While four of the men arrested for the murder of journalist Ivannia Mora started their preventative detention, the key witness in the case was leaving the country. The unidentified man was brought from Colombia last week to give his testimony and yesterday was sent back for fears on his life The man's testimony ties the four men - 3 Colombians and one Uruguayan - to the crime, which include Ivannia's former boss. Today's Stories: • Poverty With a Child´s Face in Costa Rica • Taiwan Pays Ministry Workers • Presidential Advice • Movimiento Libertario Wants "World Tax on Income" Removed • Cuba re-opens hard-currency shops • Dominican storms 'leave 130 dead' • Peru town hit by further unrest

It is estimated that 113,523 children form part of the labor force of the country. For every 100 boys and girls, 35 suffer in poverty or extreme poverty.

This information is included in IV State of the Rights of Children and Adolescents in Costa Rica, presented this past May 17, 2004. The investigation was conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Interdisciplinary Program of Social Studies and Action of the Rights of the Child and Adolescent (PREDENA) of the University of Costa Rica.

The country has experienced an increase in the risk of impoverishment, a population in the process of early aging and greater social inequality.

In 1977, the poorest 20% of the population received 4.5% of the total wealth. In 2002, this percentage dropped to 3.7%. Of course, the difference was passed to the assets of the richest 20%, who enjoyed 47.4% of the wealth in 1977. In 2002, their slice of the pie increased to 51.3%.

According to the report, those over the age of 60 receive 25% of the total social investment of the country. On the other hand, children - under the age of 18 - receive 36%, despite the fact that they comprise 38% of the population.

In this manner, a family of four would be receiving in “goods, services or transfers provided by the State” a total reaching 80,000 colones a month (US $185).

A good part of Costa Ricans does not receive the benefits of this investment, in part due to the inequality in the distribution of these funds.

Costa Rica spends 85.5% of the funds for the Social Security sector on pensions, equivalent to an amount near 231.9 billion colones (some US$537 million), that is to say 17.1% of the total spending of the Costa Rican government.

“This is the area of social expense that, with the most difficulty, can be associated with a social investment and clearly is not directed toward the benefit of children (…) only 13% of the investment of this (social) function is channeled to aid programs for vulnerable groups”, indicated the study.

Although the study did not mention it, media reports indicate that so-called “privileged pensions”, granted to ex-public officials of high rank, resulted in disbursements of 210 billion colones in 2003 (some US $486 million), according to estimates by the Costa Rican Treasury.

“It is important to note that the levels of social investment are not sufficient for children. But there is something even more serious that this research proves, and it is that the State is violating its own law by not allocating the amount of money that the Constitution orders for education”, expressed Bruce Harris, Regional Director of Casa Alianza.

Indeed, according to the Report, in 2001 the country set aside 4.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education (including professional training). The Constitution establishes, in Article 78, that this amount should not be less than 6% of the GDP.

The document indicates, as one of the priorities, the institutional reform of the National Board on Children (PANI), the principal institution concerned with the rights of minors.

Said reform has been presented in, at least, four opportunities since 1997, has been postponed for budget and opportunity reasons.

“In the meantime, the ones that have been seen most affected are the children who should be provided programs for drug rehabilitation, and for attention to victims of abuse and sexual exploitation…”, added Harris.

Recently, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) confirmed the demographics of President Abel Pacheco’s administration, which maintains that poverty fell from 20.6% to 18.5% between 2002 and 2003.

Nevertheless, 51% of the budget of the State of Costa Rica for the year 2004 is financed by debt.

To see the complete report, one can visit the UNICEF Costa Rica page at www.unicefcr.org
 

Taiwan Pays Ministry Workers
The Taiwanese government has given thousands of dollars to the salaries of Costa Rican Foreign Ministry workers, the newspaper La Nación reported Monday.

The newspaper said about $15,000 a month had gone to pay the salaries of 21 employees at the ministry and $7,000 was spent to complement the salaries of 13 more. It said the money was passed through a private group, the Association for the Development of Foreign Policy of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is part of a bloc of Central American nations which kept full diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than with mainland China, bucking an international trend toward full relations with Beijing.

La Nación said that Foreign Minister, Roberto Tovar, had confirmed the payments, but said the last payment had come in May 2003 and had nothing to do with policy toward Taiwan.

Taiwan's Embassy declined to confirm the payments.
 

Presidential Advice
Former president, Oscar Arias Sánchez, sent a letter to president Able Pacheco with a list of suggestions on how to handle the ongoing scandal at the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS).

One of the suggestions made by Arias to Pacheco is to remove the members of the board of directors of the Caja will the investigation is ongoing, including the new chief executive, who was part of that administration.

Arias clearly explains in his letter that his sole intention is to help out in this difficult situation.

Former president of the Casa, Eliseo Vargas, was fired by the Pacheco after allegations that Vargas gave the Fischel Corporation favoritism and kickbacks for the purchase of medical equipment.

Vargas rented a house from an executive of Fischel and police raided twice the house and the main offices Fischel in search evidence to support their allegations.
 

