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Quack Found In Costa Rica
The quack cosmetic surgeon wanted for the death of a Manhattan banker found
entombed under concrete at his New Jersey home has been spotted in Costa
Rica, a law-enforcement source said yesterday.
Dean Faiello, 44, was seen in Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, on Friday. He
may be plying his phony profession in Costa Rica - a magnet for thousands of
Americans because plastic surgery is cheap and easy to get, the
law-enforcement source said.
"From what we understand, he is out in the open, he is
not hiding," said the source, who declined to reveal what Faiello was
doing when he was identified.
The source also said investigators believe Faiello has at least $100,000
in cash at his disposal - mostly from the sale of the Newark home where
financial consultant Maria Cruz, 35, was found buried Wednesday.
The scammer surgeon was busted in New York last year for performing
laser surgery with no license but jumped bail and fled in September to
Costa Rica, a known haven for American doctors thanks to its booming
beauty industry. |
Danny Faiello wanted in the
U.S. was spotted in Costa Rica! |
Costa Rican authorities have no record of him leaving the country since
then.
The search for Faiello heated up last week after cops found Cruz's body.
Cops believe Cruz died during a botched operation on her tongue performed by
Faiello in May. Authorities said he brazenly continued to practice his
illegal trade in a new location in Manhattan after he was busted for posing
as a doctor.
Costa Rica's beauty industry boasts hundreds of clinics and private
practices, offering nips, tucks, dental and dermatological work for a third
of the price in the United States.
Medical experts fear that any difficulty in communication between the two
countries could make it possible for Faiello to obtain a license to continue
practicing there.
"The people in Costa Rica wouldn't just issue anyone a license because they
want to promote quality care," said Dr. Paul Carniol, a veteran New Jersey
plastic surgeon.
"But if all the facts weren't communicated to them, then it might be
possible that a license would be issued."
Efforts to hunt down and extradite him from Costa Rica are now under way,
according to New York, law-enforcement sources.
Costa
Ricans Look for Refuge in Canada
Each year, many Costa Ricans scrape enough money together to buy passage to
Canada, which is often used a stepping stone to enter the United States.
Canada does not require visas for Ticos who wish to visit Canada for a
period of time. However, many, once in Canada, find a way to cross any one
of the many borders that join Canada and the U.S.
In 2002, according to public figures available, there were 1.535 application
by Ticos for refuge in Canada, of which only 26 cases where approved. Last
year, there were 1.834 cases, but only 7 got a positive response from
Canadian officials. These numbers were published by the Canada Immigration.
Some of the cases before the immigration judges claim aggression and
persecution by former spouses and ask that Canada grant their stay to avoid
going back. Canadian officials say that most of the applications before them
are false, but they have an obligation to review each case and determine
with certainty the merits.
The United Nations commission for refugees sets out that a person can claim
refuge in another country for reasons of persecution of race, religion,
nationality or political. This rule was set out in the Geneva Convention of
1951, of which Canada is part.
Divorce Rate Doubled in 8 Years
Just in 2003, the Judiciary Actions Office of
the Supreme Electoral Tribunal received 9,442 applications for the recording
of divorces, 1,656 more than in 2002. This figure helped establish that the
rate of divorce in Costa Rica doubled from 1995 to 2003. On the other hand,
the number of marriages also increased, since 24,057 weddings were recorded
last year, 488 more than in 2002.
Forty Three Percent
More Flights
In the inaugural ceremony of United Airlines new
non-stop flight linking Washington D.C. and Costa Rica, President Abel
Pacheco pointed out the fact that from 232 weekly flights linking Costa Rica
and the world in April 2002, the number is now 332.
The increase results from more routes by the existing airlines and by the
arrival of seven new carriers.
Also contributing to the expansion is the operation of flights from Miami,
Atlanta, and Houston -a mong other cities - to Daniel Oduber International
Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, on the Costa Rica northwestern Pacific.
United Airlines manager for Costa Rica Fred Thome said that they expect
10,000 passengers to take advantage of the Washington D.C. flight monthly.
Pro-free Trade Agricultural Nations to Meet Ahead of World Trade Talks
Agricultural exporting nations that favor free trade will meet in
Costa Rica early next week to plot how to get world trade talks back on
track, Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said Friday.
