Fishman Quits The Vice
Presidency
For almost three
years, Luis Fishman, has been
second vice-president of Costa
Rica, though with no office or
official duties after his run
with president Abel Pacheco, has
tendered his resignation.
Fishman, who has been active
since April 2002, a month before
taking the vice-presidential
post that he could not resign at
the time for constitutional
reasons, will now return to the
political arena. He belongs to
the Partido Unidad Social
Cristiana (PUSC) and is the
fifth vice president in the
country's history to resign from
office.
Fishman told the daily Spanish
language newspaper La Nación
that he feels it is time to
incorporate himself in national
politics. The former
vice-president said he has no
aspiration to run for president,
however, he did dismiss the idea
of running for a spot in the
Legislature.
President Pacheco, from Ecuador
where is currently on an
official visit following a
meeting of Latin American chiefs
over the European Union's banana
tarriff proposal, said he wishes
"Don Luis" best of luck. Pacheco
added that as vice-president,
Fishman worked independently and
he is not aware of what he done
for the last three years.
The bitterness between the two
men came in February of 2002
following the first round vote
in the presidential election,
when then presidential candidate
Pacheco separated himself fro
Fishman and promised him no
official role in his government.
Many believe that Fishman was
kept out by a whim on the
president's part, following a
discussion by the two men during
the election. And many believe
that Fishman was the master
behind the political win by
Pacheco and was unjustly
wronged.
Fishman tried to resign his
position before the second round
election that saw Pacheco take
the presidential chair and
Fishman in as second
vice-president. The country's
political constitution did not
permit him to resign at the time
and Fishman took the title but
with no official duties or
responsibilities.
Fishman in his resignation
letter said "for reasons beyond
my control, for the last three
years I could fulfill my duties
bestowed on by Costa Ricans."
Under Costa Rica's political
constitution, if the president
is not able to carry out his
duties, the first vice-president
would replace the president. In
the event the first
vice-president is not able to
take the office of the
president, the second
vice-president could then be
called upon.
New Immigration Law Would See
Couple Live Together For One
Year Before Applying for
Residency
Following a decision by the Sala
IV - the Constitutional Court -
that said that the immigration
service cannot investigate or
refuse residency to a foreigner
who is marriage to a Costa
Rican, deputies are studying a
new law by Migración y
Extranjería where it will
regulate "marriages of
convenience".
The new law proposes that the
couple must have lived at lived
at least one year together as
one of the requirements of
residency. The new law would be
be in contravention of the Sala
IV order, but would make it a
requisite of residency.
The new law would also punish
from two to six years in prison
or high fines to those who
practice "coyotage" - arranging
the marriages for financial
gain.
The proposed law is in the
discussion stage and various
parties have differing opinion,
however, it is expected to hit
the legislative floor within a
few weeks.
Tourism in Limón Down Due to
Floods
Asociación
Costarricense de Profesionales
en Turismo (ACOPROT) confirmed
yesterday a 70% cancellation
rate by visitors to the
Caribbean tourist spots.
Worried about possible flooding
and bad weather was the primary
reason for the high cancellation
rate, following more than two
weeks of torrential rain and
flooding in the area so
Sarapiquí, Talamanca and Sixaola.
According to hotel owners, bad
road conditions due to the
flooding has reduced occupation
levels to 25% in the last few
weeks when this is supposed to
the "high" season and getting a
hotel room in the area is almost
impossible.
In addition, to cruise liners
cancelled their stop in the Port
of Limón due to the bad weather
and not place passengers at
risk.
Locations like Manzanillo and
Puerto Viejo, two hot tourists
spots, did not suffer any major
flooding, though they are
suffering from the low number of
tourists coming to the area.
Some tourists operators are
telling their clients not to
visit the area and others
believe that the whole Caribbean
coast is under water. Some
parts, like the town of Sixaola,
bordering Panama, were severely
affected by the floods, but many
tourist areas were not.
The Instituto Costarricense de
Turismo (ICT) - the tourism
board - is assuring potential
visitors that access to the
Limón province is normal.
Tourism in Limón employs about
12.700 people. There are more
than 365 operators offering some
3.784 rooms for lodging.
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OIJ To Use DNA To Curb Cattle
Theft
The use of DNA testing is
applied in many ways in a
criminal investigation by police
authorities. We've see the
television shows where DNA
became the principal evidence in
a case. And we've read the
headlines in newspapers were DNA
has set free many innocents
after spending years in jail.
Now in Costa Rica officials of
the Organismo de Investigación
Judicial (OIJ) will use DNA
testing to curb the theft of
cattle.
Last year, according to official
reports, there were 2.342 heads
of cattle stolen. If a value of
¢250.000 colones (us$545
dollars) is placed on each head
of cattle, the loss would
surpass ¢500 million colones
(over us$1 million dollars).
For the most part, cattle
thieves butcher the animals and
sell of the meat. Thus, the OIJ
will use DNA testing to fight
the cattle thieves, confirmed
OIJ director, Jorge Rojas.
The OIJ will test confiscated
contraband meat with the DNA of
the other meats where the
animals are butchered. Rojas
added that the OIJ will call for
more rigorous controls of
branding the cattle by their
owners.
Bulgarian Scammer Arrested
Kitov Ivan Velinov, a Bulgarian
who was the target of a
worldwide search because of his
participation in a multi-million
scam in his country, was
arrested by the Costa Rican
police.
Velinov, 42, had lived in Costa
Rica since 1998 under a false
identity. He posed as Jack
Hassell Bosman Petrova, name
under which he married here and
obtained the status of permanent
resident.
Velinov, whose deeds had
affected two banks in Bulgaria,
tried to get a U.S. visa from
the American Consulate in San
Jose.
This was the key to his arrest,
because the US consular
authorities found out who he
actually was and alerted the
local police.
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