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"Piratas" Sound the
War Drums
The Transit Police are doing their job, to keep order on the
order and fine those who commit infractions, including fining those who
provide illegal public transport services. The pirate taxis or "piratas"
keep on providing their services. The differences between the two have been
around for a long time.
Sunday, the piratas met in Moravia to discuss the latest government
sanctions and measures that they will employ in the coming day to pressure
the Transit police to back off.
The problem is a sensitive issue, more than ever now. According to the
non-legal taxi drivers, they provide a beneficial service for more than
75.000 families in Costa Rica. Services they are not taking away from the
regular or legal taxis, especially in low populated or mountainous areas
where legal taxis refuse to provide adequate service.
The coming days will be very decisive on this issue and an equitable
arrangement is sought, though given the past looks to be impossible.
Fishman Breaks His
Silence
After 21 months of silence, second vice-president, Luis Fishman Zonzinsky,
has decided to break the silence he has maintained during this time and will
be making regular comments on national issues, make recommendations and make
his opinions known. This he told recenlty the daily newspaper La Prensa
Libre.
Fishman explianed that his decision to break the silence came following
several meetings he had with different interest groups, who convinced him
that it was necessary that he make his voice heard.
Some of the issues that Fishman will be very vocal over will the recently
signed Free Trade Agreement (Tratado Libre de Comercio - "TLC" known
locally) with the United States and the current tax proposal the government
has tabled.
In reference to the TLC, he voiced that Costa Rica gave in to the interests
of the United States. The government gave in to financial and commercial
terms and that has stirred deep discussions that will take time before a
final vote can be had by the legislators.
He also says that he has had no contact with President Pacheco or persons
close to him, nor his decision to speak out is sancioned by the his
political party Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC).
Fishman told the newspaper that various social groups have been asking him
to make his voice known, that have nothing to do with politics. They
impressed on him that two years of silence is a long time and he should not
continue such.
Moreso, Fishman told La Prense Libre reporter, that he doesn't like the
direction the country is going and that in the two years Pacheco and his
administration have failed to direct this country,
Fishman was perhaps one of the closest allies of Pacheco prior to elections
and ran with Pacheco in the last elections as second vice-president, who
then was rejected by Pacheco in a few days following the first round of
presidential voting in 2002.
Under Costa Rican voting rules, Fishman could not be removed from the ballot
in the second round and with the win of the elections by Pacheco, Fishman
officially became second vice-president.
At the commencement of Pacheco's administration, Fishman was asked that he
resign himself from official government functions. Pacheco, on taking
office, refused to give Fishman any official role.
Notwithstanding, Fishman decided to remain in the vice-president spot which
was constititionally his right, however, decided to keep silent and never
made any "official" comments on government matters or national issues.
In the last two years, he has worked to help Costa Rican families in need
and help them solve problems they may have had with government agencies, all
from his office away from Presidential House.
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Casa Alianza Report Catapaults Actions Against Sexual Exploitation in
Honduras
In the last two weeks, 30 girls, victims of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC), have been rescued from taverns and brothels
in Honduras.
Three operatives have already been carried out by the Honduran authorities
after Casa Alianza Honduras submitted a report to the Attorney General this
past December of the results of a nation-wide investigation that identified
1,019 children who are being commercially sexually exploited, 979 of whom
were female.
The report by the Legal Aid Program of Casa Alianza revealed the existence
of ubiquitous centers for sexual exploitation of children that were
disguised as restaurants and bars in El Progreso and in cities in each
Department (State) of the country.
“One of the priorities for the Legal Aid Program is the defense of the
children exploited by commercial sexual exploitation and the rehabilitation
of the boys and girls who have fallen victim. We have conducted
investigations throughout the country to determine which routes the
traffickers use to exploit the children”, explained José Manuel Capellin,
National Director of Casa Alianza Honduras.
The Legal Aid Program of Honduras has just completed ten years of successful
work this month. The anniversary coincides with a series of operations that
the Honduran authorities have carried out, using the information that Casa
Alianza collected during six months of investigative work.
In late 2003, the Honduran authorities, with Casa Alianza’s support,
completed another operative in Guasaule, on the border between Honduras and
Nicaragua. Members of the Criminal Investigations Department and the Public
Prosecutor, amongst other institutions, were given the task of inspecting
the cabs of trucks parked near the border where they found several girls.
Then they went to a party that was being held in the town where they found
four Honduran girls between 13 and 15 being sexually exploited, along with
two other girls from Nicaragua. Close by in the town of “El Triunfo”, they
found three more girls at another party, and the police captured the two
women suspected of pimping young girls.
“We are beginning to see a positive reaction from the Honduran authorities
in favor of the victims of commercial sexual exploitation of the children of
this country”, expressed satisfactorily Bruce Harris, Regional Director for
Casa Alianza’s Latin American operations. “But there is still a long way to
go to pursue and detain those who are benefiting economically from the harm
committed against these boys and girls. But this is a good start.”
The very next day, after the public presentation of the sexual exploitation
investigation on December 16th, 2003, the authorities, accompanied by the
personnel of Casa Alianza, busted into four commercial establishments in
Tegucigalpa where children were being exploited.
In December, Casa Alianza opened a residential sanctuary for young girl
victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Tegucigalpa. Within one week it
was just about full. The home was inaugurated in the presence of Ricardo
Maduro, the President of Honduras, and the First Lady.
According to the only investigation that has quantified the numbers of
children victimized by CSEC, it is feared that there are close to 8,335
commercially sexually exploited children in Honduras, a country of barely 6
million people.
Casa Alianza is also currently carrying out investigations into nearly one
thousand brothels in Central America where children are being sexually
exploited. The agency is also implementing a project for the repatriation
and social reinsertion of victims of trafficking, thanks to funding from the
governments of Canada and the United States.
Peruvian
president reshuffles cabinet
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo unveiled here on Sunday his
fifth cabinet in 30 months in a move to put an end to the political crisis
and rebuild his credibility.
Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero told a news conference the names of the seven
new ministers, all politically independent.
In the new cabinet, only three ministers, including Ferrero, belong to
Toledo's party.
The president has brought back his first Economy and Finance Minister Pedro
Pablo Kuczynski, a US investment banker popular with Wall Street, aiming
apparently to maintain foreign investors' confidence.
It remained to be seen how much power Toledo would give Ferrero and his new
cabinet. Toledo's approval rating has fallen to only seven percent, the
lowest ever since according to recent polls.
Due to the unpopularity and lack of credibility, Toledo has undergone great
pressure to hand over daily governance to a politically independent cabinet.
The new cabinet is scheduled to take office on Monday in the Government
Palace.
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