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The Search for a
New General Prosecutor
At a moment
when the Ministerio Público (Public Ministry) is
submerged in internal struggles, labour
insecurities, excessive work, budgetary problems and
a thirst for a leader with legal and human clarity,
the magistrates have begun to design a very strict
profile of the new General Prosecutor of the
Republic.
The position is now vacant and the organization
remains without a head as of last Wednesday, when
Carlos Arias Núñez, retired from the post.
In his place, Jorge Segura, is temporarily filling
in.
The person to fill the position will have the
challenge of re-organization the office, solve the
problem that of the 330 prosecutors, 280 are only
there temporarily and to define a clear and concise
policy on criminal prosecution.
According to Magistrate of the Third Court (Sala
III), Daniel González, says that the new
General Prosecutor must be independent and not be
influenced by the press or politicians.
Simón Angulo, president of the Association of
Public Prosecutors, says that " the Public
Ministry needs major surgery and the new person
needs to know the problems and how to resolved
them."
Some of the challenges facing the new General
Prosecutor are the current problems of campaign
donations to the political parties, the financial
entities like that of Enrieu Villalobos (the
Brothers), the unsolved murder of Parmenio Medina,
trafficking of minors and the escape from justice of
the Chilean brothers José Luis y Mariano López Gómez
(accused of difrauding investors of the Banco
Anglo).
Harken Oil
Drops Claim Against Costa Rica
An oil
company has dropped a multi-billion dollar claim against the Costa Rican government but will continue to pursue compensation for a canceled offshore oil project, Costa Rica's Environment Department confirmed Saturday.
Harken Costa Rica Holdings won concession rights in 1998 to explore for oil off the coast of Limon, 100 miles (160 kms) east of the capital, San Jose. But the Costa Rica Environment Department in 2002 denied the company's request to search for oil off the country's Caribbean coast, saying the plan wasn't "environmentally viable."
Harken Costa Rica Holdings later sought US$57 billion in compensation from Costa Rica through the World Banks' International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Houston-based Harken Energy Corporation, which had invested in Harken Costa Rica Holdings, later announced it was pulling out of the project because of problems getting work approved.
Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco called Harken's decision to drop its claim a "triumph of reason and justice." Pacheco has been an outspoken opponent of oil exploration in this tourism-dependent Central American country.
"We're open to foreign investment but we haven't put our institutions nor our national patrimony up for public auction," Pacheco said.
Harken Costa Rica Holdings called its withdrawal of the claim an "act of good faith," in a letter to the Costa Rican government.
The Environment Department published on Saturday excerpts of the letter by Harken Costa Rica Holdings President Brent Abadie indicating that Harken will seek a direct agreement with the Costa Rican government on the matter. Harken representatives could not be reached for comment Saturday.
"It's our hope that this act will result in new negotiations between the company and the government that comply with the political goals of President Pacheco and at the same time respect the rights of Harken," the letter stated.
The letter indicated that the oil company's goal is still to receive compensation or reactivate the oil exploration project.
UN
Anti-Cloning Treaty Seen Heading for Collapse
UNITED NATIONS
(Reuters) - A U.N. drive for a global ban on human
cloning appeared headed for collapse on Friday after
drafters deadlocked over whether to push for the
total ban backed by the United States or a partial
ban exempting scientific research on stem cells.
The deadlock surfaced
during a weeklong meeting of a U.N. General Assembly
working group convened to lay the groundwork for the
treaty to be drafted.
During the week,
governments divided into two blocs and acknowledged
their differences probably could not be resolved,
diplomats told Reuters. A final decision on the next
steps will be up to the General Assembly's legal
committee, which has set no date for a ruling on the
matter.
A group of some 40
nations, led by Costa Rica and the United States and
assembled with the help of U.S.-based anti-abortion
groups, insisted on a treaty banning both the
cloning of humans and "therapeutic" or
"experimental" cloning, in which human
embryos are cloned for medical research aims.
A rival group of 14
governments, most of them European but also
including Japan, Brazil and South Africa, argued the
top priority should be to quickly ban the cloning of
humans, leaving it up to individual governments to
decide whether -- and if so, how -- to regulate
therapeutic cloning.
"Therapeutic
cloning is one of the technologies that we believe
has enormous promise," said Elizabeth Woodson
of Britain's Department of Health. "We are
looking to a future where cellular research will
lead to new treatments for a range of serious
diseases which affect many millions of people and
which are currently without a cure."
But Ann Corkery,
representing the United States, argued a treaty
allowing experimental cloning "would
essentially authorize the creation of a human embryo
for the purpose of killing it to extract stem cells,
thus elevating the value of research and
experimentation above that of a human life."
The General Assembly
first voted to draft a treaty against human cloning
two years ago, at the urging of France and Germany.
Those two countries had now backed away from the
campaign in light of the divisions, diplomats said.
Latin America's Population Ageing Quickly
The average age of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean will almost double between 1950 and 2050. In barely a century, rapid population changes will age the face of the continent and the region will face serious challenges to adapt to this new reality.
According to estimates from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC), the main increases in the average age will occur between 2000 and 2050, as it will go from 28 to 40 years during this period. Similarly, the population aged 60 years and over will more than triple during the same period, while the population under 15 years will drop from over 30% of the total to less than 20%.
These demographic changes are occurring more quickly than in Europe, a continent known for its rapid rate of ageing. Of even more concern is the fact that this is occurring at a time when Latin American countries have still not managed to eliminate poverty and do not have the institutions necessary to deal with these changes, in particular in terms of social protection.