The 17-member Cairns Group will meet for three days in San José to discuss
strategies ahead of the next Doha round of World Trade Organization
negotiations, a date for which is yet to be announced.
The meeting follows the recent announcement that Australia has negotiated a
bilateral free-trade deal with the United States - a pact that opponents
warned undermined attempts to hammer out global trade deals.
The group wants improvements to market access, cuts in domestic support for
farmers from some nations and the phasing out of export subsidies.
The meeting follows the collapse in September of the last round of WTO talks
in Cancun, Mexico, when countries clashed over subjects including farm
subsidies and setting rules on investment.
"Unless there is meaningful progress on agriculture over the next few months
the Doha round will go nowhere in 2004," Vaile said in a statement. "As a
leading voice for agricultural reform since its formation in 1986, the
Cairns Group has a central role to play in getting the agriculture
negotiations back on track."
The Cairns Group will also meet with senior WTO officials and U.S. trade
representative Bob Zoellick, Vaile said.
Cairns Group members are: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay.
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Accused in
corruption case, ex-president leaves country
Guatemala's Former President Alfonso Portillo, facing allegations of massive
corruption, left Guatemala one day after the country's highest court agreed
to suspend his legal immunity as a member of the Central American
Parliament.
Migration officials confirmed Thursday that Portillo left Guatemala
Wednesday by land for El Salvador. Portillo later reportedly boarded a
Mexico City-bound plane.
Portillo's supporters denied Thursday that he had fled the country. ''Like
all citizens he has the right to go anywhere in the world he wants. He could
have traveled for reasons that have to do with his family,'' said Luis
Fernandez Perez, a congressman from Portillo's party.
But his departure came one day after Guatemala's Constitutional Court
ordered the provisional suspension of the legal immunity enjoyed by
Guatemalan representatives to the largely ceremonial regional body,
including Portillo and his former vice president, Juan Francisco Reyes.
In recent days, President Oscar Berger, who replaced Portillo on Jan. 14,
has denounced what he calls a ''sacking of state resources'' under Portillo
and vowed to pursue corruption cases to the furthest extent of the law.
Portillo already faces at least nine court requests to strip him of his
immunity to face various allegations of crime, including corruption and
abuse of power, during his four-year term. As soon as his immunity is
lifted, those requests will become ordinary criminal complaints.
Anticipating the loss of immunity, Guatemala's chief prosecutor, Carlos De
Leon, had announced late Wednesday that he would seek a court order banning
Portillo and Reyes from leaving the country. But by that time Portillo had
already left the country. Reyes remained in Guatemala Thursday.
''It is not surprising that something like this has happened, given the
determination of our administration to investigate illegal actions of the
former administration,'' Vice President Eduardo Stein said.
''Unfortunately, justice came too late. Given the quantity of accusations,
the prosecutor should have requested the block of exit from the country long
ago,'' Stein said.
Congressman Perez insisted, however, that the complaints filed against
Portillo are part of a political witch-hunt by rich Guatemalans who opposed
the former president's policies.
''This is a political lynching,'' he said. ``Portillo defended the interests
of the majority of Guatemalans during his presidency and as a result he
affected the interests of the oligarchy in this country.''
Five lawyers, including two former Supreme Court justices, filed the
requests to strip Portillo of his immunity with the Constitutional Court in
December, arguing that the fact that ex-presidents and vice presidents are
automatically granted a seat in Parlacen, and the attendant immunity, when
they leave office is a violation of the Guatemalan constitution.
''They are no longer functionaries and much less the kinds of functionaries
that the constitution recognizes as deserving of immunity,'' said lawyer
Roberto Sagastume, one of the five lawyers. He denied any political
motivation behind the case.
The ruling was an injunction of sorts, which should take effect this week
and last two months, while the court deliberates and issues a ruling on
whether the immunity violates the constitution.
Bus accident
kills 40 in Brazil
The fall of a bus Saturday in the Cipo dam in Brazil's
northeastern Ceara state, near its Barros municipality, killed at least 40.
The accident took place at 04:30 a.m. local time apparently because the
driver fell asleep, roads police chief Elio Bondia said. He explained the
vehicle sank in the waters and no one seems to have survived.
The bus had left Friday night Fortaleza, Ceara's capital.
A witness who told the police of the accident said the bus was going at low
speed in an area without curves or obstacles.
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