Movimiento Libertario Wants "World Tax on Income"  Removed
Members of the Movimiento Libertario party are asking that the tax on world income as proposed in the governments new Tax Plan - Reforma Fiscal be removed.

The new tax, if approved, would see income from outside Costa Rica taxed in Costa Rica, that could include pensions and other income already taxed by country where it was earned.

Movimiento Libertario legislators Federico Malavassi and Carlos Salazar are waiting on the decision of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) and government representatives to convene a meeting to discuss the tax proposal.

Mario Redondo, who is heading the commission on the new tax reforms is asking for the Movimiento Libertario to give the committee their firm proposals, while, according to Malvassi, they Movimiento Libertario is waiting on the PUSC to formally set their proposals.

A further condition that the Movimiento Libertario is asking is that tax on income be limited to 20% and not the 25% set out in the government's plan.

The government is moving ahead with it's Tax Reform plans and asking legislators not to filibuster on this important issue, saying the Costa Rica needs this reform to ensure a prosperous financial future.
 

Cuba re-opens hard-currency shops
Shops selling goods in dollars have re-opened in Cuba, two weeks after most were abruptly closed by the island's Communist government. In the intervening period, prices on most goods have gone up by up to 25%.

Havana says the closure and the price rises are a necessary reaction to US moves to tighten its embargo on Cuba. Washington's measures - earlier in May - included a reduction in the amount of money Cuban Americans are allowed to take to their families on the island.

Cuban shoppers are quietly returning to the department stores and clothes shops that have been off-limits for two weeks. There's no evidence of any rush to buy things, instead many people seem to be milling around, keen to find out just how much prices have gone up.

Shoes have been marked up about 10%; a bottle of beer is about 15% more expensive.

The government squarely blames the price rises on US President George W Bush.

On the front of the island's state-run newspaper, an article entitled "Information for the People" says that it's the measures taken by the US government against the Cuban economy that's forcing the restructuring of prices.

Since Cuba legalised the dollar in 1993, "dollar stores" have appeared all over the country. They sell many of the items, such as cooking oil, which are almost impossible to find in government-subsidised peso stores.

Their existence helps ensure that most of the hard currency circulating in the country eventually ends up in the government's hands, but they also symbolise inequality in this Socialist state.

The goods they sell are more likely to be bought by a Cuban who works in the tourist industry or has relatives abroad, than a doctor surviving on a paltry state salary.

It's not clear whether putting prices up further will make that inequality more or less apparent.
 

Dominican storms 'leave 130 dead'
More than 130 people have died after torrential rains swept across the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. At least 80 people were killed in the Dominican Republic when two rivers broke their banks in the small town of Jimani on the border with Haiti.

Fifty-eight people were reported killed in flooding in Haiti, AFP news agency reported.

Meteorologists predict the heavy rains will continue throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.

Torrential rain has been falling for more than two weeks on the Dominican Republic, swelling rivers and saturating the land.

A member of parliament for the area of Jimani, Atila Perez, said 200 homes were flooded and whole families were swept away when the town's river burst its banks.

Mr Perez said that all that was left of the homes in the worst affected neighbourhood were pieces of timber and clothing embedded in the mud. Dominican President Hipolito Mejia has sent emergency teams to the area.

Air force and army teams have been searching for survivors in atrocious conditions but were forced to stop when darkness fell.

The director of the country's Civil Defence department told Reuters rescue workers would resume searching for survivors at daybreak on Tuesday. Some 450 homes were flooded across the nation, National Emergency Commission (NEC) chief Radhames Lora Salcedo was quoted as saying by AP news agency.

North-western areas have been most badly hit by the rains, which cut off some roads and led to power cuts in at least 14 towns.

Extensive damage to crops and livestock has been reported. Thousands who fled the bursting rivers were staying with friends and relatives or at shelters set up in churches.

In the neighbouring US territory of Puerto Rico, at least one man was missing and some 100 people had to flee their houses because of flooding, officials told AP.
 

Peru town hit by further unrest
Protesters have clashed with police in a Peruvian town where a mob lynched the mayor last month. Officials said about 10 people were injured in the unrest in Ilave near Lake Titicaca when local people tried to block a bridge into the town.

A state of emergency is being considered by the Peruvian interior ministry in an attempt to end the unrest. It is the latest problem for Peru's increasingly unpopular government.

I A doctor in the town hospital said the injured were being treated for gunshot wounds and the effects of tear gas grenades after hundreds of indigenous people clashed with police.

Last month local people beat to death the town mayor after accusing him of corruption.

Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi was forced to resign after the congress said he failed to end three weeks of violence in the impoverished region which culminated in the mob lynching.

Further north in Peru, hundreds of coca farmers have been blocking roads and burning cars in the central jungle region, protesting the forced eradication of their crops which is the raw material for cocaine.

This social unrest comes at a difficult time for President Alejandro Toledo who is facing calls from the main opposition leader and ex-President Alan Garcia to bring in a new politically independent cabinet.

Analysts say Mr Toledo, who has the support of only 6% of the population, could then probably ride out the remaining two years of his five-year term with the cabinet all but nominally running Peru.