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ICE-ALCATEL SCANDAL:
Pacheco To Call for Rodríguez
Resgination
Yesterday we reported that
President Abel Pacheco was going
to give former Costa Rican
president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
until noon today to give a full
explanation of his role in the
ICE-Alcatel scandal.
Pacheco had drawn the line on
the sand and was set to on
Tuesday to ask the Consejo de
Gobierno (Governing Counsel) to
formally ask that the Secretary
General of the Organization of
American States (OAS) resign.
This weekend there had been
rumours the arrival of a private
flight with Rodríguez aboard,
when President Pacheco was seen
at the airport, however, he was
there on a private matter -
picking up his wife who was
returning from her trip to
Hounduras, of a meeting of the
"first wives" of Central
America.
Pacheco took the time to speak
out to reporters, saying that
Costa Rica was the moving force
behind the Rodríguez candidacy
to the OAS, headed by Roberto
Tovar, who as Chancellor,
represented Costa Rica at the
General Assembly of the OAS.
Now, Tovar will call for
Rodríguez's his resignation.
The announcement is expected
today at Casa Presidencial.
Other political leaders are also
behind the decision for a call
to Rodríguez's resignation,
including those in the Partido
Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) -
the party that both Rodríguez
and Calderón, as well Pacheco
belongs to.
President Pacheco made an urgent
appeal over the weekend, to all
"honest" businessmen" to stop
the corruption that had engulfed
the country.
Pacheco was quoted as saying in
Sunday radio address to Costa
Ricans, that, "there isn't a
corrupt public official without
a corruptor from the private
sector".
Kanev Trial Begins Today
Suspected pedophile
Arthur Kanev, will start his day
in court today, with the
commencement of his trial for
providing drugs to minors,
corruption of minors and having
sexual relations with willing
children under the age of 15.
Kanev, arrived at Juan
Santamaría International Airport
May 20 of this year and became
the first U.S. citizen
extradited to Costa Rica to face
trial here.
Kanev suspect was first arrested
in Quepos in 1999 for allegedly
possessing homemade photographs
of nude, provocatively posed
girls between the ages of 11 and
16. He was released on bail, and
later fled the country.
Minister for the Children and
head of the the Child Welfare
agency PANI, Rosalía Gil,
said other suspects will be
extradited for similar crimes,
and that Kanev’s case will serve
as a model for how those will be
carried out.
In December 2000, Kanev was
featured on the U.S. TV-news
magazine show “20/20” when the
program ran an exposé about the
sexual exploitation of minors in
Costa Rica.
Kanev told an ABC reporter that
he “had no qualms” about what he
did here. The report made him
internationally infamous.
Former Casa-Alianza (the
child advocacy organization)
director, Bruce Harris, was at
the airport in May to greet
Kanev, shouting “Bienvenido!”
with cupped hands as Kanev
stepped off the aircraft. “Is it
still OK to have sex with
children in Costa Rica?”, Harris
taunted.
Harris was himself fired two
weeks ago for having sex with a
young boy in Honduras. Harris
admitted to his "15 minute
mistake", and though the young
boy was not under age, it still
marks the man and the
organization, which he ran for
the last 15 years, championing
causes against the abuse of
children and child prostitution.
More:
See our story of May 21, 04
Costa Rica Urged To Remain
Competitive In Tax And Labor
Markets
By
Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com
Costa Rica needs to boost the
number of English speakers in
its workforce and ensure that
tax rates remain competitive if
the country is to increase
levels of foreign direct
investment, experts have
concluded following the release
of a UN report.
According to the United Nations
2004 World Investment Report
2004, Costa Rica received $577
million in foreign investment
last year, down from $662
million in 2002.
However, despite four
consecutive years of declining
foreign investment flows to
Latin America and the Caribbean,
FDI to Costa Rica has remained
more or less stable, with the
country consistently ranking in
the top five Latin American
countries in the FDI league.
Moreover, this year the Central
Bank is expecting foreign
investment to increase to $585
million.
Nevertheless, according to Tomas
Gilmore, director of the Costa
Rican Investment Board, the
country needs an “aggressive
plan” with “concrete steps” to
improve its investment climate.
With an emphasis in this year’s
UN report on a shift to services
in the global economy, Gilmore
noted in a Tico Times report
that it is essential that Costa
Rica remains attractive to
multinational firms by improving
the quality of its workforce,
particularly with improvements
in the teaching of English, the
international business language.
Gilmore also believes that the
continuing delay in implementing
the country’s long waited tax
reform package is creating a
climate of uncertainty in the
investment arena that is holding
back potential contributors to
the Costs Rican economy.
Under the plan, corporate income
tax would gradually be reduced
from 30% to 25%, and special tax
breaks would also apply to small
and medium-sized businesses in
the hi-tech sector or located in
under-developed areas.
However, some argue that this
rate will still be too high to
attract foreign investors.
Whilst the plan has finally
reached the floor of the
Legislative Assembly, it could
still take a number of weeks or
months to pass.
Tourism Chiefs
Fear Airport Can't Cope
Guanacaste tourist industry
leaders, gearing up for the
coming high season, fear
Liberia’s international airport
is inadequately equipped to
handle the huge increase in
incoming passengers.
They say more parking for both
commercial and private jets,
more staff and better facilities
are urgently needed to cope with
the increase.
The fears of hoteliers, tourist
associations and civil aviation
officials come as newly-released
statistics show passengers
traffic through the airport has
more than doubled in the past
year, out-stripping even the
best industry projections.
Further, all three US carriers
which run direct, scheduled
flights from the US to
Guanacaste, say they will
increase the number of flights
each week over the next three
months. By January commercial
airlines and charter companies
will run 34 flights a week.
In fact Aviation officials say
more than 179,000 passengers
will arrive and depart Daniel
Oduber Airport this year —- 97
per cent more than last year.
And some in the industry say
those figures are conservative.
 Full
Story
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