Former Costa Rican President to Lead OAS
Former Costa Rica president, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, is the sole candidate in an election to select a new secretary general of the Organization of American States taking place today (Monday) as part of the annual general assembly.

Former president, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, n Quito, Ecuador, will be named today Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS). Today's Stories: • Former Costa Rican President to Lead OAS • Street Vendors Have Until June 18 • Insurance Fraud Costs INS Millions • BBC film Features Casa Alianza Thursday, June 10th • ICE Modernizes Access Network • OAS opens assembly with poverty, corruption on top agenda • OAS may supervise Venezuela's referendum • Russian president to visit Mexico Street Vendors have until June 18 to clear the street of their fruit and vegetable stands or be removed by force.

Rodriguez will replace Cesar Gaviria, former president of Colombia, who has led the 34-nation organization for 10 years. Rodriguez assumes the post in September as the organization's eighth president.

This year's gathering of foreign ministers, which runs through tomorrow (Tuesday), will tackle a number of issues in the hemisphere.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives today.

The general assembly opened Sunday amid tight security as participants discussed proposals for denying safe haven for officials embroiled in corruption.

"We are going to propose denial of refuge to all corrupt individuals in all hemispheric countries," Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Patricio Zuquilanda told Agence-France Press.

Among the topics of discussion are the continuing turmoil in Bolivia, Haiti and Venezuela, where voters recently ratified enough signatures to force a recall referendum in August against President Hugo Chavez.

Also on the table is a proposal by Central American and Caribbean countries to invoke the OAS's Democratic Charter against Haiti, now under the leadership of an interim government backed by the United States. A peacekeeping force, recently taken over by the United Nations, remains in that country following the Feb. 29 departure of Jean-Bertrand Aristide who fled amid an armed revolt.

The proposal, if approved, would be a slap to Washington, which helped negotiate Aristide's departure and has played a key role in the transitional process.
 

Street Vendors Have Until June 18
The battle for the streets is nearing as June 18 fast approaches, the date the Municipality of San José has set for the street Vendors to remove their stalls or be removed.

A small group of street Vendors, in anticipation of the Municipalities dateline and to prevent a violent confrontation with police, have agreed to the Municipality's offer to accept to hold "ferias" on weekend at a location in the periphery of the city and clear the streets of downtown San José.

Another group however has decided to stay firm and is relying that the Constitutional Court will decide their case before the 18th of June, that will allow them to stay. In any event, they have decided to stay even if the court doesn't rule in their favour.

According to Rafael Arias, assistant to the Mayor, the group known as Federación Nacional de Vendedores Estacionarios y Ambulantes (FENVEA), with 150 members, has accepted the Municipality's offer to relocate.

However, the number affected by the Municipality's decision numbers 500 and the majority say that they deal in perishables and their unsold products won't hold for an entire week until the next 'feria'.

The area affected is Calle 8 and 3rd Street.

Several years back the Municipality of San José cleared Calle 8 of the street vendors following a long legal struggle,  offering them space in the Municipal building known as Paso de La Vaca on 9th Avenue. Soon after, a new group of street vendors appeared and once again blocked the streets with their fruit and vegetable stands. And the new battle between the Municipality and Vendors started all over again.
 

Insurance Fraud Costs INS Millions
The Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) - the national insurance company - reports a loss of between ¢50 million and ¢100 million colones due to fraud during the last 20 years. This according to Enrique Mora, a manager in the Investigations department of INS.

False invoices for part purchases, false accident reports and altered vehicle identification are the largest frauds perpetrated against the institution.

Mora added that the majority of the fraud is by organized gangs who, in conjunction with auto repair shops, specialize in handling the insurance claims that defraud the insurance company.

The INS has it's hands tied. In the two cases it has before the courts against two of the organized gangs, the auto shops involved can still continue to file insurance claims and the INS cannot stop them from doing so.

There are currently 722.664 vehicles registered, of which 234.795 or 33.75 have additional insurance for their vehicles that are covered by the INS.

In Costa Rica, basic insurance coverage is part of the yearly payment of the "marchamo". However, vehicle owners can purchase additional coverage for their vehicles that is not covered in the basic policy.

Each year the INS receives and average of 50.000 claims.

The INS is the sole provider of insurance coverage in the country has been the subject of great debate in the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

BBC film Features Casa Alianza Thursday, June 10th
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is not only a threat for children in Central America, but also a menace that tends to diversify, as it has become a very lucrative activity for criminal rings that simultaneously operate in many countries at the same time.

After a one-month investigation in Costa Rica and Honduras earlier this year, a BBC2-TV crew from London, has gathered abundant evidence to show the world the disturbing damage that the CSEC inflicts on some of Latin Americas poorest children and the fight that the Casa Alianza charity is leading to stop it.

