Fake Doc Says He Won't Leave Voluntarily
The quack cosmetic surgeon who allegedly murdered a Manhattan woman seeking treatment for a hairy tongue insists he will never willingly return from Costa Rica.

Dean Faiello, the quack cosmetic surgeon who is alleged to have murdered a Manhattan woman seeking treatment for a hairy tongue insists he will never leave Costa Rica voluntarily>

Faiello, who remains in a Costa Rican jail six months after he was detained by immigration officials at oceanside resort in Guanacaste. Immigration officials handed Faiello over to judicial officials who have begun the extradition process at the request of New York prosecutors.

Faiello told the CBS show "48 Hours Mystery" that he is HIV-positive, has lost 22 pounds in captivity and sees his health worsening.

"It's no secret I'm HIV-positive," he told the show. "I've been here for six months without any treatment, any medical treatment of my HIV condition.

"I like Costa Rica and I'm doing everything that I can with my attorney and my legal powers to stay here in this country," he said. "I wish to spend the rest of my life here in Costa Rica."

When asked about killing financial analyst Maria Cruz's, Faiello insisted he had nothing to do with the 35-year-old woman's death.

In April 2003, Cruz went to a bogus clinic Faiello set up in a friend's E. 16th St. apartment to get laser surgery to remove hair from her tongue, according to authorities.

Detectives believe she went into convulsions after Faiello injected her tongue with an anesthetic.

Cruz's corpse was found in February buried inside a cement tomb in Faiello's former home in Newark - 10 months after she vanished.

Posters of Cruz had been hung all over the city, and her disappearance was a mystery until Faiello's former lover, Greg Bach, tipped authorities to the phony doctor's home.

"I am innocent of the charges presented against me," Faiello told the show. "I have been falsely accused by the U.S."

Human Rights Court to Begin Deliberations on Berenson Case
The Inter-American Human Rights Court, based in San José, said Thursday it will soon begin deliberations in the case of Lori Berenson, the 34-year-old New Yorker jailed since 1995 in Peru for collaborating with Marxist guerrillas.

The court will deliberate the case between Nov. 15-25, deciding whether Berenson received a fair civilian retrial in 2001.

Berenson was arrested in 1995, and convicted by hooded military judges who denied her a chance to present evidence or cross-examine witnesses. She was sentenced to life without parole.

Her 2001 retrial came after intense U.S. pressure. She was convicted of the lesser charge of terrorist collaboration and sentenced to 20 years in prison, including time served.

But Berenson's defense team, led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, argued her retrial was still based on Fujimori's draconian anti-terrorism laws and failed to meet international standards for due process.

She was improperly tried twice for the same crime, Clark said, and faced hostile judges who relied on coerced testimony and tainted evidence from the earlier military trial. Berenson has denied any wrongdoing.

The Inter-American Human Rights Court is an independent arm of the Organization of American States.

No Internet Saturday Night to Sunday Noon
Radiografica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA) says it will pull the plug on internet service between 11pm Saturday night and 12 noon on Sunday, to make changes to the MAYA underwater cable, one of two cables that connects Costa Rica to the rest of the world.

RACSA's The director of network and systems, Henry Fuentes, says the disconnection is necessary to complete work on the MAYA that connects to Miami, Florida. The cable is accessed in Costa Rica in Límon.

Fuentes explained that the work consists of moving the cable closer to the roadway. The cable now runs along the beach and due to changes and deformities of the beach line it will be best to bring it in closer.

MAYA is not the only internet connection. RACSA also connects to the ARCOS cable, which automatically takes over with any problems on the MAYA cable, but Fuentes says it will not be able to handle all the traffic.

RACSA has more than one million internet customers and says that there will be definite slowdown to no service once the MAYA cable goes offline. The ARCOS internet pipeline cannot handle all of the traffic and service will practically come to a stand still.

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) customers will also be affected, as ICE also connects to the MAYA and ARCOS cables The connection to an underwater cable in the Pacific is coming sometime next year.

Poverty on the Rise
According to experts, poverty worsened in Costa Rica this year, as compared to 2003.

Last year, for the first time since 1994, poverty dropped below 20 percent, to 18.5 percent, which means almost 169,000 families out of 910,000.

However, this year it can increase to 21 percent, according to the State of the Nation Report, and University of Costa Rica professor Pablo Sauma forecasts 21.5 percent.

Analysts agree that the cost of goods and services has steadily risen this year; therefore, more families did not have enough income to meet their needs.

One of the factors that contributed to the reduction of poverty in 2003 was that the average income of the poor increased by 10 percent, while the cost of the basic needs rose 6.7 percent.

This year, the so-called basic basket has gone 16 percent up, and analysts find that it is just impossible for income to grow at the same rate; thus, the rise in poverty.

In the market for a change? Click here!

Perfect Blend The production of coffee has become a tourist attraction, and the so-called "coffee tours" - which include visiting coffee plantations and observing the different parts of the process - are taken by thousands of foreign visitors. At a time when the price of coffee has markedly dropped in the international market, the blend of production and tourism has resulted in much-needed income for coffee growers in Costa Rica.   US Firms Settle Here Before the end of the year, another six US companies will establish venues in Costa Rica. Their initial investment is some $1.8 million, and they will generate 200 new jobs. Four of the companies operate call centers -Van Ru Credit Corp., Traxtech Latin America, Via Information Tools, and Avyonyx-, while Merlin VME produces software, and Smith Sterling manufactures dental supplies. According to the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives - who sponsored the arrival of those firms -, these companies will generate another 600 new jobs in the next few years.