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Father Calvo Accuser Recants
John Gilberto Gutiérrez is a man, at 24 years of age, left
Colombia to make a new life in Costa Rica find himself now in the whirl of
controversy surrounding the arrest of Father Minor Calvo and businessman
Omar Chaves for being the principal authors of the murder of journalist
Parmenio Medina in July 2001.
Gutiérrez last November confessed to authorities that he was the go between
Calvo and Chaves in arranging for the murder of Medina. Gutiérrez was in
jail at the time on other, non-related charges, when he made his confession.
His testimony was key in the arrest of Calvo and Chaves on the 26th of
December 2003.
Calvo was released from jail last Friday on the condition that he not leave
Costa Rica and to have no contact with witnesses or impede the
investigation. Chaves still remains in preventative detention.
On February 10, Gutiérrez recanted his testimony. In a written statement he
took a step backwards and claims that his confession is totally incorrect,
that he is innocent and he doesn't even known Minor Calvo and Omar Chaves.
Monday, Gutiérrez presented two formal charges against the state, claiming
that prosecutor Guiselle Rivera and several members of the Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ) coerced him so that he invent the story he
related and reiterated that he had nothing to do with the murder and nor
does he know the two men accused of planning the crime.
Gutiérrez is still in jail awaiting trial on unrelated charges.
Street Vendors Must Go
The fight between street vendors, more specifically those with
annoying and obstructing booths on the the sidewalks, has been going on for
a long time.
Last night, in a unanimous decision, street vendors in have three months to
clear out or be forced out.
Johnny Araya Monge, Mayor of San José, has been the principal force behind
this decision in his declaration of war against street vendors. Araya
explained that he received uncountable complaints from citizens about
sidewalks being blocked.
Araya said, "we are working hard to bring people back to
the downtown area, however it is difficult if we have anarchy". His
comments were in reference to street vendors who have refused, under
threats of police force, to remove themselves from the sidewalks of
downtown San José.
Unquestionably, street vendors are organizing and will be making a
request for help before the Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos
(CIDH).
The area affected by last night's decision is 1st Avenue between 6th anf
16th Street, 3rd Avenue between 6th and 10th Street, 4th Avenue between
6th and 10th Street and 6th Avenue between 1st and 14th Street. |
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In addition, those vendors along 8th Street between 2nd and 10th Avenues
will be affected by the decision.
Last November the city took a survey of the area and 62% of those questioned
were in agreement that the vendors are a nuisance and should go.
This is not the first time the city has tried to reclaim it's streets. On
four other occasions they failed in their task. The firs time was in July of
1991, where vendors ransacked several shops along Second Avenue.
In November of 1994, 120 vendors were moved to the area known as La
Dolorosa. Then in October of 1995 an area of "truce" (the area in question
today) as established under much protest and with rules and regulations,
which by the most part have been ignored.
The in November of 1998, dozens of vendors were re-located in the Paso de la
Vaca market and 8th Street was cleaned up, only to be populated by new
street vendors shortly after.
The action is part of a master plan by City of San José to rejuvenate the
downtown area.
Triplets
Doing Fine; Two Head Home
The triplets born last week are doing fine, however they family
is need of financial help. Jonathan y Ashley, two of the triplets born last
week at the Calderón Guardia Hospital were given the ok to go home, while
Johan will remain in hospital until he gains enough weight before being sent
home.
Even tough the mother, Magda Garita, is happy it is a difficult time as her
family doubled, that with her other child and husband has now grown to six.
The family lives in a small apartment.
In addition to diapers, formula and clothes, they still are in need of a
baby crib.
If you want to help this family you can make a donation at the Banco Popular
in the name of Magda Garita or call 292-3779.
Canadian University Perks Up Coffee Trade
The people who dream of a perfect world in which coffee rains from the sky
can take heart: The clouds opened yesterday.
Toronto's York University and Timothy's World Coffee have announced a
partnership to market a brand of sustainably grown coffee from farmlands
adjacent to a Costa Rican conservation area, Las Nubes, which is owned by
the university.
The shade-grown coffee, a selling point that other java companies have
promoted of late, will hit Timothy's 140 locations across Canada next month.
"It's no longer business as usual. The ecological
component and the social dimension have to be built into the equation
along with the profit," said Howard Daugherty, an associate professor in
York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies and a force behind
the initiative.
Coffee from Las Nubes, Spanish for "clouds," will sell for $13.99 per
pound, with a portion going back to the university.