The programme will air this Thursday, June 10th, 2004 on “This World”, on BBC 2, at 9:00 p.m. and at a later date on BBC World. The one-hour long report will reveal that the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children needs further support from countries.

“The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is a global menace. A girl victim of human trafficking and rape in Central America will be abused every time a pedophile, in any country, opens a web page with the pornographic pictures of her. The visit of the BBC crew was, in fact, a window to prove this”, said the Englishman Bruce Harris, Regional Director of Casa Alianza for Latin America, whose hometown is Wareham in Dorset.

Casa Alianza is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and defense of street children in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Casa Alianza is the Latin American branch of the New York-based Covenant House. Casa Alianza has a UK office based in Kettering.

The BBC was an eyewitness to Casa Alianza’s work as they entered into the shadows of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in brothels in tourist destinations in both Costa Rica and Honduras. They also followed the steps of adult fugitives who are trying to escape from justice, accused of sexual exploitation and the abuse of children.

The TV audience will personally get to know some of the stories of the victims, and will be in contact with the poverty and hopelessness of many children feel, who anxiously ask themselves what their future holds.

The BBC program will not only be an informative report, but a documentary on the work of Casa Alianza in the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children, showing the faces and the stories of many abusers. One of them, a Costa Rican priest, has managed to hide from authorities for six years.

“We hope that people around the world will understand the rights of the child victims to justice, protection and to have hope in the future…just like our own children who play in the safety of our homes, sleeping under warm blankets with loving parents”, added Harris.
 

ICE Modernizes Access Network
Teledata Networks, a leading provider of wireline access products and network solutions for telecom operators and service providers worldwide, has completed the delivery of the first US$5M shipment, as part of a US$25M contract with ICE, Costa Rica's National Electricity and Telecommunications company.

The contract includes the supply of 300 BroadAccess Integrated Multiservice Access Platforms (IMAPs) over a maximum period of three years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Teledata Networks will help ICE expand, modernize and digitalize the country's access network.

Using the BroadAccess IMAP, Teledata Networks will provide ICE's customers throughout Costa Rica with high-quality voice and advanced data services using a single integrated platform.

"We are proud to be ICE's sole supplier for this contract. There were 11 participants in this tender, and Teledata Networks is the sole winner" said Amnon Unger, CEO, Teledata Networks.

"Teledata Networks has maintained a fruitful relationship with ICE over several years, having supplied equipment for support of voice services. We feel privileged to be working with this operator on such an important project, which is part of a strategic plan for the modernization of Costa Rica's entire telecommunications network.

Our flexible technology is sure to be a stepping stone for ICE in its transition to Next Generation Networks."

OAS may supervise Venezuela's referendum
The Organization of American States (OAS) will not rule out the possibility of acting as an observer in a recall referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in August, OAS Assistant Secretary General Luigi Enaudi said here Sunday.

Although the rules for supervising the referendum have not been worked out, the 0AS will closely follow the situation in Venezuela, said Enaudi, who is attending the 34th OAS session here.

In order to guarantee full transparency of the upcoming referendum, it is very important that the OAS will monitor the revocation process, he stressed.

Venezuela's National Election Council (CNE) announced Thursday that the validated anti-Chavez signatures the opposition gathered had surpassed the margin set by law, and therefore a referendum on Chavez's rule will be launched on Aug. 8.

Chavez, a former paratrooper who won a 1998 election, carried out a series of reforms in his country, hurting groups of special interest. The US government has been dissatisfied with him because of his bold criticism about US President George W. Bush.

Venezuela has been in a political turbulence since 2001 when opponents staged a series of demonstrations and strikes. Chavez survived a coup in April 2002 that was followed by a two-month general strike.

In May 2003, under the mediation of the OAS and the Carter Center, the Venezuelan government and the opposition agreed to back the recall referendum, opening a road to resolve domestic crisis with political means.

Chavez will step down in the August referendum if the votes collected by the opposition exceed those of Chavez supporters and also surpass the 3.75 million in the 2000 elections.

Figures issued by the opposition predicted that 8 million people, out of a total of 12 million registered voters, would participate in the referendum. The opposition says it could garner at least 4 million votes against Chavez.
 

Russian president to visit Mexico
Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a visit to Mexico, with discussion of cooperation on military, law enforcement and financial matters with Mexican officials toping his agenda, the sources from the government said on Sunday.

Agustin Gutierrez, spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox, has said the visit by Putin, who will arrive in Mexico early on Monday, is designed to increase communication between the two countries.

"We are now looking for new areas where we can expand that collaboration," Gutierrez said.

Fox said last week that his country hopes to expand military cooperation with Russia, including the assembly of some Russian helicopters here and importing a mixed civilian-military factory.

Putin and Fox are expected to sign agreements on foreign investment and cultural exchanges.