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Passion and Jealousy
Claims Three Lives
In two separate and unrelated incidents,
yesterday, two men overtaken with jealousy and vengeance caused the death
three people yesterday.
In the first incident that occurred yesterday morning in the area known as
Río Oro de Santa Ana, a man identified as Mauricio Cubillo, 35, surprised
his estranged wife, Zebeida Castro Espinoza, 39, while she was accompanied
by labourer, Leonidas Navarro, 40, who was a friend of the woman and making
repairs in the house.
Cubillo stole a firearm from his place of work, taking the day off on the
pretext of having to attend court on his divorce proceedings, went to the
house, shot the pair and later shot himself in nearby woods.
Police mounted a search for the man that included tracking dogs, finding the
man wounded but with life, who later died in hospital.
The couple had had numerous problems and Cubillo had been accused with
domestic violence by Zebeida.
In the other incident, Sebastián Gómez Picado, 46, was murdered by a man
only identified by his last name of Gazo, after he was found in bed with
Gazo's estranged wife.
The incident occurred in
Saborío de
Estrada, cantón de Matina, near Limon.
Gazo, full of rage, jealousy and wanting vengeance, scuffled with the man
who with his estranged wife, tied him up by the hands and feet and killed
him with eight blows of the head with a machete.
The dead man and the woman had been living together for several months and
had asked for protection following several threats made against them by Gazo,
who continued to visit the woman even though he knew she was involved in
another relationship.
Escazú Second Most in Robberies
Escazú has become the area with the second most robberies in San José. A
group of thieves, using luxury vehicles to blend in the upper scale
neighbourhood, has been working the area causing police and citizens to
worry.
The last case occurred on Sunday night, in Apartamentos Monti, in Bello
Horizonte, when a group in luxury vehicle with the yellow "mision
internacional" license plate - MI 23742 - and identifying themselves as
police, fooled the security guard.
Once inside, the threatened the security guard and several residents of the
condo complex, where they continued by ransacking several apartments.
No one was hurt in the incident.
The group, possible six men, were well organized, carrying cellular
telephones, radio scanners, wearing masks and armed with handguns. Police
believe it is the same group that is responsible for two hits in Guachipelin
and Escazú Centro among others.
Several similar robberies have been reported in the past month in nearby
Sabana Oeste, the group using the same method to fool the guards and then
make off with the goods.
Police say the group has been using BMW's and luxury Toyota's to avoid being
inconspicuous.
Not
the "Rainy Season" Just Yet!
Though it is not the "rainy season" just yet,
the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) is predicting an increase in
cloud over the Central Valley that could cause rain as it has done over the
last two days.
Sunday evening unseasonal heavy rains caused power shortages in areas of San
José and Heredia, while yesterdays scattered showers only raised dust in
some areas.
Norman Vega, meteriologist at IMN, says that conditions will be more of the
same for today. Strong winds from the Caribbean is causing the clouds in the
Central valley. This condition could also cause some rain in the Central and
South Pacific regions as well.
The expert said that we are just beginning to see the changes in the weather
pattern that will bring in the rainy season, however, we are not there yet.
There will be intermitten showers in different areas, however, temperatues
will continue in the 32C to 34C, which is normal for this time of year.
The rainy season un-officially begins about the middle of May for the
central Valley. However, this year, experts say it will come about two weeks
early.
Costa
Rica Asks Venezuelan Fugitive Carlos Ortega to Leave
Carlos Ortega was the media darling during the
the Dec. 2002 lock-out, illegal strike and sabotage of the oil industry,
that caused losses of more than 10 billion dollars to the Venezuelan
economy.
Yesterday, Costa Rica decided to ask Venezuelan fugitive Carlos Ortega to
leave that country where he is currently living under political asylum.
Ortega, a political opponent to President Hugo Chavez who escaped
authorities and was granted asylum by Costa Rica, participated at a
political rally last Saturday in Miami, in which he gave a speech against
the Venezuelan President, accusing him of being a dictator and of sinking
the country into an economic crisis. During the speech, Ortega vowed to go
back to Venezuela and work in a clandestinely to oust Chavez.
An official statement by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Relations, cites
Ortega’s speech at the rally as a violation of his asylum agreement of not
making public political declarations against the government of Venezuela,
the country where the asylum was requested. “The declarations by the asylum
recipient are contrary to the spirit of the institution of territorial
asylum and contrary to the obligations of those under asylum,” says the
statement.
Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Jesus Perez, announced yesterday
that Venezuela would send a note of protest to Costa Rica and to the United
States in connection with Ortega's statements. Perez made the announcement
before the government of Costa Rica had made public their decision to ask
Ortega to leave.
Ortega apparently is still in Miami at this point, where he could stay and
ask for asylum in the US or in another country. Last year he finished a
speech at a similar anti-Chavez event in Miami by saying "death to the
tyrant".
Last February, during a similar incident, the Costa Rican government warned
Ortega to use the freedom of expression that he enjoys in that country in a
responsible manner, and to abstain from making alarming and unfounded
statements about the government of Venezuela.