"The retail price point is at the higher end of our coffees, but the
growers are getting good value, the university is getting some financial
support, as well as the consumer getting great coffee," Timothy's
president Becky McKinnon said. |
Click to enlarge map
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The 133-hectare Las Nubes conservation lands, located on the Pacific slope
of the Talamanca range in southeast Costa Rica, was donated to the
university in 1998 by Toronto medical researcher Dr. Woody Fisher, who
purchased the area after a trip to Costa Rica.
York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies then began working with
the Tropical Science Centre in Costa Rica and the local growers'
co-operative to ensure the sustainability of farmers' livelihoods and their
environment.
Using traditional shade-grown methods rather than plantations results in
about three times less yield, but a vast improvement in habitat, environment
and product quality, Daugherty said.
When farmers are assured of a higher price for their products, it's easier
to get them to switch, he added.
The local co-operative is paid $1.30 (U.S.) per pound, which is effectively
raised to $1.60 because Timothy's pays certain transportation and processing
costs within the country. The fair-trade floor price of coffee is $1.26 per
pound.
Java traded at 76.55 cents in New York yesterday. A glut on the market has
pushed prices down over the years, resulting in poverty for many farmers.
About 200 growers in the Las Nubes region will benefit from the coffee's
sales, Daugherty said. Their co-operative also sells to other markets, but
receives lower prices.
"A lot of these families are at the whims of international markets," said
Anna Baggio, a former York student who graduated in 2000 after finishing a
conservation research project around Las Nubes.
"The farmers will be paid a fair price for their coffee, so they can focus
on their livelihoods and building a sustainable future for their
communities. At the same time, we can ensure the health of these areas," she
added.
A Canadian dollar from every pound of Las Nubes coffee sold at Timothy's
will be donated to the Fisher Fund for Neotropical Conservation, which
supports research in the conservation area.
Earthwatch Institute Announces Starbucks Sponsorship
In celebration of Earth Day, Starbucks Coffee Company has partnered with the
non-profit Earthwatch Institute to sponsor 10 individuals on an Earthwatch
research expedition to the coffee growing region of Costa Rica.
Participants will be selected by random drawing on or about April 26, 2004.
The 10 winners will work closely with scientists and a local cooperative of
coffee growers to conduct a pioneering forest restoration project in a
region of Costa Rica where less than 10 percent of the original forest
remains. Based out of Agua Buena, Costa Rica, participants will plant trees
in experimental plots and measure seedlings to help determine the success of
the on-going restoration effort.
On the 12-day Starbucks-sponsored Earthwatch Expedition, participants will
be active members of the research team. They will live and work as field
researchers do and will experience the scientists' passion for their subject
and share in their discoveries and accomplishments.
Since 1972, Earthwatch Institute has offered the public the opportunity to
assist scientists on field research projects around the world. The
expeditions are an opportunity for personal enrichment and will help each
participant develop a deeper understanding of their role in building a
sustainable future.
"Earthwatch Institute creates community advocates for environmental
stewardship and Starbucks is proud to support their efforts by offering this
sponsorship," said Ben Packard, director of Environmental Affairs for
Starbucks. "Our hope is that the participants of the sponsorship gain a
broader awareness of the importance of environmental stewardship and share
their experience with their communities."
Information about the expedition can be found at your neighborhood Starbucks
location or online at
www.starbucks.com/earthwatch.
Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit organization founded in
1971 which supports field research in cultural, environmental, and
biological sciences worldwide by offering members of the public unique
opportunities to work alongside field scientists and researchers. The
Institute's mission is to promote the understanding and action necessary for
a sustainable environment.
APEC Member Countries Discuss Illegal Logging
Delegates from Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC)
member countries gathered In Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday for a workshop on
efforts to prevent illegal logging and trading from harming their
biodiversity resources.
"Illegal trading in biological resources hurts all parties and the problem
is indeed all about supply and demand, and the question certainly concerns
the interest of both supplier and consumer countries," Indonesian Foreign
Minister Hassan Wirajuda said after opening the workshop.
Hassan said illegal logging and log trading would be one of the issues to be
discussed in the forum which would feature biodiversity experts from the US,
Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Costa Rica and Indonesia. Some 90
delegates from 21 APEC member countries attended the event which was the
host country`s initiative and the first ever done by the organization.
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Nicaragua High Court Elects Leaders After Five-Month Impasse
The justices of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court (CSJ) on Monday
elected a court president and vice president, ending a five-month period
during which those posts were vacant.
