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Alleged Ex-Nazi
Dies Awaiting Extradition
A Ukranian-born
man accused of killing Jews in Nazi territory during
World War II has died in Costa Rica while awaiting
extradition.
Bodan Kosic, 80, had been hospitalized with a stroke
on Wednesday just as officials were preparing to
extradite him to Poland for trial on alleged crimes
against humanity.
Bogdan Kozic, 81, died shortly
after midnight in hospital.
He had suffered a stroke
last week.
Hospital officials confirmed the death, which was
also reported by the local press.
The Polish Embassy requested Kosic's extradition
last week.
The Simon Wiesenthal
Center said Kozic, suspected of killing a 4-year-old
girl and participating in the slaying of a whole
family in 1943, should have faced a judge a long
time ago.
''The fact that Bogdan
Kozic died before he could be tried on criminal
charges for his Holocaust crimes is undoubtedly a
travesty of justice,'' the Los Angeles-based
center's chief Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff said in a
statement.
The Wiesenthal Center
said it was satisfied ''that his heinous crimes were
fully publicized and that he died notorious for the
murders he committed.''
He had lived in Costa Rica for 20 years after he was
expelled from the United States for lying about his
identity. The former Nazi left Europe after the end
of the war and went to the United States. His
residency was canceled after living in the U.S. for
27 years, when his Nazi past was uncovered.
In Poland, he is known as Bogdan Koziy and his name is spelled several
ways in legal documents.
The New York-based World Jewish Congress and the
Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
repeatedly urged Costa Rica to expel Kosic, saying
he was part of a Ukrainian police unit that operated
under Nazi orders from 1942-44.
For the first, all government branches will pay the
Christmas Bonus or "Aguinaldo" in one lump sum, as
well as some of the pension funds.
More than
40.000.000 Colones Will Hit The Streets This Week
The Aguinaldo
is equivalent to one month's pay that is due to all
employees and is paid between December 1 and 15.
This year, the government has announced that it will
pay the Aguinaldo to all public employees on
December 5.
The Ministry of Public Security has announced that
there will be extra police on the streets for the
month of December to ensure public security,
especially at ATM machines, as most employees are
paid by direct deposit.
Rogelio Ramos, Minister of Public Security, has
assured that there will be more than 10.000 police
on the streets of Costa Rica to ensure a safe
Christmas season.
America West and
Air Canada Begin New Service To Costa Rica
More than one
million tourists visit Costa Rica each year, making
it a leading eco-tourism and adventure travel
destination.
Starting today, America West Airlines will provide
daily nonstop roundtrip service between Phoenix and
San Jose.
Air Canada began it's first service to San José on
Monday, with service three days a week. Air Canada
will also expand it's service to Santiago, Chile and
Havana, Cuba.
"America West is pleased to offer customers this
luxurious tropical destination that offers the best
of Costa Rica's Caribbean and Pacific coasts," said
C.A. Howlett, senior vice president, public affairs.
"For both the adventurous outdoors type and those
seeking luxurious seclusion, America West Vacations
offers 23 hotels and resorts in Costa Rica located
throughout all major tourist areas."
America West Vacations and its partner Swiss Tours
also offer a variety of activities including some of
the most exciting tours in the world: tropical
rainforest tours by boat, day or nighttime viewing
of the active Arenal Volcano, horseback riding,
national park excursions and rainforest canopy
rides.
Air Canada said demand for its services to the
Caribbean and Latin America increased by 16.4 per
cent in September and October over the same two
months in 2002, and by 25.7 per cent in the South
Pacific.
Montie Brewer, executive vice president, commercial,
said Air Canada is taking advantage of recent
changes to U.S. government laws that oblige
non-American travelers going though U.S. hubs to
have visas.
Central America
Has Highest AIDS Rate in Latin America
Belize,
Honduras, Panama and Guatemala are four of the
six Central American countries with the
highest AIDS rate in Latin America, Jane
Armitage, director of the World Bank for
Central America, has said.