As president of the corrupt Confederation of Venezuela Workers (CTV), Ortega
teamed up with the national Chamber of Commerce FEDECAMARAS in the Dec. 2002
lock-out, illegal strike and sabotage of the oil industry, in order to
topple President Hugo Chavez. On March of last year, Ortega was charged with
several crimes in connection with his actions during the illegal strike and
sabotage of the oil industry. He eluded authorities and requested political
asylum at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Caracas.
Ortega was also among the leaders of the April 2002 coup d'etat, but was not
charged at the time.
Last October, the tape of a conversation between Ortega and one of his
allies in Venezuela, revealed a plan to prepare a "civil rebellion" with
media support against Chavez. "We are going to need about 10, 12 or 15 years
of dictatorship to rescue the country, I have no problem with that," said
Ortega.
Fitch Sees Long-term Ratings Upside for Regional Banks - Central America
Fitch Ratings sees potential ratings upside for
Central American banks in the long term if the region's economies start to
recover, the ratings agency said in a report released Monday.
"A degree of ratings upside for Central American banks is anticipated in the
longer term if the economies in the region perform consistently, however,
major anomalies, both systemic and on an individual basis, must be
addressed," Fitch Financial Institution's group senior director Gustavo
López said.
Some of the challenges for the banking systems in the region include
operating in relatively weak economies, the nascent state of consolidated
supervision, uneven quality of disclosure and reporting, as well as limited
depositor coverage due to the relatively recent creation of deposit
guarantee funds.
Other issues of concern for Fitch are the trends in asset quality
deterioration in some countries, significant maturity mismatches between
assets and liabilities, as well as sizeable dollarization in banks' balance
sheets, even in countries where the US dollar has not been adopted as the
legal currency.
"For us the risks of operating in dual currency are mainly market risks and
credit risks," López told BNamericas.
"Market risks have to do with foreign exchange volatility as all these
countries except El Salvador and Panama have either currency pegs or
floating rates. Volatility may cripple banks directly through their open
positions", he added.
In terms of credit risks many borrowers of dollar denominated debt may not
be hedged or US dollar generating clients, which leaves them vulnerable to
currency fluctuations, López said.
According to Fitch Ratings estimates, the most highly dollarized economies,
other than Panama and El Salvador, are Nicaragua and Costa Rica where 50% of
bank assets are in dollars followed by Honduras and Guatemala with 20-25%
dollarization. Panama and El Salvador are dollarized economies where
dollar-denominated assets represent close to 100% of bank assets.
"We don't see any particular banks that are weak enough to have consequences
for financial systems. In general terms, [Central America's] banking systems
appear to be stable for the moment, but definitely there are these concerns
mentioned in our report that could at some point have a negative impact on
the system," López commented.
The Fitch report on Central American banking systems reviews the most
pressing issues facing banks in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
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Peru, Chile to
negotiate on sea border dispute
Peruvian Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez said Monday
that the sea border dispute between Peru and Chile was still "an issue to be
negotiated" as no agreement had been signed yet.
The remarks were made after both former Chilean President Eduardo Frei and
current Chilean Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear had recently affirmed that
the "issue is resolved."
"When there are two positions in international law and diplomatic practice
and when a controversy exists, they must be solved through talks and
negotiations. That can be complex but is the only way to reach a solution
and solve the problem," Rodriguezsaid.
"In the case of Peru, it is simply a maritime border that can be the object
of a negotiation and could be solved in accordance with the rules and
principles of international law," he added.
Peru and Chile had long been in conflict over their sea border since the
territorial borders were defined in the Ancon Treaty signed in 1929.
Venezuela's Electoral Chamber sticks to validation of pro-recall signatures
The Electoral Chamber of the Venezuelan supreme court
insisted on Monday that it is qualified to validate some 876,000 signatures
collected by the opposition for a recall referendum on President Hugo
Chavez.
The announcement was issued after the Constitutional Chamber of the supreme
court on March 23 overturned a previous ruling of the Electoral Chamber.
The Electoral Chamber ruled on March 15 that the signatures for the recall
vote were valid, reversing a decision of the National Electoral Council (CNE)
which invalidated 876,017 pro-referendum signatures, arguing that many names
were duplicated or belonged to dead people, minors or foreigners.
The Constitutional Chamber invalidated those signatures after the CNE filed
a constitutional controversy recourse to the chamber over the Electoral
Chamber's decision.
In Monday's ruling, the Electoral Chamber indicated that the two chambers
enjoy equal ranking in the hierarchy and thus the decision against it by the
Constitutional Chamber was irrelevant.
The supreme court, made up of 20 magistrates, is divided into several
chambers that rule on different areas of law.
The Electoral Chamber's ruling means that the 20 magistrates would have to
make a final decision, as the two chambers can not reach agreement.
The opposition submitted 3.4 million signatures, but the CNE ruled that only
1.8 million are valid, well short of the minimum 2.4 million legally
required for calling a vote to unseat Chavez.
However, with the Electoral Chamber's ruling, the opposition would have
gathered nearly 2.7 million valid anti-Chavez signatures, 20 percent more
than minimum.
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