Today's Stories: • Adrian Bell Killed by Car • Man Arrested For Underage Sex • More than 200.000 to be Vaccinated • Indian, Latin American Groups Share Prize • Honduras to withdraw troops from Iraq • Brazilian president praises cooperation with China • Cuba criticizes US for human rights abuses at Guantanamo • Venezuela slams US senator over attack on Chavez   Some 7.000 will be vaccinated this year.

Mr. Bell was known to many for his love of walking. He could be spotted walking to just about everywhere on streets of San José and lately in Escazú.

Adrian was very visible with his long while hair and beard. He always dressed elegantly.

Some who were fortunate to have known him, described Adrian as a kind and gentle man.

We last saw Mr. Bell walking in the Multiplaza Escazú mall. It had been our intention to actually meet the man. We lost him in a crowd that day.

By ROBERT NOLTE, Hernando Today, Brooksville, Florida
Mr. Bell was the son of Adrian Bell Sr., who died about 10 years ago after a successful career in central Florida's citrus industry.

The Bell Citrus Company was known throughout the region as a successful operator of citrus groves when the industry thrived in Hernando County.

Adrian Jr. served as a one-term county commissioner in the 1970s and made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Congress in 1978. He ran as a Democrat and was defeated in a primary election.

At 25, he was elected to the county board and was the youngest person to serve on such a panel at that time. He was elected as its chairman in 1975. The same year he was voted to serve as the county's representative to the Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council.

Mr. Bell served as president of the Bell Citrus Company for 20 years.

"He remained actively involved in the decision-making and management of the business until his death," according to a statement issued by the family Monday.
Bruce Snow, a local attorney and one of his many friends, described Mr. Bell yesterday as the "protypical southern gentleman who parlayed those qualities into local government."

Snow said Mr. Bell had a "great love and fondness for politics but also valued loyalty and friendship."

According to Snow, Mr. Bell loved Costa Rica and made many trips there over the past 30 years.

In a 1986 feature story in The Tampa Tribune about Mr. Bell, Snow recalled his old friend with fondness.

"Adrian would strike the traditional Southern pose when he was having his picture taken, with his jaw out and his hands holding the lapel of his jacket," said Snow. "Bell's speech was steeped in Southern tradition and no cuss word was ever heard to pass from his lips."

County Commissioner Henry Ledbetter remembers Mr. Bell as "extremely polite.
"It must have been that old Southern gentleman training he had," said Ledbetter. "He also had an unusual ability to remember names -- one of the best I've ever seen."
Mr. Bell was a graduate of Hernando High School in Brooksville and a 1972 graduate of St. Leo University in Pasco County where he earned a degree in political science. He was also a member of the Sertoma Club and served on the board of directors of the Florida Citrus Mutual and St. Leo University.

He is survived by his two children and many family members. Funeral arrangements are pending, but the family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the First United Methodist Church of Brooksville, Florida or the charity of the donor's choice.

Man Arrested For Underage Sex
A 53 year of man identified only by his last name of Castro, was detained yesterday by members of the Unidad contra la Explotación Sexual (UCES), which is part Ministerio de Seguridad Pública.

Police say the man is suspected of attempting to buy the sexual favour of a 16 year old girl for only ¢500 colones (US$1.15 at the current exchange rate).

Supposedly, Castro approached the young girl in the neighbourhood of San Sebastian, south of San José, the areas where the girl was accustomed to begging.
 

More than 200.000 to be Vaccinated
As part of a campaign for all of North America, this Saturday will begin the vaccination of more than 200.000 people in Costa Rica.

Health coordinator Hugo Arguedas Jiménez, confirmed that Costa Rica will participate in a program by Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS), in which more than four million children under the age 5 and 3.1 million adults will vaccinated in Central America and the Caribbean.

In Costa Rica, it is estimated that about 7.000 children and 200.000 adults, including pregnant women, will be vaccinated. Emphasis will be in the areas of Tarrazú, Limon, Coto Brus and Golfito.
 

