Figueres Will Be Back in Costa Rica Early December, He Says
Former president José María Figueres Olsen has announced that he will be in Costa Rica the first days in December, he said in a letter sent to Costa Rican Legislative Deputy Luis Gerardo Villanueva. Figueres is supposedly still in Switzerland where he now resides.

Rumours have been circulating for days that an international warrant could be issued against the former president to ensure his return to Costa Rica and answer questions about his receiving us$900.000 from Alcatel for consulting fees, which he has not denied.

Judicial officials asked the help of the international police organization INTERPOL, issuing a warrant against former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez to ensure his return on October 15 last. A similar tactic may be used by judicial officials if Figueres refuses to come to Costa Rica voluntarily.

At the moment he is not accused of any wrongdoing by the Ministerio Público, simply the Fiscalía (Prosecutor's office) wants to question him on his role and connection to the payment of us$2.7 million dollars by Alcatel to his former government advisor, Roberto Hidalgo and former legislative deputy and friend of the former president, Carmen Valverde, who is also sister of former Alcatel Costa Rica president, Edgar Valverde, who is currently in preventive detention for his paying off public officials in the ICE-Alcatel scandal over 400.000 GSM cellular lines installed in Costa Rica.

The former president's mother, Karen Olsen, has returned to Costa Rica after being accused of fleeing, following the news of her involvement in the "Spanish Credit" loan for some us$30 million dollars to the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) for the purchase of medical equipment.

The Spanish loan is separate and precedes the "Finnish" loan for us$39 million dollas, also to the CCSS, and which former president Rafael Angel Calderón and others are implicated.

Karen Olsen refused yesterday to give judicial officials an accounting and open her banking and financial records to scrutiny.

Costa Rica Declares Emergency After Quake
President Abel Pacheco declared a national emergency in Costa Rica on Tuesday, a move that frees up government funds for hundreds of families driven from their homes by a strong earthquake that rattled the country last Saturday morning.

The 6.2-magnitude earthquake was blamed in the deaths of eight people and damaged or destroyed more than 500 homes.

Pacheco said the declaration would eliminate bureaucratic red tape so that the government could get relief funds immediately to the people and projects that need it.

The emergency designation opens up immediate access to $5.5 million for repairing roads, hospitals and housing, said Diego Morales, president of the Comision Nacion de Emergencias (National Emergencies Commission).
 

Cellular Telephone Saves Four Fishermen Stranded at Sea
Cellular telephones in Costa Rica have become a way of life, as everyone now carries a cellular phone or two to keep in touch with family, friends and business. Many toursits, though, are delighted to get away from the "dreaded" cellular phone that ties down their lives back at home.

However, four fishermen yesterday found that having a cellular telephone on hand saved their lives, as their boat in the Pacific waters, 90 miles off Punta Giones in Guanacaste ran into enginne problems.

According to a Costa Rican coast guard report, the four men were becoming desparate as their food and water supplies were running low and the tide was taking them further north into Nicaraguan waters and the weather appeared to be turning against them.

One of the fishermen had a cellular telephone with him and miracolously he got a faint signal which allowed him to call for help.

The Insituto Costarricense de Electricidad, which has been a target of complaint by many cellular customers says that their cellular coverage includes 95% of the territory and may have saved the lives of the four fishermen with extended coverage over ocean waters.

The Coast Guard found the boat with the four fishermen about 60 miles off the reported location following an intense search. The boat was towed to shore at Playa Samara in Guancaste and the four men were reported in good condition.

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Last of Cellular Lines Go on Sale Monday This Monday 29 November may be the last time for a while to get new cellular telephone service in Costa Rica, as the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) puts on sale it's remaining 17.000 GSM cellular lines. The flow of subscribers is expected to be high and all services should sold out in a matter of days. ICE still has several thousand of the older TDMA lines, though those are expected to be gone by the end of December as well. Once that occurs, new subscribers will have to go back in time, waiting for months to get a new cellular line. ICE has signed a contract with the Ericsson company last year for the installation of 600.000 new GSM cellular lines that were to have been installed by the end of the year and in operation no later than March of 2005. However, the Contraloría General de la Republica (Comptroller's office) found anomalies in the contract and that several key ICE personnel were invited as guests of Ericsson in Prague, Czech Republic, thus denying the approval of the contract and killing the installation of the badly needed service. ICE turned to Alcatel, the provider of the existing 400.000 GSM cellular lines with the intent to expand that contract, however, it was discovered that Alcatel Costa Rica paid off several politicians and ICE employees, which launched an investigation which resulted in the preventive detention of former Costa Rican president Miguel Angel Rodríguez and other ICE employees and the president of Alcatel in Costa Rica, Edgar Valverde. To obtain cellular service in Costa Rica, a subscriber has to present an invoice for the purchase of the telephone equipment, pay the ¢12.500  (us$27) deposit and a copy of their cedula. Foreigners who don't have residency (cedula) cannot obtain cellular service. Some 54 ICE offices and more than 400 authorized ICE agents will be expecting the wave of potential customers, who are expecting to wait for hours in line, waiting for connection to the cellular network. In July of this year, ICE put on sale 15.00 GSM lines and were sold out in less than a week. This time, the flood of customers is expected to be higher, as most know this may the last time for a long, long time before any new cellular lines will be available.