Archive for December 10th, 2009
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Costa Rican health authorities confirmed the death of former Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo Odio, who was in a critical condition after having undergone heart surgery, on Wednesday.
Carazo, 83, died on Wednesday at about 1:30 p.m. in San José’s public hospital, Hospital México, where he had been hospitalized for more than a week.
He was brought to the hospital on Nov. 27 after suffering a heart attack. Doctors considered his health condition “stable” during his last days. In spite of this, Carazo’s health worsened on Wednesday morning.
According to medical authorities, during his last hours Carazo received “vital support to aid his heart, lung and kidney functions, because those organs presented problems.”
The charismatic Carazo Odio governed Costa Rica from 1978 to 1982.
He was viewed as a supporter of the Sandinista revolution that toppled dictator Anastasio Somoza in neighboring Nicaragua in 1979. He opposed a free trade agreement with the United States approved in 2007.
But he also broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1981, ties that were not revived until last March.
Carazo also served on the board of directors of the del Banco Central (Central Bank), president of the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) and general manager of the Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo (INVU).
Carazo Odio is survived by his wife, Estrella Zeledon Lizano, and four children.
Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, called for a three day period of national mourning for the country.
Funeral arrangements today include a private mass for the family in Escazú, after which the body will be on public display at the Legislative Assembly from 12pm to 2:30pm, followed by a state funeral mass at the Catedral Metropolitana at 3:30pm.
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Saturday evening San José comes to life with the traditional annual “Festival de la Luz” (Light Festival), perhaps the most popular and most attended of all festivals of the year.
For 2009 the major concern, aside from providing security for the some 1 million plus expected to attend the event, is precaution for the spread of the AH1N1 virus although cases of the virus have dropped since the first wave to hit Costa Rica, health officials are on guard for the coming of the second wave that is expected this month.
Another major change this year is a “zero tolerance” to alcohol use.
Jorge Villalobos, coordinator of the Festival de la Luz, said that for the first time in history the Municipalidad de San José will not tolerate the consumption of alcohol on the streets, as has been a tradition of the past. Villalobos explained that excempt from the zero tolerance are licensed restaurants that have outdoor patios or balconies.
The Festival de la Luz starts at dusk on Saturday when the floats and enteratiners will head off from the Christmas tree on the east side of the Sabana park, move along Paseo Colón, onto Avenida Segunda and end at the Plaza de la Democracia.
Villalobos said that the fireworks show, a major activity at the start of the festival, is still on hold, waiting permission from the ministerio de Salud. Villalobos explained that Salud officials are still reviewing the permit application and sees no reason why it would be denied.
For his part, San José mayor, Johnny Araya, said that the AH1N1 is a concern but there is no call for alarm, confident that the advice of the ministerio de Salud is sufficient to protect the public.
As to the alcohol ban, Araya was clear that it hurts no one, the festival is a family affair and there is no place for drinking in the streets.
More than 1.600 police officers will be on hand along the parade route, plus 150 Tránsito (traffic) officials to control traffic.
Some of the companies entering floats in the parade are Más X Menos, Florida Bebidas (Cerveceria), BCR, ICT, Coca Cola and Recope.
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
December 21 is the date the Banco Popular has chosen to have all its customers have their account information update or face suspension of the account, including turning off credit cards.
Geovanny Garro, manager of business for the state bank, said the bank will be taking a hard line against customers have not updated their information, that could result in the closure of the account in some cases.
Customers of banks in Costa Rica – state and private – are required under Ley 8204 to update their account information and “justify” the source of funds in their accounts.
The banks are required to ask their customers the origin of their funds on deposit or future deposits to comply with the law.
Banks are asking for their customers to provide proof of residence, including the rental contract for renters, a financial statement by a certified public accountant if they are self or not employed and detailed and specific explanation of the source of their income.
In the case of corporate accounts, a copy of the corporate ID and authorization is required.