Indian, Latin American Groups Share Prize
Two educational institutions that train people in India and Latin America to be environmental stewards will share the 2004 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, University of Southern California officials said Monday.

India's Barefoot College and the Red Latinoamericana de Botanica, a consortium active in six Latin American countries, will split the $200,000 prize, awarded annually by USC to individuals or groups associated with significant environmental accomplishments. The prize, which includes a gold medal, was created in 1973.

Barefoot College works to enhance the quality of life for the rural poor of India by providing education in animal husbandry, alternative power generation and health care, according to USC.

The Red Latinoamericana de Botanica, also known as the Latin American Plant Sciences Network, is a consortium of six graduate training centers located in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela. It provide graduate-level training in the plant sciences, including ecology, to students throughout Latin America.

Bunker Roy, founder and director of Barefoot College, and Osvaldo Sala, president of Red Latinoamericana de Botanica, are expected to accept the awards, USC said.




 

Honduras to withdraw troops from Iraq
Honduras decided Monday to pull its troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, one day after Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered his country's soldiers to return home.

Honduran President Ricardo Maduro announced late Monday that the 370 soldiers in Iraq would be withdrawn from the war-torn country.

He said in a television and radio address that the pullout would be carried out in the shortest possible time and under the condition that the safety of the troops is guaranteed.

The soldiers were sent to Iraq last summer, responsible for clearing mines and providing medical care in central Iraq.
 

Brazilian president praises cooperation with China
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that his country's relations with China are in the best period and cover the areas of politics, economy, science and technology and culture.

During a meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu, Lula said his government has paid high attention to developing strategic partnership with China and the two countries are playing crucial and positive roles in promoting democracy in international relations.

He said he expects to visit China soon and hopes Brazilian-Chinese relations can develop more rapidly.

Hui told the president that said since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 30 years ago, bilateral relations have developed smoothly, particularly since the 1990s.

During the talks, Hui thanked the Brazilian government to sticking to the "one China" policy" and for its firm opposition to Taiwan's independence.

On the same day, Hui also held talks with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, stressing that the two countries should enhance exchanges and work together to contribute to world peace and prosperity.
 

Cuba criticizes US for human rights abuses at Guantanamo
Cuba has tabled a draft resolution at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission, claiming widespread human rights abuses by the United States against detainees at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba, the official newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported on Monday.

The report quoted Cuban delegate Juan Antonio Fernandez as saying the country has the authority to present the US government as a violator of these rights.

The draft resolution will be put to the vote on Wednesday.

Cuba has repeatedly demanded a US withdrawal from the Guantanamo base, but Washington refuses to do so.

The United States is holding more than 600 prisoners of 40 nationalities in the Guantanamo base, all arrested in its anti-terror effort launched in 2001 in Afghanistan.

Some human rights groups said prisoners in Guantanamo suffer absolute reclusion and severe physical ill-treatment and they are subjected to endless interrogations.

Cuba has tabled 13 draft resolutions at the UN Human Rights Commission and several were adopted.

Last Thursday, the UN human rights watchdog narrowly passed a Honduras-sponsored resolution criticizing Cuba.

The resolution, adopted by 22 votes to 21, with 10 abstentions, said Cuba "should refrain from adopting measures which could jeopardize the fundamental rights, the freedom of expression and the right to due process of its citizens."
 

Venezuela slams US senator over attack on Chavez
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel on Monday slammed US Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who branded Hugo Chavez's government as "hostile and unfriendly."

Nelson, who visited Venezuela last week, said the United States had to view Chavez's government as hostile for having alleged ties with Colombian guerrillas.

The US senator said he got this information from "intelligence agencies."

As regards this allegation, Rangel questioned the credibility of the US intelligence agencies, saying: "They were the same that did not manage to detect the mortal attack against the Twin Towers in New York City, and were the same that made up the fantasies over the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

Rangel added they should "apply a lie detector to all the visitors to the country" to avoid new comments like Nelson's, because "it must not be played with Venezuela's name."

President Chavez accuses the United States of backing opposition attempts to end his rule in the oil-rich country.