Air
Traffic Controllers on Strike!
A strike by air traffic controllers could
affect operation at the three major airports - Juan Santamaría
(Alajuela), Tobías Bolaños (Pavas) y Daniel Oduber (Liberia) as well as
operations at the air traffic control tower.
A meeting last night of the general assembly of the
Sindicato de Controladores Aéreos de Costa Rica, concluded last night
about 9pm with the decision to begin a strike starting at 6am this
morning.
Leonardo Guillén, spokesperson for the union, said that they broke off
negotiations with the government on Thursday and called for a general
assembly when they learned the importation of outside traffic
controllers.
Minister of Transport, Javier Chaves, confirm that he has 20 foreign
controllers standing by to take over the posts, guaranteeing normal
airport operations. Chaves said that his responsibility to ensure the
airports stay open. The Juan Santamaria airport alone handles over
1.000.000 passengers per year and thousands depend on their jobs.
At the root of the work dispute is salaries. The air traffic controllers
say they have an agreement with the government that they earn about 35%
more than inspectors at Aviación Civil. Guillén added that the
controllers are looking for a raise in salary, it's that the salaries of
the inspectors has risen over the years and theirs hasn't.
Controllers earn between ¢450.000 and ¢700.000 per month, while a
inspector earns on average ¢865.000.
Solís's Mother
Involvement Sparks Investigation
The reports by local channel 7 (Teletica) news team "telenoticias" on
the new Comptroller, Alex Solís Fallas, has now the Colegio de Abogados
y la Dirección Notarial - the Costa Rican body that governs lawyers and
notary publics - running investigation into the affairs of Solís and his
law firm.
The latest revelation by the news team is the involvement of Consuelo
Fallas Ceciliano, mother of Solís, whose signature is found on documents
creating the company La Reforestadora El Chirripó, registered in Pérez
Zeledón, that lent money to Costa Ricans to travel illegally to the
United States.
The news team uncovered that the signature by Solís's mother appears
different in the records of notary public Miguel Salazar Gamboa when the
Chirripó company was registered and the signature on record at Solís's
notary public records.
In the first record the woman signed her name as Consuelo F, de Solís,
but in her son's records she signs as Consuelo Falla de S.
Telenoticias says it has tried to interview both Solís and his mother,
however, neither is giving statements to the press.
The Fiscal del Colegio de Abogados told telenoticias that the
investigation will take it's course and time now that they have two
angles into which to approach the investigation: the connection to the "coyotaje"
- the illegal traffic of humans - and the falsification of signatures.
Some who contacted and interviewed by telenoticias have expressed that
the Solís may have falsified their signatures to take away their homes
from them.
The report concluded that the mass opinion is that the only person who
clear the air on the whole matter is the Comptroller himself and perhaps
his best course of action is step down from his recently appointed post
as Comptroller General of the Republic.
San Jose Among
the Affordable
A global survey of the cost of living in 144 cities
established that Tokyo, London, and Moscow are the
three most expensive towns in the world.
On the other hand, the three cheapest world capitals
are Asuncion (Paraguay), Montevideo (Uruguay), and
Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
The Costa Rican capital places 130th -14 slots above
the least expensive city- in this year's survey,
while it had placed 113th last year.
The cost of 200 goods and services are used by
English firm Mercer Human Resource Consulting to
establish the ranking.
Security at
Ports
The Costa Rican ports on the Caribbean and the
Pacific are ready to receive the certification of
the International Maritime Organization, which the
United States is to demand as of next July 1st to
accept trade with other nations.
Transportation Minister Lorena Lopez disclosed this
information upon receiving a report from the Safety
of Life at Sea Commission on the execution of the
infrastructure and security jobs done at the ports
to ensure the free flow of trade with the U.S.
5,000 Trees for the Capital
Thanks to a
donation of the firm Ericsson, the Municipality of
San Jose launched the planting of 5,000 new trees in
different areas of the capital city.
Major Johnny Araya pointed out the help provided by
Ericsson in the effort to plant trees, one of the
basic aspects of the project "San Jose Clean and
Green", aimed at improving the quality of life in
the capital city of Costa Rica.
Protection Rackets Hit Online Gambling
"eHorse had profitably served
gamblers worldwide from its headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica"
Criminal gangs based in eastern Europe are playing a nasty game with
Internet gambling companies. With help from skilled network vandals,
they're knocking the betting sites offline, then demanding huge
extortion payments to halt their digital attacks.
The betting service eHorse found out the hard way last October, when
visits to the website dropped to nearly zero. "We just couldn't figure
out why our system wasn't working," said Kevin Martin, the site's gaming
consultant.
 Full
Story
Sports: Costa Rica Appoints New Coach
Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto was appointed the new technical
director (coach) of the Costa Rica soccer team on Wednesday.
Pinto replaces American Steve Sampson, who was dismissed from his
coaching duties by the Federacion Costarricense de Futbol on Monday,
after the Ticos' two consecutive ties with Cuba in the second round of
CONCACAF qualification for the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006.
Costa Rica scraped through to the semi-final round at the expense of the
Cubans, but only on the away-goals rule.
The 51 year-old Pinto has coached eight clubs in Colombia, Costa Rica
and Peru in the last two decades.
He led Millonarios of Colombia and Alianza Lima of Peru to their
league's runners-up titles during the 1998 and 1999- 2000 seasons
respectively, and coached Alianza Lima to the Peruvian League
Championship seven years ago.
Pinto begins his coaching duties with the Ticos this week, as they
prepare for the 2004 Copa America next month in Peru before beginning
the semi-final round of CONCACAF qualification for the 2006 World Cup in
August.
Costa Rica are in Group-B with Canada, Guatemala and Honduras.
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