Armitage was quoted on Monday by local press
as saying that the epidemic in Central America
is worsening day by day.
He said in Honduras alone, at least 13,500
children became orphans because of the
disease, which is now the second major cause
of death, only after street violence.
Honduras has the highest percentage of AIDS
cases in Central America, accounting for
nearly 60 percent of the total.
At least 19,200 people in Honduras have died
of AIDS since 1985,and it is estimated that
some 27,000 children and teenagers will be
infected with the deadly virus by 2005.
In Costa Rica, the epidemic rate is 0.6
percent in the adult group. Since 1983, 2,500
AIDS cases have been reported and 1,500
individuals have died of the disease.
There have been no new figures on AIDS since
July 2002, and the local health authorities
admitted that there were indeed many
weaknesses in Costa Rica's AIDS prevention
efforts.
On Monday, Costa Rica marked the World AIDS
Day by carrying out a series of activities
that included academic conferences, mass
rallies and a march to raise awareness about
the virus.
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Venezuela reports
30,000 AIDS cases
Venezuela has 30,000
AIDS cases in the country, its Health and Social
Development Ministry reported on Monday, World AIDS
Day.
In addition, 300,000 people are infected by the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and were yet to
develop the disease, the ministry was quoted as
saying by Venpres, the state-run news agency.
Deisy Matos, the coordinator of the National Program
Against AIDS, indicated that 80 percent of the
patients were men, aged 15 to 45.
Jacobo Mora, the vice health minister, said that
from next year,in a bid to increase and improve the
survival quality of the patients, the ministry would
be in charge of distributing medicine to the
patients, on which 30 million US dollars will be
spent.
The ministry would also step up AIDS prevention
campaigns and start related education in school.
Mexican president
remains popular, acceptable to people: polls
Mexican President
Vicente Fox has maintained an acceptable popularity
despite a drop of the approval rating from 70
percent to 58 percent, according to opinion polls
released on Monday.
The polls conducted by Mexico's two local dailies
Reforma and El Universal showed Fox has basically
remained popular among the people in spite of his
failure to fulfill his electoral promises.
According to the survey of Reforma, Fox, who took
office in December 2000, lost some credibility
scores. A total of 45 percent of the respondents
"believe in him," compared with 51 percent who
believe "a little or nothing."
Nonetheless, 56 percent of those polled think Fox is
still perceived as an honest person, while 15
percent think to the contrary.
On the other hand, the El Universal poll showed 50
percent of those polled think the country is
"stranded," 19 percent said there is a "backward
movement" and 27 percent think "there is progress."
Fox, of the National Action Party (PAN), won the
presidential election in 2000, emphatically putting
an end to the 71-year one-party rule headed by the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
The unemployment rate in Mexico reached its top
level at the end of this year, and the stagnation
showed no signs of improvement next year.
US to build anti-drug
coordination center in Peru
The United States plans
to build an anti-drug coordination center next month
in the Peruvian Amazon in a bid to crack down on
illegal plant growing and drug smuggling in the
area, Peru's official Andina news agency reported on
Sunday.
The central base will serve as "the axis" for
regional operations, supporting air, naval and river
forces in the fight against drug traffickers, and
details are under final negotiations by the two
countries, the agency said, citing a spokesman of
the US Embassy in Lima.
Analysts said the move will renew US surveillance
flight over the Peruvian Amazon, following a
33-month suspension of such flights.
Washington suspended its support for such flights in
April 2001after a Peruvian military plane
accidentally shot down a small plane carrying US
missionaries, who had been mistaken for drug
traffickers.
Increasing drug trafficking has turned Peru into a
stronghold of illegal drug processing and dealing in
South America. Drug traffickers are equipped with
satellite communicating facilities, grow thousands
of hectares of Coca, marijuana and opium, and have
built drug refineries, and even airports for landing
small-sized aircraft hidden in the jungle.
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