Government Prepared for Monday's
General Strike
The Minister for the Presidency,
Ricardo Toledo and the Minister
of Public Security, Rogelio
Ramos, have both said that the
government will guarantee a
clear movement of traffic on
Monday as the country's union
stage a national strike.
Unions have called on their
membership to a general strike
Monday the 23rd to protest the
government's contract with
Riteve SyC that has an exclusive
on vehicular revision.
The protest is also to
demonstrate displeasure over the
government's salary increase for
public employees of 4.5% for
this half of the year and the
Tratado de Libre Comercio (Free
Trade Agreement) with the United
States.
Ramos, whose Ministry provides
national security by the Fuerza
Publica, said police will not
intervene if the march is
peaceful, however, will they
will be ready to take preventive
measures if necessary.
The Asociación Nacional de
Empleados Públicos y Privados (ANEP)
is to announce the plans for the
protest on Sunday, which is to
be a national action, that will
include public transportation.
The Asociación Nacional de
Educadores (ANDE), the
Trabajadores de la Educación
Costarricense (SEC), the
Asociación Automotriz de
Talleres Integrales
Costarricenses and the Unión de
Empleados del Instituto Nacional
de Seguros (UPINS) have
announced that will not
participate in the movement.
Minister Toledo told the news
media that the government
surprised that action is going
ahead since leaders of the
movement have refused to talk,
calling the group "hermetic".
Toledo reminded the group that
the government signed the
contract with Riteve, a process
that began during the José María
Figueres Olsen (1994-1998)
administration.
Street Vendors Lose Battle
Street Vendors lost
their battle against the
Municipality who is intent on
removing them from the streets
of downtown San José.
Friday a court rejected four
separate appeals presented by
the Street Vendors, who are
asking for relief by the courts,
not to be removed from the
streets.
Three other appeals are still
pending before the courts.
The Municipality will not act
before all the appeals have been
heard and the courts have
rendered their decision.
Street Vendors are still
positive that the court will
rule in their favour, a decision
that is expected in October.
The Municipality has been
fighting the war with Street
Vendors for years. They were
successful in removing them
several years ago, but the
Street Vendors slowly re-took
the streets.
In June of this year, the
Municipality of San José gave
Street Vendors an ultimatum,
move or be moved.
The original deadline of June 18
was extended to the 21st.
Many Street Vendors voluntarily
packed up their stalls and
decided to go, while others
decided to stay and fight for
their rights to be there.
A riot of the downtown streets
was averted with the early
afternoon news that the courts
had decided to receive the
Vendor's appeal and the decision
of the Municipality to stop any
action until a resolution of the
court.
Wanted North American Detained
in Guanacaste
An action by Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ)
captures section and Interpol
Costa Rica saw the detention of
a North American man yesterday
in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste.
The North American was
identified as David Kelly, who
was wanted in Boston,
Massachusetts, for distribution
of synthetic drugs.
Kelly faces extradition to the
United States and joins several
other Americans being held in
the San Sebastian jail awaiting
a similar fate.
Police did not disclose any
details of the detention or of
the warrant against Kelly, other
than to say that the man was
wanted in the U.S. is expected
to be tried for possession and
trafficking of illegal
substances by a Boston court.
Man Takes Own Life While Being
Chased by Police
Police on the chase
of a suspected child abuser
found themselves investigation a
suicide, as the man they were
chasing decided to take his own
life while riding a crowded bus
in the Puriscal-San José route.
The man identified only by his
last name, Ureña, was being
chased by Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ)
agents for sexual abuse of his
10 year old stepdaughter.
Police had boarded the bus at
the Coca Cola bus stop in the
downtown area of San José,
following the suspect and were
slowly making their way through
the bus, asking everyone's
identification. A few seats
away, the 39 year old man
decided to shoot himself in the
head moments before police were
able to arrest him.
According to witnesses, the man
shot himself two or three times,
putting in danger the lives of
the other 25 passengers. The
event occurred before 5pm
yesterday near the Multiplaza
commercial centre in Escazú.
The man had been under
investigation by the Delitos
Sexuales section of the OIJ and
was being followed by agents
since Thursday following a
statement by the little girl.
Neighbours told a Channel 7 news
team who visited the house where
the man lived, that they were
aware of the charges made by the
little girl and they were
waiting on the man to return
home to lynch him.
Group of Rio to Expand
Investments in Latin America
Member countries of
the Group of Rio, the principal
forum of political negotiation
and mediation in Latin America,
pledged Friday to adopt measures
to boost public and private
investment in the region.
Foreign ministers of the 19
member countries vowed to set up
" flexible and innovating"
financial mechanisms to expand
public and private investment in
Latin America.
The decision was announced in a
joint communique released at the
end of the ministerial meeting,
which was held to make
preparation for the 18th Summit
of the regional bloc to be held
on Nov. 4 and 5, in the
Brazilian city of Rio de
Janeiro.
The ministers also agreed to
hold in early November, prior to
the summit, a meeting of "senior
officials" to define the ways of
forming a new mechanism to
present the positions of the
governments of the bloc.
The Group of Rio is formed by
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana,
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
and Venezuela.
The foreign ministers discussed
as well a meeting of world
leaders to be held in New York
on Sept. 20, when Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva will seek a greater
political impulse to the
alleviation of hunger and
poverty in the world.
They also expressed their
support for the role of the UN
Mission for the Stabilization of
Haiti.
"The foreign ministers, upon
examining the situation of
Haiti, agreed on the importance
of lasting solutions that not
only restore peace and democracy
in that Latin American country,
but also offer conditions for
its development," said the
communique.
They "underscored the priority"
of the Group of Rio to
strengthen multilateralism,
"mainly for the defense of peace
and the promotion of
development, through joint
action so as to face the threats
to world security and the reform
of the structure and functioning
of the United Nations," it
added.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of
the meeting, representatives of
the foreign ministries of
Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay
signed on Friday a memorandum of
understanding to promote
projects of energy- sector
integration.
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