San José, Costa Rica -   Tuesday 05 October 2004

1.396 Daily Average Visits in September!

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

Following months of delay and then some more delays, Pasaje Plazavenida finally opened it's doors on Friday, Oct. 1. The indoor mall located on eastern end of the Boulevard (Avenida Central) has 31 stores, including a food court. Keith y Ramírez, owners of the mall invest $1 Million to renovate the building that they occupied for many years, selling food service supplies and equipment. The mall is open Mon. to Sat. from 9am - 9:30pm and Sun. 10am - 8pm. Click for larger image!

insidenicaragua A new weekly feature published on Sundays, featuring a summary  of current news and events in Nicaragua.

ICE-ALCATEL SCANDAL:
Rodríguez Won't Resign, He Tells Pacheco
The newly sworn in Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Miguel Angel Rodríguez, gave his reply late yesterday afternoon to President Abel Pacheco's request that Rodríguez resign following allegations accepting a bribe on the ICE-Alactel deal.

ICE-ALCATEL SCANDAL:
Fernández Arrested, Arias Speaks Out
While José Antonio Lobo Solera is under "house arrest" for the next six months for his role in the scandal, former director of the Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Joaquín Alberto Fernández, will spend the next three months in the San José San Sebastain jail, on preventive detention, ruled against him by a judge for his accepting us$1.200.000 payoff from Alcatel.

The Scandals
Monday was a relatively day of calm at the Ministerio Público. No new revelations of corruption, no finger pointing and no raids of any kind against anyone.


ICE Opens Internal Investigation on Alcatel
La Nación, the Spanish daily newspaper, reports that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has opened an internal investigation against the French telecommunications company, Alcatel, with the objective to bar the firm from any future bids on ICE contracts.

Kanev Trial: First Day!
Arthur Kanev, the first U.S. citizen to be extradited to Costa Rica on charges providing drugs to minors, corruption of minors and having sexual relations with willing children under the age of 15, began his first day of trial without entering a plea.

This Summer to be Hotter and Dryer
The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) - the weatherman - is predicting that this summer or "green season" that begins in December will be hotter than normal and will last longer past May of next year, the official month for the change of season.

Delta Air Lines Limits Passenger Baggage to Select Latin American Cities
Delta Air Lines has announced its annual baggage policy for flights to select Latin American> cities during the holiday travel season.

Crude oil discovered in Brazil's Potiguar Basin
Brazil's state-run petroleum company PETROBRAS announced on Monday that crude oil had been discovered in Potiguar Basin, in the country's Rio Grando do Norteprovince, in a joint exploitation with Portugal's oil company Partex.

14 people killed in Colombia
A group of gunmen killed 14 people and injured five others on Sunday in a farmhouse in Candelaria, Colombia's Valle del Cauca province, local police said Monday.

French soldiers join military exercises in Venezuela
A group of French soldiers started joint military exercises with Venezuelan troops in the Guri area in Venezuela's southern state of Bolivar, the state-run news agency Venpres reported Monday.

Cuban Protester beaten, arrested, and charged
On Sunday, September 26, Daniel Orlando Gómez planted himself in front of the local Communist Party headquarters and started yelling for Fidel Castro to step down.

International News from the New York Times
 

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