Second Small Plane Down in Less than A Week
Yesterday, a Cessna 206, piloted by what authorities say an experienced pilot disappeared near Esterillos Esta, Parrita.

Former Protocol Chief Says the Press is Out to Persecute President Pacheco
Jorge Arce, former chief of protocol at Casa Presidencial, who resigned on Monday amid accusations of irregularities, said he quit because he didn't want to further hurt President Pacheco.

Arias' Campaign Message Calls Criticized
Presidential candidate Óscar Arias Sánchez is surrounded by criticism over a practice in place by his campaign staff, using cellular phones and voicemail to promote his candidacy.

$5.000 To Have Dinner With Arias
Want to have dinner with former president and Nobel prize winner Dr. Óscar Arias Sánchez who is also the presidential candidate for the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN) party for the 2006 bid for the presidential chair?

Import Ban of Older Cars Scrapped
The government has put the brakes on the plan to limit the import of cars older than 7 years.

CIMAT Considers Three Coast Marinas
The government department charged with overseeing all technical aspects of marinas and their construction said this week it was currently considering submissions for 16 marinas around the country, three of them in Guanacaste.



LATIN AMERICA

Bolivian protesters block roads to neighboring countries
Highways connecting Bolivia with Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Chile were blocked by demonstrators after a nationwide unrest paralyzed traffic within the country, the Bolivian National Road Service (SNC) said Wednesday.

Mexican interior minister resigns to seek presidency
Mexican President Vicente Fox accepted Wednesday the resignation of Interior Minister Santiago Creel who is seeking the presidential candidacy of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) for next year's elections.

Chile's arms purchase not to break regional balance:official
The Chilean government said on Wednesday that its purchases of planes, ships and tanks will not break the military balance in the region, as it only intended to replace obsolete arm models.

One dead, seven injured in Colombia air crash
One person died and seven others were injured Wednesday when a light airplane crashed into a house near an airport in the southern Colombian city of Neiva, 304 km south of Bogota, authorities said.

International Conference against Terrorism Opens in Havana
Hundreds of intellectuals, artists, union and social leaders, lawmakers and political leaders from around the world are opening Thursday in Havana an International Meeting against Terrorism, for Truth and Justice.



SPECIAL REPORTS
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO:
Nobel Laureate Has an Equation for Optimism
Air quality, climate change and the ozone layer are variables in an equation that humans have been toying with, so much so that we have endangered our very future, Mexican scientist Mario Molina, 1995 winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, said in a conversation with Tierramérica.