Mother, Son
Reunited in Costa Rica
Fayette Sims IV, the 5-year-old boy at the center of an
international custody dispute, has been returned to his mother. Anna
Sims, her son and her attorney were planning to leave Costa Rica,
bound for Alpharetta, Georgia, where Sims lives.
Bob Marshall, Sims' attorney, said Tuesday afternoon that he and his
client spent most of the day dealing with paperwork delays involving
Fayette's passport. They planned to board a flight for Miami about
7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Marshall said they expected to arrive in Atlanta
sometime Wednesday.
"We're just ready to be home, that's for sure," Anna Sims said
Tuesday.
She and Marshall traveled to Costa Rica last week after federal
authorities announced the arrest of Sims' estranged husband, Dr.
Fayette A. Sims III, who had been a prominent Lawrenceville, Georgia
physician.
Following the arrest, the child was placed in the custody of Costa
Rican authorities. On Monday, a judge awarded custody to Anna Sims,
Marshall said.
"He is so glad to be back with his mother," the lawyer said.
Young Fayette was 4 when he was taken to Costa Rica in April 2003 by
his father for what was supposed to be a brief vacation.
Marshall said Fayette's mother realized father and son were not
returning when Dr. Sims made a quick trip back to Lawrenceville to
pick up a few things, including her son's favorite pillow.
In December, a federal grand jury in Atlanta indicted Sims on a
charge of international parental kidnapping.
Costa Rican police, assisted by an FBI agent, arrested Sims last
week after he dropped off his son for child care. Authorities here
are seeking to extradite Sims to face the charges.
Marshall said that following the father's arrest, young Fayette was
upset and confused. Now that he has been reunited with his mother,
he is doing much better, Marshall said.
Arenal Volcano Activity Calls Puts Emergency Crews on Alert
A cloud of ash around the Volcán Arenal, in la Fortuna de
San Carlos, has put emergency crews on alert. La Comisión Nacional
de Emergencia (CNE) - the national emergency commission - has set up
an observation post to monitor the volcano, catagorizing the event
as moderate.
Lidier Esquivel, director of the commission, said that they are on
alert of the possibility the volcano may become more active.
Experts say that the gravitational collapse of some area in the cone
at the peak of the volcano is causing the the smoke and parts of the
vocalno to slide down its side.
In the meantime, the Comisión Nacional de Emergencia is asking
tourists and locals to keep away from the areas of high risk.
Formal
Charges Registered Against Banco Elca
The Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (SUGEF)
presented on Monday a denuncia - formal charges - against Banco Elca
before the Ministerio Público.
The press office at the Corte Suprema de Justicia confirmed that the
denuncia has been passed on to the Fiscalía de Delitos Económicos,
the prosecutor's office that deals with financial crimes, which will
be studying the denuncia.
Last Tuesday, SUGEF, interevened in the bank's operations and
closing it's offices and branches while it investigates the bank's
financial problems stemming from a presumed low reserve and
irregularities in it's credit lending.
The SUGEF is pointing the finger at the bank's president, Carlos
Alvarado Moya, for the anomalies in it's credit portfolio and
lending practices.
SUGEF superintendent, Oscar Rodríguez , is being tight lipped about
the investigation and any possible crimes that may have been
committed at the bank. The SUGEF has appointed a temporary directors
to oversee the bank's operation while the investigation continues.
Investing in
Education
Costa Rica is known as a vacation spot with great surfing
and some fascinating places to study natural science.
But it was an intriguing educational proposal that led two Greenwood
businessmen to invest in a school in the Central American country.
Coronado Academy, which began operations in 2001 and now has more
than 40 students, promotes itself as a place for hands-on learning
in a therapeutic environment.
Brian Waldrop, chief financial officer of Viking Range Corp. and one
of Coronado's investors, said he was sold on the school's approach.
 Full
Story
COPA AMERICA:
Witch
Doctors Call on Spirits to Bring Luck to Teams
Eight witch doctors from across the continent called on the
spirits to bring luck to the dozen teams in the Copa America on Monday,
a day before the South American tournament opener.
Dressed in a multi-coloured poncho, rainbow-striped pants and a felt
fedora, lead shaman Juan Osco blew mouthfuls of scented cane liquor and
threw flower petals at a soccer ball bearing the teams' crests.
The Copa America, held in seven cities across Peru until July 25,
brings together Mexico, Costa Rica and 10 South American squads.
While Lima is a modern city in many ways, rural customs such as shamanic
rituals have been brought to the capital by millions of Andean and
Amazon Indians, who migrated from the impoverished provinces in search
of a better life during the last century.
Tabloid newspapers sold at Lima newsstands list dozens of shamans
offering services that run from curing health problems and finding a
mate, to placing a hex on your enemies.
“With flowers, good perfumes and good wishes we are asking the
protective gods that no misfortune befall any player and that above all
there are good matches,” intoned Osco, Peru's self-proclaimed “Shaman of
the Andes”.
Osco and his comrades – each wearing variations of a similar outfit –
chanted, rattled gourds and waved skulls, dolls and even a shrunken head
from an Amazon tribe during the half-hour ceremony in front of Lima's
Nacional Stadium.
 News
Briefs
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More than 8.000 used vehicles are sitting at ports in Costa Rica and cannot
be released to it's owners and thousands more in various countries awaiting
importation following a directive from the Ministry of Transport last 17
June, that the vehicles must conform to the new exhaust emission regulations
before they can be imported.
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President Abel Pacheco says that country will face a financial crisis if the
new Plan Fiscal - Tax Plan - is not adopted. He told the press
that it is now in the hands of the legislators and hopes that it will be
adopted soon.
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