Bi-Lateral Agreement with the
U.S. Will Force Payment of Child
Support
Costa Ricans who leave the
country for "greener" pasture in
the United States forgetting
loved ones at home and Americans
who skip out on child support to
hide in Costa Rica can do so no
more.
A bi-lateral agreement signed
yesterday by representatives of
the United States and Roberto
Tovar, Minister of Foreign
Affairs in Costa Rica, will
ensure that minors will not be
left out in the cold.
The agreement will now allow
mothers on both sides of the
border to apply the law
regarding child support.
The program has been two years
in the making, which had to be
approved by various levels of
government institutions before
it could come into effect.
The Patronato Nacional de la
Infancia (PANI), the
Procuraduría General de la
República and the Corte Suprema
de Justicia had to all agree to
the agreement before it could be
signed.
Douglas Barnes, chief negotiator
for the U.S. said that this is
the first agreement signed with
a Latin American country. The
U.S. has similar agreements with
Canada, Australia and eight
European countries, but nothing
south of the border.
Rosalía Gil, Ministra de la
Niñez y la Adolescencia said
this is an important move to
help those families in need, for
mothers who have to raise their
children alone and without
financial support while the
fathers leave Costa Rican
territory and the good life in
the United States.
Roberto Tovar, for his part,
said that is a signal to all the
"dead beats" who come to Costa
Rica to avoid their
responsibilities.
The agreement now has to be
ratified by the Legislative
Assembly and then for the
Foreign Ministry notify the U.S.
government, before the agreement
will come into effect.
No date was specified for when
this will be done, though it is
expected to be in no time.
CCSS To Sue Spanish Consortium
for Alajuela Hospital
Deficienies
Following President Abel
Pacheco's strong comments the
earlier day, the Caja
Costarricense del Seguro Social
(CCSS) had announced it will sue
the Spanish consortium that
built the Alajuela Hospital,
following complaints about the
construction and medical
equipment that does not work.
As President Pacheco said in his
comments the day earlier, it has
taken some 25 years to plan,
design and build the hospital
and one would expect that would
be working properly.
The Spanish consortium OHL
delivered the completed building
last fall. "They are saying that
they have completed all, had the
provisional receiving ceremony
and have been responding to the
complaints", said Dr. Alberto
Sáenz, president of the CCSS.
The Spaniards had agreed to send
a mission to Costa Rica to look
into the problem, but never
stated when. Meanwhile, Costa
Ricans who are paying the price
for the problems for the faulty
construction and medical
equipment that doesn't work
properly or at all.
The process of determining the
total cost of the problems and
initiating a court action which
will eventually make the final
decision is underway. As well,
the CCSS has decided to
investigate those public
officials who were supposed to
have carried out the inspections
and will follow up on several
key CCSS managers who, though
are no longer working for the
government, will face legal
action if found to have been
negligent in their duties.
CCSS officials say that the
building has no structural
faults and there is no danger
there.
Dr. Sáenz also said that CCSS
has learned it's lesson and will
make sure the same doesn't
happen with the new Heredia
hospital.
National Debt Reaches $10
Billion Dollars
The Minister of
Hacienda, Federico Carrillo,
said yesterday that the national
debt grew by 13.82% in 2004,
reaching us$10 billion - yes
billion - dollars or ¢4.921.897
million colones. The Revenue
Minister stated that to wipe out
the debt, each Costa Rican must
pay out ¢1.3 million colones or
us$2.800 dollars at the current
exchange rate.
Carrillo added that if the
current Reforma Fiscal (Tax
Reforms) is not approved, the
situation will not worsen.
The government has been spending
more than it has taken in and
part of the increase in the
national debt is increased
payments to finance it. "If we
continue in this way the
situation becomes cronic and
unsustainable, no matter now
hard we have tried to cut
spending", said the Minister.
The Minister says that the new
tax reforms will help the
government with increase
revenues to combat the growing
national debt, which is now
placing tremendous pressure on
the government and it's efforts
to curb inflation.
The Minister said that currently
50.88% of government revenues
are going to pay debt
obligations, while 36% is going
to pension, leaving only 14% to
pay for all other expenses.
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BAC San José Bank Announces
Payday Loans
Customers of BAC San José, a
private bank, don't have to
wait for their paycheck
anymore. The bank made the
announcement yesterday, that
it's customers can now get
an advance on their
salaries.
Government institutions and
many large and medium
businesses use direct
deposit to pay their
employees each 15th and 30th
of the month. The employer
make the deposit to their
bank account, eliminating
checks and cash payments.
With this new plan, BAC San
José customers who receive
their salaries through the
bank can now get their money
before payday, even though
the employer has not yet
made the deposit to their
account.
The bank will treat the
early withdrawl as a cash
advance and can only be made
at an ATM machine. The cost
for this service is ¢50
colones for each ¢1000
colones withdraw with a
minimum ¢200 colones for
each transaction.
BAC San José officials say
that some 10.000 customers
can take advantage of this
plan, expecting only 20% to
actually use it.
Nicaragua Ready for One
Border Control Post at Peñas
Blancas
The President of
Nicaragua, Enrique Bolaños,
announced yesterday that
Nicaragua now has the money
to move the Costa Rican
Peñas Blancas border control
point into Nicaragua,
creating one united border
point than the current
separate posts.
"We hope that in no time the
Costa Rican immigration
authorities will move to our
installations to be able to
provide better migratory
services", said the
Nicaraguan president.
Bolaños made the
announcement while at the
border point with Honduras
to announce a free movement
of goods and people between
the two countries that will
also affect Guatemala and El
Salvador.
Costa Rican authorities were
not available for comment
and Costa Rican President,
Abel Pacheco, though invited
to the ceremony, did not
attend.
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