Although the Banco Popular is the only bank to set a specific date or else, other banks are expected to follow suit as they comply with the law “Legitimación de Capitales” in an attempt to curb money laundering from drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
José Ricardo Miranda Rojas did not have a good day yesterday. Miranda Rojas, who is accused of raping and killing three year old Katherine Anielka Gaitán Chavarría, was severely attacked by inmates of the San Sebastián prison shortly after arriving in the San José jail following his court appearance.
Miranda Rojas has to be moved to the maximum security section of the La Reforma prison, in San Rafael de Alajuela, for his own safety.
San Sebastián jail officials told the press that when the man arrived at “San Sebas” (the popular name for the jail), we was met with punches and attempts to kill him, rescued from the jail guards.
The Juzgado Penal de San Carlos placed Miranda Rojas under three month preventive detention after being detained by police on Tuesday. The man is charged with murder and rape of the little girl who was kidnapped from her parent’s home on Sunday and found, face down and partially naked, in the creek some 500 metres from the family’s home in Río Cuarto de Grecia.
Miranda Rojas has a criminal history, being released from prison only a year a go for setting fire to his parent’s home in Limón, as well as a record of rape against a maid working in his sister’s home.
Francisco Segura, sub-director of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), said they have their man but have to wait for the final analysis of the evidence to proceed with certainty.
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
An investment fund manager from Tennessee drew a 14-year prison sentence Wednesday in a $33 million Ponzi scheme that cheated more than two dozen investors in the United States, Germany and Costa Rica.
Paul Knight, one of four people convicted of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges, also was ordered to make restitution to victims of the two-year scam. At least $13.6 million has not been returned to investors defrauded between July 1999 to July 2001, prosecutors say.
Knight, 61, an unregistered broker in Kodak, Tenn., was accused of helping solicit money from 27 people by promoting a secret “high-yield investment program” involving the world’s largest banks. The scheme falsely promised investors extraordinarily high rates of return — some as high as 30 percent a week.
Knight arrived in court Wednesday in a wheelchair. Doctors say he has diabetes, depression and other ailments.
He said he doesn’t remember his trial and “very little about the case so there’s very little I could say.”
When he told the judge he has devoted his last 40 years to “teaching about the love and light of God,” the judge said the claim seemed inconsistent.
“Something doesn’t connect,” U.S. District Judge Charles Siragusa said.
As much as $20 million was returned to investors who complained about their losses or threatened legal action, while others were lulled by false promises and threats of $5 million forfeitures into maintaining their investments and agreeing not to contact authorities, prosecutors say.
“Investors placed their trust in Mr. Knight to properly manage their assets and … that did not remotely occur,” Siragusa said.
Some victims lost their entire life savings, including a commercial landscaper in the Rochester suburb of Hilton who had to rebuild his business from scratch at age 67. Two resided in Germany and Costa Rica and others lived in New York, Florida, Mississippi, Oregon, Michigan, Oklahoma, California and Washington state.
The defense maintained Knight made less than $160,000 from the scheme in contrast to $4.9 million that authorities traced to Gail Eldridge of Marietta, Ga. The two were convicted in October 2008 along with John Montana of New York. Melvyn Lyttle of Aurora, Ill., was convicted in September.
Eldridge drew a 20-year sentence last month. Montana is to be sentenced Friday. Lyttle’s sentencing next week has been postponed. Lyttle had argued that he was mentally and medically unfit to stand trial, but prison doctors said he was faking, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Tyler said in an interview.
Knight faced up to 27 years in prison. Under his sentence Wednesday, he could be released in 2021 at age 73.
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said that its sale of third generation lines is proceeding normally. The report contradicts unofficial observations that the sale of the new, high-performance lines are slow.
The company started the sales Monday, and said Tuesday that 2,377 customers had made application for the service. This included 666 who wanted a new line and 1,711 customers who are seeking to migrate from the older TDMA technology to the state-of-the-art third generation. The new phones are supposed to receive Internet, television and play movies, depending on what type of handset the customer has.
TDMA customers who migrate to the new system can keep their old phone number, the company said.
The company, the former state monopoly, soon will be facing private competition, and some residents might be holding out to see what newcomers offer. In addition there is a suspicion of new services from the company because in the past there was been rough break-in periods.
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