Spanish Consortium Managers Flee
Costa Rica
According to immigration
reports, it was 10:05pm on
Wednesday night when two
representatives of the Spanish
construction consortium Obrascón
Huarte Laín (OHL), took Iberia
flight 6310 and left Costa Rican
territory headed for Madrid,
Spain.
The departure of the two men
came on the heel of raid on
Thursday on the offices of OHL
and the detention of the manager
of the firm, Hernando Lazo.
The Spanish firm is being
investigated for what appears to
be problems with the
construction of the new Alajuela
Hospital which is experiencing
serious construction and
equipment deficiencies following
it's opening last October.
The Spanish firm was awarded the
multimillion dollar contract to
build the new modern hospital in
Alajuela. Complaints range from
doors that don't work to
equipment - new equipment - that
is failing or totally useless in
only months of operation.
The staff at the new and modern
kitchen facility at the hospital
have had to resort to the old
pots and pans to prepare the
daily meals for the patients and
staff at the hospital.
Lazo was detained by
investigators Thursday, along
with Israel Moya Rodríguez a
manager at the Caja
Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)
for suspicion of corruption and
fraud.
The hospital cost us$40 million
dollars to build and went into
operation officially in October
2004. The new hospital had been
25 years in the planning.
President Abel Pacheco had
promised a hard line with the
firm when it was made public
that much of the equipment at
the hospital was not working
properly and some not working at
all and defects in construction.
Pacheco said yesterday he would
personally contact his
counterpart in the Spanish
government if the conversations
with the Spanish firm don't lead
to a resolution of the problem
and will
resort to the Tribunales de
Justicia - the courts - to
defend the "huge amount of
money" that the new hospital
cost.
Costa Rica's New Ambassador to
the OAS
Ambassador Javier
Sancho Bonilla, presenting
credentials on Friday as Costa
Rica’s new Permanent
Representative to the
Organization of American States
(OAS), renewed his nation’s
commitment to the regional
Organisation and the
inter-American system as well as
to the defense and promotion of
human rights, democracy and
hemispheric security.
The new envoy delivered his
accreditation letters to Acting
Secretary General Luigi Einaudi,
conveying greetings from
President Abel Pacheco and
Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto
Tovar. The brief ceremony at
which Ambassador Sancho Bonilla
presented credentials followed
private discussions he held with
Ambassador Einaudi.
In welcoming the new envoy, the
Acting Secretary General noted
Costa Rica’s contribution to the
hemispheric agenda. He made
particular mention of the
Central American nation’s
longstanding leadership on the
defense of human rights, the
promotion of democracy and in
“the quest for sound
inter-Americanism based on the
dignity of
democratically-organized
countries.”
A career diplomat, Ambassador
Javier Sancho Bonilla has held a
variety of senior positions
prior to this appointment,
including as Director General of
Foreign Policy with his
country’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and as Ambassador in
Brazil, Korea and Thailand. He
has represented his government
at numerous international
conferences, including as head
of delegation to the Conference
of National Coordinators of the
Rio Group, held in Santiago,
Chile, in March 2001.
Einaudi is temporarily filling
the position vacated by Costa
Rica's former president, Miguel
Angel Rodríguez, who resigned
just a month after taking office
amid accusations of corruption
in the ICE-Alcatel scandal.
Rodríguez is currently in La
Reforma prison on preventive
detention while the Fiscalía
(prosecutor's office) continues
it's investigation in the case.
Costa Rica - Japan Celebrate 70
Years
Costa Rica in a
celebration at Casa Presidencial
yesterday re-confirmed it's 70
year tie with Japan.
The two countries have had
diplomatic and commercial ties
for a long time and yesterday
Costa Rican President Abel
Pacheco met with Japan's
representative, Doctor Tatsuo
Arima, to commemorate their long
history.
Dr. Arima read the best wishes
by Japan's Prime Minister,
Junichiro Koizumi, who could not
attend personally the
celebrations. For his part,
President Pacheco expressed his
admiration for the Japanese
people and their long standing
relationship.
Costa Rica has had diplomatic
ties with Japan since 1935 when
the Costa Rica made the first
coffee export to that country.
Ties between the two countries
broke off during the Second
World War and resumed again in
1952.
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Be Wary of the Costa Rica
Lottery Letter Scam
Imagine, the phone rings and
someone on the other end
says you just won millions
in the Costa Rica lottery.
You never entered the
lottery, but they say all
you have to do to become
rich is send a few thousand
dollars for a finder's fee.
It's a scam, and as it had
been discovered, it's just
one of many that go on on a
regular basis.
Sometimes a letter arrives
promising millions, but the
only thing that the writer
delivers is a had lesson
from hustlers.
Lottery scams have been
around for a long time, as
long as lotteries have been
around. And many get fooled
each year with the promise
of a quick buck.
The problem has become a
huge problem for law
enforcement agents in the
United States and Canada as
they are powerless to stop
it, mainly from lack of
complaints from those who
have been duped.
The most common scam lottery
scam is simple. You get a
letter - an email - that is
notifying you of your
winnings. You can't remember
even entering any lottery,
but hey, it's in an email
and addressed to my email
address, so it must be true.
The letter will ask that you
send a specified amount -
usually thousands - as a
good faith gesture so that
you collect the millions
waiting for you.
You can resist. You've never
won a lottery before. So,
why not. Once the money is
sent, you can be assured
that there won't be any more
letters about your "grand"
prize. The scammers already
got theirs.
At this point, though you
may not want to accept it,
you've just been had. So,
how do you protected
yourself?
Authorities say when you're
dealing with someone you
don't know, be skeptical,
and if it sounds too good to
be true, it's probably a
fraud. Don't send anyone you
don't know any money in the
hopes of a big payday and
report the occurrence to
local police. Chances are
you just one of thousands
who got the same letter.
Two
Marinas in Golfito
The Costa Rican Board of
Tourism (ICT) and the
Commission for Marinas recently
approved the operation of two
marinas in the southern Pacific
port of Golfito, Banana Bay
Marina, with 16 slips, and
Golfito Marina, with 217 slips.
The first one has operated for
several years, while the second
one is in the project stage.
The
state agencies also authorized
the operation of two tourist
berthing places, Las Gaviotas
and Wacka Correcto, each with
several slips.
These two marinas
add to the two existing ones, Puntarenas Yacht Club, which can
hold 35 boats, and Los Sueños,
with 275 slips.
The ICT and the
Commission for Marinas are also
studying applications for 15
other marinas, all of them on
the Pacific Coast.
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