A sharp drop in fertility and an increase in life expectancy are the main causes behind this process. This transformation is undoubtedly an unprecedented change in the region's history. This has given rise to considerable concern, because in those countries where ageing will occur most quickly, there is limited time to act and it is not possible to work from other regions' models because their economic and institutional conditions are so different.
Because of this, ECLAC considers a profound review of public policies vital to adjust them to a society composed of a falling proportion of young and ever more elderly people. This transformation will require reorganizing social service infrastructure (health care, education, housing and others) and reworking public functions, as well as a necessary change in attitudes to move toward societies without exclusion, that is, "societies for every age group."
To follow up on agreements from the Second World Assembly on Ageing (Madrid, 2002), the Government of Chile, through its national service for the elderly
(Servicio Nacional del Adulto Mayor, SENAMA), is organizing the Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing, Santiago 2003, with support from ECLAC and the Interagency Group on Ageing. This will take place at ECLAC's Santiago headquarters, from 19 to 21 November. Preparations include the publication of a monthly newsletter, entitled Santiago 2003, that will summarize the preparatory activities, both technical and logistical. s.
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Death toll from bomb attack in Colombia rises to 13
The death toll in the motorcycle bomb attack in southern Colombia last week rose to 13 on Saturday with the death of a teenager who was seriously injured in the attack, said government officials.
Clara Arias, 15, who had one leg amputated following the
attack, died on Saturday morning in a hospital of Florencia, the capital of Caqueta department.
The explosion took place at dawn on Sept. 28 in the Zona Rosa district in downtown Florencia, where there are many bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Florencia is about 380 km southwest ofthe Colombian capital
Bogota.
The motorcycle bomb was placed outside a crowded disco aimed
to cause the heaviest casualties, police said. Besides the dead, 54 people were injured in the attack and 19 of them were in serious conditions.
The attack was attributed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and was condemned by the governments of Colombia and other countries, as well as different international organizations.
The 17,000-strong FARC, the largest rebel group in Colombia, has been battling with government troops for nearly four decades. It is notorious for bombing, kidnapping and murder.
Tropical storm Larry brings heavy downpour, floods in Mexico
Tropical storm Larry advanced on Saturday with sustained gusts of wind toward southeast Gulf of Mexico, producing heavy rains and torrential floods in the region.
Meteorological experts forecast that the tropical storm could become intensified and touch down on Sunday morning.
The storm, at a speed of 95 kilometers per hour, extended
along the coastal region of the Gulf of Mexico, from Tuxpan to
Campeche. A storm and hurricane alert was announced in the region.
Several hundreds of people had to be moved to shelters and Health Ministry personnel were sent to take preventive measures against epidemic spreading among the people. 106 brigades were deployed at strategic spots with 2.5 tons of medicine and 1.5
tons of insecticides as well as vaccines to prevent diseases.
As a result of heavy rains and the effects of changing climate,there has been an outbreak of dengue fever in four states of the country. More than 3,000 cases of dengue fever were reported and seven of them died.
Luis Sardina, civil protection undersecretary of Veracruz,
said that in the past three days Larry was stationed off the coast of the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatan, killing at least 11 people and leaving many houses damaged and hundreds of people displaced.
Before Larry hit the country, Hurricane Marty bashed northwestern and central Mexico, killing 15 people and affecting more than 50,000.
Schwarzenegger launches counter-attacks on rivals
Hollywood actor-turned candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger continued to attack opponents Saturday, denouncing the latest sexual harassment accusations on him as part of his rivals' conspiracy to torpedo his campaign for Californian governor.
During a stop near Clovis on Day 3 of his bus trip across California, the Austrian-born candidate denied the sexual harassment accusations issued by five more women on Friday.
The women came out after the break of the Los Angeles Times story in which six women accused Schwarzenegger of fondling or grabbing their breasts in movie set or other occasions.
"The last accusations that I read today are absolutely untrue. They're trying to torpedo my campaign. They're trying to make me look bad out there so that people vote no," Schwarzenegger said.
"Why has this not come out before? Why have they not called me?If someone said this to me I would apologize immediately," he said.
On Thursday, Schwarzenegger apologized for having sometimes "behaved badly" toward women, saying he was just being playful.
He denounced on Friday the 11th hour accusations as part of
his rivals' conspiracy to smear him in order to prevent him from taking over the governor's office in the Oct. 7 vote.
The New York Times and ABC News also revealed Friday that Schwarzenegger said in a 1975 interview that he admired former Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, because Hitler rose to power from "a little man with almost no formal education." He reportedly said he wished he could have experienced the thrill Hitler must have had in speaking to huge audiences who agreed with everything he said.
Schwarzenegger on Friday denied the reports, saying he did not recall making any such comments. He said he despises everything Hitler stood for.
Meanwhile, Austrian gym owner Kurt Marnul said Saturday he did not believe that Schwarzenegger could have liked Hitler. Schwarzenegger began body-building training at Marnul's gym when he was 15 years old.
The Democratic National Committee issued a resolution
Saturday, urging Schwarzenegger to apologize for the alleged Hitler remarks.
Governor Gray Davis, target of the historic California recall campaign, warned voters Saturday that the election of Schwarzenegger who acknowledged mistreatment of women "is going
to distract the state from the work it has to do."
The new accusations against Schwarzenegger surfaced as the campaigning in the recall race reached its peak ahead of the Oct. 7 vote. Latest polls showed Schwarzenegger leading with 40
percent of support, against 32 percent for Democrat's leading candidate and Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.
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