In a statement, the CSJ announced that a meeting of the full court elected
Sandinista magistrate Yadira Centeno to the post of court president. She
will serve a one-year term.
Centeno took up her new duties on Monday, taking over from her Liberal
colleague Guillermo Vargas Sandino, who since last October had served as
acting court president in his capacity as the court's magistrate for
administrative affairs.
The court also elected Liberal Judge Carlos Guerra Gallardo as vice
president of the high court.
Due to a lack of agreement among the eight Sandinista judges and seven
Liberal judges on choosing a court president and vice president, for which
at least nine yes-votes are required, the court had been without formal
leaders at the helm since Oct. 24, 2003.
The outgoing CSJ president and vice president were Sandinistas - Alba Luz
Ramos and Marvin Aguilar, respectively - but Ramos had insisted on serving
in her capacity for a second term, a demand her Liberal colleagues rejected.
A further agreement reached Monday by the 15 magistrates was to designate
Guerra Gallardo to serve as Nicaragua's representative on the Central
American Court of Justice. On Oct. 12, he will replace Orlando Trejos
Somarriba on the international court, which has its seat in Managua.
The high court also designated Judge Sergio Cuarezma Teran to be Guerra
Gallardo's substitute magistrate on the international body.
Venezuela Chief Justice Rejects Electoral Panel's Ruling on Recall
Chief Justice Ivan Rincon said Monday that the high court's
Electoral Chamber has no authority to hear motions related to efforts to
convene a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez.
Rincon thus appeared to pull the rug out from under Monday's decision by the
Electoral Chamber voiding a ruling by electoral authorities that hundreds of
thousands of signatures supporting the recall were "dubious." The chief
justice confirmed the validity of a ruling last Friday by the Constitutional
Chamber - which has the final say in any conflict of jurisdiction or
competency - that the Electoral Chamber lacked the authority to rule on the
appeal filed by the opposition.
But despite the Constitutional Chamber's ruling, the Electoral Chamber heard
the opposition appeal and decided to void the decision by the National
Electoral Council, or CNE, to review the validity of 876,017 signatures.
The CNE had made convening a referendum on recalling Chavez dependent on
confirmation that 600,000 of those "dubious" signatures were valid.
"The CNE is hereby ordered to add the 876,017 signatures to the 1,832,493
valid petitions presented to request the referendum, which brings the total
to 2,708,510 signatures," ruled the Electoral Chamber.
Some 2.4 million signatures - representing 20 percent of registered voters -
are required to call a referendum.
The Electoral Chamber overturned Monday the norms that the CNE established
last November before the process to collect petitions to request a recall
referendum against the president began.
The panel determined that the 870,017 signatures are valid in principle, but
it left open the possibility that those citizens who wished to annul their
signatures could come forward to do so in the next several days.
Spokesmen for pro-Chavez political parties announced they will immediately
file an appeal with the Constitutional Chamber to annul the decision by the
Electoral Chamber, which was made by one regular member of the three-judge
panel and one second-alternate jurist, as the other two regular members of
the panel recused themselves in response to objections from the government
and opposition, respectively.
The Electoral Chamber's defiance of the Constitutional Chamber's injunction
has created an institutional crisis within the Supreme Court of
unforeseeable consequences, according to Jesus Caldera, a constitutional
attorney.
In the event the Electoral Chamber's decision prevails over the
Constitutional Chamber's injunction - something that seems highly unlikely -
the push to call the referendum would take a spectacular turn, because the
opposition would not then need to prove the authenticity of the dubious
signatures to convene the plebiscite.
But if the Supreme Court voids the decision of the Electoral Chamber, the
process will revert to its previous phase in which the dubious signatures
must be verified before they can be used to request a recall referendum.
Brazil voices concern over Taiwan's "referendum"
Reaffirming its adherence to theone-China policy and support for China's
territorial integrity, Brazil voiced Tuesday concern over the "March 20
referendum" pushed by the Taiwan authorities.
"The Brazilian government voices its support for the peaceful reunification
of the territory conducted by the Chinese government and joins the
international community's statements against the unilateral move that would
change the status quo and endanger regional peace and stability," the
Brazilian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"In that sense, the Brazilian government voices concern in face of the
referendum" called by the Taiwan authorities "over the purchase of advanced
guns, with the purpose of splitting China and seeking 'Taiwan
independence'," said the document.
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