San José, Costa Rica - Tuesday 03 August 2004

1.116 Unique Visitors Daily Average in July!  What's This? 

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

Rescue work underway. The Paraguayan Attorney General's office said Monday that seven people have been accused for their presumed liability for the Sunday fire on the outskirts of Asuncion, which killed at least 364 people, according to reports. Click for larger image!

Arias Early Frontrunner
Former president Óscar Arias Sánchez is the top presidential hopeful in Costa Rica, according to two separate polls conducted by by Unimer published in the Spanish daily La Nación and CID Gallup.

Central Bank Tightens Monetary Policy To Stave Off Inflation
As the country faces increasing inflationary pressures, Costa Rica’s Central Bank President has announced a tightening of monetary policy in an attempt to ensure future economic stability.

Catholic Church Offers Public Apology for Sexual Abuses by Priests
The Catholic Church in Costa Rica yesterday asked publicly for forgiveness for the sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by some priests.

Chilean Ambassador to be Replaced
The Chilean Ambassador to Costa Rica, Guillermo Yunge, will leave his post in September.
 

Colombia to create new demobilization zone Colombian President Alvaro Uribe authorized Monday to create a new demobilization zone for the paramilitaries of the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Casanare (ACC)and the Centaurs Bloc, local reports said Monday. Uruguay to open hospital for victims of Paraguay supermarket fire Uruguay's National Center for the Treatment of Burnt People will receive victims of Sunday's supermarket fire in Paraguay, the Uruguayan Public Health Ministrysaid on Monday. 7 accused for Paraguayans supermarket fire The Paraguayan Attorney General's office said Monday that seven people have been accused for their presumed liability for the Sunday fire on the outskirts of Asuncion, which killed at least 364 people, according to reports from Asuncion.    International News from the New York Times

NICARAGUA: Therapeutic Abortion Faces Pressure from the Right Therapeutic abortion has been legal for more than a century in Nicaragua. But heated parliamentary debate has erupted, spurred on by right-wing and religious groups seeking a ban. The fuse was ignited by the case of Rosita, a nine-year-old Nicaraguan girl whose parents emigrated to Costa Rica in the early 1990s in search of a better life. She became pregnant in late 2003 after she was raped on a coffee plantation near the central Costa Rican city of Turrialba. THE INTERNET: Net Virus Posing as Berg video A virus purporting to show video of Nick Berg alive has been released on the internet, warn security experts. The virus is in a message post to tens of thousands of newsgroups, said anti-virus firm Sophos. COSTA RICA TRAVEL No Mans Land, Paso Canoas, Costa Rica The border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama has to be the least hospitable in Central America, if not in the entire continent. Today I crossed it on bus for the second time in a place called Paso Canoas (the passing of canoes) and I really wish I was passing gently down a serene river on a canoe instead of going through the red tape mayhem they have set out for tourists here.

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