Today's Stories: Mistake in Prostitution Issue Fugitive Priest Suspect Released in Nicaragua Joint Study of Earthquakes Baltimore National Aquarium Provides Tracking For Leatherback Turtle IMF Director Concludes Visit to Costa Rica Colombia Coach Wary of Compatriot Copa America:Colombia Coach Wary of Compatriot News Briefs

Destination of Choice Costa Rica, that has recently earned several international prizes in tourism, is the second destination of choice in Latin America for the tourists from the United States. Brazil is the leading destination, while Peru places third. The Costa Rican Board of Tourism (ICT in Spanish) reports that the number of visitors from the U.S. increased by 21 percent between 2002 and 2003, for a total 510,759 U.S. tourists last year.

Air Traffic Controllers Strike Continues into Day 20! Following more than 10 days of no talks, both sides decided to open a dialogue, especially following an Alajuela court decision declaring the strike illegal. The court decision only affects striking controllers at Juan Santamaria airport and the radar control tower, both located in the province of Alajuela.

According to the AP, Joseph Mettimano had made the statement in an audience before the Jurisdictional Committee of the U.S. Senate.

Mettimano is an advisor in child protection policies for World Vision.

According to the Committee's webpage, Mettimano said that up to 80 percent of those involved in sexual crimes in the Latin American nations are from Western countries, including the United States.

Alejandro Guevara, the national director for World Vision Costa Rica, said that he fears that the alleged mistake will harm several social projects under way here, which are funded by private citizens and which involve scholarships, the defense of the rights of children, dental care, and others.

"The information is not what Mettimano actually said. This has had serious impact on us," Guevara said. Meanwhile, President Abel Pacheco regretted the mistake, while he stated that child prostitution has to be fought with all means available, even if it is under 1 percent.
 

Fugitive Priest Suspect Released in Nicaragua
A man suspected of being a fugitive Costa Rican priest fleeing child sex abuse charges turned out to be an uninvolved man from Venezuela, the National Police said today.

Police spokeswoman Miriam Torres said officers were still searching for Enrique Vargas Vasquez, who entered the country on July 1, according to immigration records.

Vasquez is wanted in his native Costa Rica on suspicion of molesting an altar boy. After fleeing Costa Rica, he worked in Connecticut, New York and Honduras before disappearing in March 2003, shortly before an international arrest warrant was issued for him.

Torres said the man detained Tuesday on suspicion of being the priest turned out to be Orlando Guerrero Marcano of Venezuela. He was turned over to immigration authorities for deportation due to visa violations.

"We continue seeking the priest," she said.

The children's rights group Casa Alianza has criticized senior church officials in the region for failure to notify authorities about the whereabouts of a man they knew faced criminal allegations.

Joint Study of Earthquakes
Nicaragua, the United States and Costa Rica will work jointly on an analysis of the volcano chains and their relation to the Cocos and Caribe tectonic plates, the Seismology and Volcanology Observatory (OVSICORI in Spanish) announced.

According to seismologist Victor Gonzalez, the joint project involves taking tri-dimensional images of the soil of Costa Rica and Nicaragua down to a depth of 200 kilometers (125 miles).

This will enable them to analyze the speed at which seismic waves travel, the expert added.

IMF Director Concludes Visit to Costa Rica
For the first time in Costa Rican history, the Sub-Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)  visited Costa Rica and held meetings with President Ablel Pacheco, Finance Minister Alberto Dent, Central Bank President Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez, and coordinator of the economic team Ronulfo Jiménez.

According to a statement by Carstens, the Costa Rican economy is showing a solid growth mostly due to foreign investment and a diversified exporting program. Costa Rica is a pillar of democratic tradition in Central America. It's sound institutions and impressive social development track record are models for other countries in the region.

Carstens added that the outlook for Costa Rica is favorable and agreed with Costa Rican authorities that the upward trend in public debt needs to be reversed to ensure the sustainability of the public finances.

Carstnes commented on dollarization, by saying that it is essential to level the playing field between public and private banks, local and offshore banks, and colón and dollars intermediation and gradually reduce the dollarization of the financial system.

Click here for Carstens complete statement.

Baltimore National Aquarium Provides Tracking For Leatherback Turtle
The National Aquarium in Baltimore is keeping a satellite eye on a leatherback sea turtle that nested on Gandoca, a remote beach in Costa Rica.

The tag was mounted on May 30 by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation in conjunction with Costa Rican conservation group ANAI and allows scientists to monitor the movements of this critically endangered animal, named Purruja.

ANAI volunteers have monitored the beaches of Gandoca, Costa Rica since 1985, watching for nesting sea turtles. Purruja has nested twice this year on Gandoca's beaches. Through this satellite monitoring, scientists have learned that she also nested in Panama, out of ANAI's volunteers' sight.

"Sea turtles constantly migrate to different waters in search of new places to feed and mate, returning to the same beaches year after year to nest," said David Schofield, the Aquarium's manager of ocean health initiatives. "Satellite tags show us exactly where these animals go, and supports our goal of producing stronger regional and international efforts to protect this endangered species."

Once numerous, all sea turtle species are now sliding toward extinction. The Caribbean adult leatherback population currently hovers around 25,000 individuals, approximately 1 percent of the 1980 population. Leatherback sea turtles are the world's largest sea turtles, reaching eight feet long and weighing as much as a small car. They are hunted for their meat, shells and eggs.

The public may also trace her whereabouts by logging onto the Aquarium's Web site at www.aqua.org/leatherback.

While this is the first time the National Aquarium in Baltimore and ANAI have collaborated on sea turtle conservation, the two groups have been partners for many years. Over the past dozen years, the Aquarium has collected more than $380,000 in donations from visitors, which ANAI then uses to purchase rain forest land, protecting it from development.
 

COPA AMERICA
Colombia Coach Wary of Compatriot
Colombia coach Reinaldo Rueda warned his team on Thursday not to underestimate Copa America quarter-final opponents Costa Rica and especially their coach Jorge Luis Pinto, who is also Colombian.

' Professor Pinto is an important trump card,' he said. ' We have good opponents in front of us with a good coach and we can't afford to give them any chances.'

Rueda also reminded his players that Costa Rica took part in the last World Cup, which the Colombians missed out on.

' He (Pinto) has a good record, and Costa Rica were at the World Cup which we didn't get to, and that's not to be sniffed at,' he said.

Pinto took over as Costa Rica coach only three weeks before the tournament, replacing Steve Sampson of the United States who resigned after the Ticos scraped past Cuba on away goals in their two-leg preliminary World Cup qualifier.

Costa Rica sneaked into the Copa quarter-finals as the second best third-placed team after beating Chile 2-1 with virtually the last kick of the game.

The game between Costa Rica and Colombia is tomorrow, Saturday 17.


Click here the Copa America website!

News Briefs

• Riteve SyC, the company authorized to conduct vehicular inspections in the country, affirmed that it will begin charging ¢4.400 colones for the re-inspection of vehicles as of today. Riteve ignored a request by Transport Minister, Javier Chaves, to hold off the re-inspection charge for a month, while the two bodies dialogue
   
• The Latin American nations are requesting the access free of tariffs for their topical products - which are likely to be negatively influenced by customs preferences, such as the ones of the European Union - to the markets of the developed world. This position was submitted by Costa Rica, the other Central American and South American nations to the World Trade Organization.
   
• Former Trade Minister, Tomás Dueñas, will be the new Costa Rican ambassador to the United States. Dueñas replaces Jamie Darenblum, who resigned to join former president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez at the Organization of America States (OAS). The change will be effective as of thr 15th of September.