Because of problems in his past — the exact nature of which neither he nor Catholic Church officials would describe — he doesn't have the church's permission to be in Costa Rica or to function as a priest. He says he needn't answer to church officials on that subject — just to the Virgin Mary.

And so he prays, counsels, advises and even celebrates Mass with pilgrims who come here to listen to Delgado, who says he receives messages from Jesus Christ, the Virgin and St. Michael.

Prado said he is Delgado's spiritual adviser and that he was called here by the Virgin.

He said the Oblates turned their backs on him despite his having preached the Gospel for so long.

"They threw me out in my old age and my blindness and all — they threw me out, no money, no nothing," said Prado, who said his only income is a monthly $160 Social Security check.

Prado left the United States last year without permission and is disobeying the church by functioning as a priest, wrote Father David Kalert, who heads the U.S. Oblates out of Washington, in an Aug. 20 letter to Archbishop Hugo Barrantes Ureña of San José, Costa Rica.

"There are various, very grave allegations against him, and they seem to be credible," states the letter, without mentioning specifics.

Among those who have now come forward after hearing Prado was practicing as a priest again are Ricardo Salinas, 50, and Mike Huerta, also 50.

Both men, who said they have never met each other, attended Jeremiah Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio and said they were molested by Prado a generation ago at St. Timothy's Catholic Church. Prado served at St. Timothy's from 1966 to 1969 and in 1971.

Neither filed a police report at the time of the incidents, which occurred in the late 1960s. They said their parents and nobody else believed them.

Salinas, who said he's gone through years of therapy, is pursuing a monetary agreement with the church after he said the Oblates brought up a settlement when he recently complained about Prado.

Oblate officials declined to comment.

Prado denies ever molesting anyone or ever having known the two men.


Christmas Earthquake
A little after 1 a.m. Christmas Day, the northern part of Panama and the southern one of Costa Rica were rocked and shaken by a 6.4 earthquake, which killed at least one person and injured hundreds others.

The first assessments of the material damage talk of houses destroyed on both sides of the common border, hospitals, roads, and bridges badly battered, among the most evident consequences of the earthquake, whose epicenter was established in the vicinity of Puerto Armuelles, Panama, not far from the Costa Rican border.


Costa Rica Will be in CAFTA
Even though the Costa Rican negotiations with the United States were not completed in the most recent round leading to the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), local officials asserted that Costa Rica will be part of the Agreement.

The other Central American nations accepted the U.S. terms at the negotiations in Washington, but Costa Rica was not satisfied with the way some issues were handled, and forced a new set of negotiations, most likely in January.

The Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade Alberto Trejos was very cautious when commenting the decision of the other Central American nations to accept the terms set forth by the U.S. He pointed out that the characteristics of each nation allow for differences that, in the case of Costa Rica, must be carefully handled when deciding on an issue such as the CAFTA.


Journalist Murdered
Ivannia Mora, 33, was shot to death while driving her car in Curridabat, San Jose, at 8:31 p.m. on December 23.

Two men on a motorcycle approached Mora's car, and opened fire without explanation, according to witnesses, who said the action was so fast that they were not able to get a good description of the attackers.

Mora had recently become the editor of the international magazine Summa, but had received threats from unknown sources in the weeks before taking her new job. However, investigators are at odds with the murder, because there is no apparent reason for the physical elimination of the journalist, who is survived by her husband and a 2-year-old girl..

 

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Government's Deficit at 2.8 percent
The deficit of the Government of Costa Rica was 2.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2003, according to Finance Minister Alberto Dent.

He pointed out that this is an improvement when comparing to the figure for the year 2002, when the difference between revenues and spending reached 4.3 percent of the GDP.

On the other hand, Minister Dent asserted, unless the Legislative Assembly passes a fiscal reform that it is analyzing now, the deficit for 2004 would be at least 3.3 percent of the GDP.


President's Popularity Stops Falling
Even though President Abel Pacheco's popularity remains very low, it stopped falling as had been the trend in previous months, according to the most recent survey by Unimer for the daily La Nacion.

In December, 23 percent of the citizens surveyed said that President Pacheco's performance is good to very good; 34 percent rated it bad to very bad; and 40 percent said it is passing.

These figures contrast with those from the previous survey, three months ago, when 40 percent had a negative view, 28 percent a positive one, and 31 percent gave Mr. Pacheco a passing grade.


Colombians Prefer Costa Rica
Costa Rica became the Latin American country with the largest number of Colombian refugees properly registered: 8,200.

This figure corresponds to people who have been legally admitted, since there is no sure way to establish the number of illegal immigrants.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Colombians have chosen Costa Rica because of the good living conditions it offers, the fact that it is not very distant from their homeland, and the good references they receive from other people who have emigrated to the Central American nation.


Fasten Your Seat Belt
The Legislative Assembly passed a regulation that makes mandatory that drivers and front seat passengers wear seat belts in Costa Rica.

Drivers failing to comply will be fined with some $40. The legislators also approved the taking away of licenses from drunk drivers.


Police Confiscated Drug and Cash
The police arrested six men and confiscated $85,000 cash and 102 kilos (some 224 pounds) of cocaine in an operation carried out in the southern zone of Costa Rica, close to the Panamanian border.