President Pacheco to Meet With Bush This Week
Though he has not as yet decided to send the Tratado Libre Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States - President Abel Pacheco will be attending this week a meeting with U.S. President, George W. Bush, along with other the Central American presidents.

Street Duel Results in Death
In a passionate dispute over a woman, two Nicaraguans settled their dispute in a duel of "machetazos" in the middle of the street, resulting in the death of one of them.

The Rainy Season is Here!
Like it or not, the rainy season is closing in. That means getting used to carrying an umbrella again.

Gasoline Goes Up Tomorrow
The expected rise in the cost of gasoline took a break over the weekend. The ¢4 colones for super, ¢3 colones for regular and ¢2 colones for diesel increase had been expected on Saturday, when the approved hike was to have been published in the official newspaper La Gaceta on Friday.

A False Call to 911 Can Be Costly
Calls made to the emergency service 911 can save lives, dispatching emergency services like a fire truck, an ambulance or police to the scene of an emergency.

Transportation and Food Boost Inflation
During the last 12 months, transportation and food account for the heaviest blows to Costa Rican pockets.



LATIN AMERICA

Chavez demands foreign oil companies pay taxes
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that many private oil companies have been evading taxes for years, and they must be charged retroactively with interest on any debts.

6 killed, 3 injured in Argentine plane crash
Six people were killed and three others seriously injured as a mini business jet crashed Sunday night at the international airport of Argentina's second largest city of Cordoba, according to a spokesman of the airport.

Mexican authorities detain 15 jailers after jailbreak
Mexican authorities have detained 15 jailers in a probe into an escape of nine felons from a prison in Mexico's western state of Culiacan, the attorney general's office said Sunday.

Half of Brazilian March for Land Reform Completed
The red banners of the Brazilian Landless workers´Movement (MST) fluttered in the wind again on Sunday on the Goiania-Brasilia road, as thousands of men, women and children completed half of their 180-mile journey in the ´National March for Land Reform´.


SPECIAL REPORTS

RIGHTS-BRAZIL:
Pushing the Limits of Human Suffering - and Surviving
One of the women survived two shots to her head, another finally fled her husband after friends told her his death threats were for real, while the third was hospitalised for the injuries inflicted not only by her husband, but by her brother-in-law and mother-in-law as well.