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Fire Leaves 150
Homeless
León XIII was in the news again this week. Several units from the
Cuerpo de Bomberos - Fire Department - were on scene from midday yesterday
to battle a fire that broke out in the neighbourhood west of San José and
consume some 25 homes and leaving some 150 people homeless.
There were no reports of injuries despite the intensity of the fire and
smoke created. Despite that Firemen and Red Cross workers continued on the
scene last night fearing a report that a two children may have been trapped
in the fire, though this was not confirmed.
The cause of the fire is unknown and officials began their investigation.
Woman Murders Her Long Time Live-In Partner
A 39 year old man, identified as Mario Duarte Barrios, died yesterday when
his significant other attacked him with a hammer to the head.
The murder occurred sometime around Midnight on Thursday in the small
village known as López Mateos. Juanita Arias Maranto, who had lived for the
last 14 years with Duarte, a Dominican national is in police custody.
Puntarenas Heats Up
This is the last weekend of the Puntarenas
Festival and there is something for everyone. Police has stepped up security
in anticipation of the large amount of people expected to take in the last
days of the festival that includes concerts, dance, bulls, beauty contests
and much more.
The Fuerza Publica say they have some 700 officers on the scene and Transit
Police will be controlling and monitoring traffic.
They objective is for a peaceful and fun event for all.
Puntarenas is located west of San José. You can take the Highway General
Cañas that goes past the airport that will take you directly to Puntarenas.
Buses leave every 1/2 hour from the Barrio Los Angeles. The trip should take
about 2 hours from San José.
Bush Leads Trade Mission to Central America
Gov. Jeb Bush left for Central America on Friday, where he will spend
Valentine's Day with his wife Columba and then try to bring more business to
Florida.
Bush planned personal time with his wife Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday
before beginning a trade mission with a reception in Costa Rica on Sunday
night.
The weeklong trip will also make stops in Nicaragua, El Salvador and
Honduras. The Florida governor plans to meet with the presidents of each
country.
Bush will be joined by a delegation of business leaders.
"Trade between Florida and Central America currently reaches $11 billion per
year," Bush said. "It is critical we continue strengthening trade
partnerships with Central America in our effort to unite the economies of
the Western Hemisphere."
Since taking office, Bush has led trade missions to Canada, Spain, United
Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and the Dominican
Republic. More than 800 business leaders have joined those trips and expect
to generate more than $440 million in new business as a direct result,
according to Bush's office.
Last month, Bush traveled to Guatemala for President Oscar Berger's
inauguration.
American
Airlines Apologizes for Proselytizing Pilot
The head of American Airlines offered an apology for one of its
pilots asking passengers to discuss Christianity.
Gerard Arpey, chief executive of American's parent, AMR Corp., said in a
letter dated Wednesday and sent to the Anti-Defamation League that he wanted
to extend "my apologies to those who were offended by our employee's
remarks."
A pilot on American Flight 34 from Los Angeles to New York on Feb. 6 made an
announcement just after takeoff asking passengers on board who were
Christians to raise their hands, a spokesman with the airline said.
The pilot, who had recently returned from an evangelical Christian mission
in Costa Rica, then asked the other passengers to ask questions of those who
had raised their hands and identified themselves.
Some passengers complained to flight attendants about the announcement. A
few said they were worried about safety when the pilot asked them to openly
discuss religion.
Arpey said in his letter that the airline was conducting an investigation
and the pilot has not flown since the incident.
American has not named the pilot. The union for pilots at American said this
was an "isolated incident."
Arpey said American's policy is to "promote an environment of respect for
the diversity of all persons, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity,
disability, gender, age or sexual orientation."
A company spokesman said the results of the internal inquiry will likely not
be made public.
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Brazil announces huge aid for flood-hit areas
Brazilian National Integration Minister Ciro Gomes announced on
Friday the distribution of 339 million reales (116.8 million US dollars) for
reconstruction in cities hit by flood.
After meeting with President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in the Planalto
Palace, Gomes told reporters that 88 million reales were now available for
the reconstruction of the roads that were severely affected by the flood.
61 million reales would be used to reconstruct houses for people who lost
their properties while the rest would go to infrastructure works, Gomes
added.
Strong rainstorms have swept the country since last December, causing the
overflowing of rivers and consequent floods that claimed 161 lives and
displaced at least 230,000 people.
Gomes said 17 of Brazil's 26 states have been hit by the storms. Towns have
witnessed mudslides, and communication had been cut off when bridges and
roads collapsed or were flooded by rivers that ran over their banks.
Cautioning that the rains could bring about epidemics, the government has
moved to re supply medicine stocks.
UN
accuses Colombian paramilitary of breaking cease-fire accord
The far-right Colombian paramilitary rebels disobeyed the
cease-fire accord with the Colombian government, the UN delegation on human
rights said Friday.
"The cease-fire is not being respected. We have seen that in our trips to
the field," Michael Fruhling, representative of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, told the local TV channel Caracol.
Fruhling declared that the paramilitary rebels were responsible for the
recent "execution" of a human rights defender and her son in a rural area of
southwestern Colombia.
"The information gathered ... indicates that it (the band responsible for
the two homicides) was a group of paramilitaries belonging to the United
Self-Defense of Colombia (AUC)," said Fruhling.
The AUC, established in the 1980s by drug traffickers and land owners to
fight leftist guerrillas in areas where government troops exercise little
control, declared on Dec. 1, 2002 a unilateral cease-fire with the
government of President Alvaro Uribe to open peace negotiations.
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos admitted this week that
paramilitary rebels did not completely respect the cease-fire accord and
warned that they would consequently be staunchly pursued by government
troops.
The paramilitary's chief Carlos Castano declared in a recent interview that
his men were unable to fully comply with the unilateral end of hostilities
"because guerrilla combatants are still fighting."
The Organization of American States (OAS) agreed with the Colombian
government to form a verification mission to supervise the accords signed
last July with the AUC to demobilize 13,000 combatants by Dec. 31, 2005.
US
denies knowledge of al-Qaida operation in South America
he United States declared Friday that it lacks information about
an alleged plan masterminded by al-Qaida and Hezbollah to attack Jewish
targets in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.
Reports from Washington said that the US State Department stated in a
communique that it has only detected fund collection for Islamic groups in
the region of the so-called Triple Border between Paraguay, Brazil and
Argentina.
The communique said: "Those who support terrorism in the region of the
Triple Border mostly gather funds for Hezbollah and Hamas, "two radical
militant groups in the Middle East.
"The region of the Triple Border has long been a place of interest to the
United States and we have begun bilateral and multilateral initiatives to
find out the true nature of the threat and to prepare the most adequate
anti-terror measures," it added.
However, it denied that the United States had information about the presence
of al-Qaida in the Triple Border or an Islamic terrorist plan in the region.
The US State Department praised what it described as "anti-terror progress"
achieved by Latin America in 2003.
The United States said it had held talks with Argentina, Brazil and
Paraguay, known as "Anti-Terror Dialogue 3 plus 1." The most recent talks
took place in December 2003 in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay.
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