,

ranging from art presentations to movies to forums on art topics. Events are

all over town, but the station is the headquarters.


*Country's Hotels 100% Booked For Upcoming Holiday Season

Costa Rica's 17,000 hotel rooms are completely booked for the Christmas and

New Year's holidays because of a considerable increase in foreign tourism

here, according to official sources.

The Costa Rican Hotel Chamber announced that visitors began making

reservations two months ago and there is practically no room left in the

country's 400 hotels during the entire week after Dec. 25.

The government and business sector estimate the number of visitors during

2004 will be close to 1.5 million, an increase of 25% compared to the

previous year.

Approximately 60% of tourists in Costa Rica come from the United States ,

Canada and Mexico . Another 200,000 tourists came to Costa Rica from Europe

in 2003, and that number is expected to rise by 30% to 250,000 in 2004.

Tourism became Costa Rica 's principal economic activity during the past

decade, when the country began a successful public-relations campaign based

on ecotourism, taking advantage of its many national parks and biological

reserves.

According to environmental organizations, that tourism model is threatened
by

the increased numbers of hotel chains that have opened in recent years and

specialize in mass "sun-and-sand" tourism, which they say is incompatible

with conservation efforts.


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