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updated by 7:00 a.m. CST each day
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New Municipal
Regulation to Combat Sexual Exploitation of Minors
Article 81 of
the Municipal Code, for years now, has established
sanctions for establishments that conduct business
against 'moral conventions', but it has been
difficult to apply as those actions are not
concretely defined.
According to San José mayor, Johnny Araya, they
have now completed the definitions and can now apply
the Code.
Last week, the Municipal Council approved a
regulation that gives the municipality the legal
instrument to revoke patents to businesses that
sexually exploit minors and/or distribute illegal
drugs.
So, with this new tool in had, Municipal officials
will be keeping a close eye on hotels, restaurants,
bars, massage parlors and saunas, modeling agencies
and other businesses who can be in a position to
sexually exploit children.
Municipal official will work closely with the
Patronato Nacional de La Infancia (PANI), the
national agency that protects children.
If police detect irregularities, retailers and other
commercial establishments can lose their patents and
will have to close their doors. The regulation has
already been sent to the official newspaper, La
Gaceta, for publication. Once published, the
regulations can come into force, which is expected
within 4 or 5 weeks.
Mother's Day Scam?
or Just Business as Usual?
Vilma Villalobos, Minister for the Economy, advises
consumers who will be out shopping for Mother's Day
gifts to carefully look at the cost of financing if
buying on credit.
Mother's Day, August 15th., is a major holiday for
retailers. All the large retailers of domestic
appliances and furniture offer financing or
purchases on credit.
The law stipulates that the consumer must be advised
of the total cost of financing, that in some cases
can be as low as 27%, to as high as 72% per year.
Some retailers do not spell out the true cost of
financing and the difference in price between paying
for in cash or financed. Others, cloud the issue
with special promotions and discounts, covering up
the true cost of the item, offering low weekly or
bi-weekly payments that can double or triple the
original cost.
A practice noted in window display cases and ticket
prices, is where only the weekly or bi-weekly
payment of the item is published. The law stipulates
that the original price of the item - the cash
purchase ticket price - and the cost of financing
and the number of payment should be clearly marked.
The hook is a low regular payment that can go for up
to 60 months, and not telling the consumer the cost
of item if it were being purchased in cash.
Central
America Bond Outlook Clouded
Debt issued by Central
American nations has provided yield-hungry investors
with a bumper year so far, with Guatemala, El
Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama selling a combined
$1.37 billion in new paper since January.
But after a strong uptake
on the bonds, investors are now asking how safe
their money is, as the region's political fortunes
hang in the balance.
Guatemala, Panama and El
Salvador all face general elections within the next
nine months, at best bringing uncertainty in the
region and even threatening political turmoil as in
Guatemala where a former dictator is running for
president in November.
In Costa Rica, popular
discontent over attempts to cut spending has rocked
the government while its fiscal deficit continues to
spiral.
El Salvador's two-year-old
experiment with dollarization is also far from
conclusive, analysts say, while the pro-market
government could face defeat at the hands of the
leftist ex-guerrilla FMLN party in March elections.
Seen as an exotic credit,
investors have snapped up Central American debt
because of higher yields, despite greater risk.
Yields are around 9 percent
on Central American bonds, compared with 3 percent
on dependable U.S Treasuries.
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US Suspends Transit
Without Visa
On August 2,
2003 the Department of Homeland Security announced
the indefinite suspension of the Transit without a
Visa Program (TWOV) program and the
International-to-International Transit Program (ITI),
pending a review within the next 60 days. This
announcement does not affect qualified travelers
traveling visa free under the Visa Waiver Program.
To
minimize inconvenience to travelers, those who were
seeking to transit the United States under TWOV or
ITI who purchased their tickets as TWOV or ITI
passengers on or before July 24, 2003 and who
are scheduled to depart for transit through the
United States before 12.01 a.m. EST, Tuesday, August
5, 2003 may still transit without a visa, provided
they are otherwise qualified.
Travelers with tickets purchased after July 24 or
those with tickets purchased on or before that date,
but not scheduled to depart in transit until after
12.01 EST, Tuesday, August 5, 2003 will either be
required to apply for a U.S. visa, or change their
travel itinerary to exclude a stop in the United
States.
Travelers
who have already made the outward journey through
the United States under the TWOV or ITI programs and
are seeking to transit the United States on the
return journey must use the return portion of their
round trip ticket before 11:00 a.m. EST, August 9,
2003.
Travelers who are not on their return journey
through the United States or those whose return
journey will take them through the United States
after 11:00 a.m. EST, August 9, 2003 will either be
required to apply for a visa, or change their travel
itinerary to exclude a stop in the United States.
Important
Notice: The suspension of the TWOV program
does not affect visa free travel under the Visa
Waiver Program. Qualified visa free travelers may
continue to travel to the United States for business
or pleasure or in transit through the United States.
World's
first cloned horse born in Italy
 ROME,
The world's first cloned horse was born in Italy
this spring and it was also the first case of a
mammal giving birth to its own clone, according to a
report to appear in the upcoming edition of Nature
magazine.
The birth, which took
place May 28, was the result of a projectheaded by
Cesare Galli, the man who cloned bull Galileo and
said it was possible to clone the record-breaking
Italian trotter Varenne.
The project was
carried out at the laboratory for reproduction
technology at the Cremona Consortium for Livestock
Raising in northern Italy.
The filly is named
Prometea and weighed a normal 36 kg at birth.Mother
and daughter are exactly identical as confirmed by
DNA testing.
Nicaragua's opposition seeks to prevent troop deployment in Iraq
Nicaraguan opposition groups on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to declare the deployment of Nicaraguan troops in Iraq unconstitutional.
The Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) and the Sandinista Front of National Liberation (FSLN) submitted such an appeal to the supreme court, opposing a decree issued by Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos Geyer in July to authorize the deployment of a 230-strong military contingent in Iraq.
Parliament has approved sending troops to the Gulf country, on humanitarian missions only.
Luis Caldera of FSLN said the court must nullify the resolutionof parliament because the whole thing is unconstitutional.
The MRS claimed the request for Nicaraguan troops as part of a multinational force in Iraq was made by the "foreign occupation forces" there. The deployment abroad is in violation of Article 5 of the Constitution, which prohibits the intervention of the internal affairs of another country, it said.
Nicaragua has asked for 3 million US dollars in assistance fromthe United States and the coalition countries that invaded Iraq, for sending a contingent of sappers, doctors and security personnel to Iraq.
The Central American country supports the US-led invasion of Iraq, which ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
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