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Two Down, One
To Go? Are There More?
For the first
time in Costa Rica's long
history, two former presidents
are in the same jail, at the
same time, on preventive
detention for six months,
accused of corruption, illegal
enrichment and conspiracy.
And to make matters worse, a third former
president, is being linked to impropriaties and stepped down from
his post at the World Economic Forum as a result.
Former presidents, Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002) and Rafael
Angel Calderón (1990-1994) - the two "Angels" - are now both being
housed at the same prison, within 25 metres of each other, as
country for the first time is dealing with a situation is has never
before seen or imagined.
Rodríguez is being accused of
receiving monies, by way of his former Housing Minister, José Antonio
Lobo Solera, from the Alcatel firm with respect to the multimillion
dollar "prize" - the contract that was awarded to Alcatel to install
the GSM network in Costa Rica.
Costa Rican prosecutors are
also investigating alleged payments
by the government of Taiwan into
accounts controlled by Rodríguez,
who allegedly received US$200,000 in 2001 from the Foreign Ministry
and another US$200,000 in 2002 from the Taiwanese Embassy in San
Jose, and
allegedly accepted two separate
donations of US$500,000 each,
through a Panamanian corporation.
Calderón is being implicated in the Fischel-CCSS scandal, where he
received payoffs and commissions from the Corporación Fischel
following the approval of a us$39 million dollar loan from the
government of Finland to the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS),
commonly known as the Caja, and the awarding of the contract to
Fischel for the purchase of medical equipment, which the Caja claims
never really worked as it should have.
Figueres resigned as chief executive officer of the World Economic
Forum (WEF) after
confirming that he received us$906,355 for consulting
services, under a contract by
his former government advisor, from monies coming from Alcatel.
The WEF accepted his resignation, effective immediately, after it
learned through news reports that Figueres had maintained a
contractual relationship with another company for 2 1/2 years while
he held a post in the management of the forum, which is contrary to
the WEF policies.
Linked to the situation is former Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN)
party president, legislative deputy during the Figueres
administration and administrator of a Figueres foundation, Carmen
Valverde, who also happens to the be sister of former president of
Alcatel in Costa Rica, who is currently in the San Sebastian jail in
preventive detention, for paying off public officials.
Figueres, like the other two, are claiming innocence. However,
things are looking good for either three.
Figueres already stepped down from his post at World Economic Forum
(WEF). The WEF accepted his resignation, effective immediately, when
the allegations surfaced.
Rodríguez stepped down from his Secretary General post at the
Organization of American States (OAS) only one month of taking
office. And Calderón, though he held no high positions anywhere,
certainly won't be making any bid for such in the future.
President Abel Pacheco has avoided deep commentary on the actions of
the judicials. His remains firm in his comments that "he respects
the judge's decisions and believes in the separation of powers."
In Costa Rica, the judicial system is separated from the Executive
Branch of the government and the Legislature, which makes the laws.
Following yesterday's detention of his client, Rodríguez's lawyer,
Rafael Gairaud, expressed his indignation of the judge's decision,
saying that it is "absurd" and "unthinkable" that his client would
flee the country or that he would impede the prosecutor's job in any
way.
He took the time to remind everyone that his client voluntarily
returned to Costa Rica two weeks ago. And that his client is
innocent of the accusations and such will be proven in due time.
The Fiscalía, headed by recently appointed chief prosecutor,
Francisco Dall'Anese, has been using a "heavy hand" to fight
corruption and with the help of the courts, has been effective in
putting two former presidents behind bars - albeit on a temporary
basis - in a move that Costa Rica has never seen or even imagined.
Costa Ricans had resigned themselves that corruption, especially at
the high level, was a way of daily life. Every once in a while a
"small fish" here or there would be made a public spectacle, but
never at such a height as the presidency.
Politicians, both current and former, as well as public
functionaries have been given the message. Corruption in Costa Rica
will be eradicated, or at least slowed down.
The new law "Ley
contra la corrupción y el
enriquecimiento ilícito"
came into effect Friday, that gives authorities more bite and
ammunition to achieve their goal.
Costa Rica #6 Worldwide with Murders with
Firearms, Study Shows
Nationmaster.com, a website that allows users to generate graphs
based on numerical data extracted from the CIA World Factbook, to
promote education and understanding about the world, makes facts
easily accessible and meaningful.
Our search of Crime: Murders with firearms per capita reveals that
Costa Rica is ranked at #6 on the top 100 countries with 0.03 per
1.000 people, ranking slightly above the United States at #8 with
0.02 per 1.000 and Canada at #20 with 0.00 per 1.000.
Topping the list is South Africa with 0.74 per 1.000, followed by
Colombia at 0.52 per 1.000 and Thailand in third place with 0.31 per
1.000.
Nationamaster defines Murder with Firearms in their study as the
total recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm. Crime
statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law
enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence.
Source: Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations
of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998 - 2000 (United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime
Prevention)
For more information go to:
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph-T/cri_mur_wit_fir_cap&int=-1
Annual Telethon Underway
The annual telethon
is set to got under way last
night at the Melico Salzar
theatre in downtown San José.
National entertainers like Erick
León, Tapón and Martha Fonseca
have confirmed their
participation. Mexican
entertainment, Ana Bárbara has
been added to list of stars to
make this year's telethon a
complete success.
The marathon kicked off last
night at 8:00pm with fireworks
and the singing of the national
anthem by Ricardo Padilla.
The telethon can be followed on
national television and is due
to end tonight at midnight.
Costa Rica Announces Preliminary Line-up for
World Cup Qualifier
The Costa Rica national soccer coach Jorge Pinto released Friday the
preliminary line-up for the November 17 World Cup qualifier against
Honduras.
The match is part of the regional qualifiers of the North American,
Central American and Caribbean Confederation (CONCACAF),for World
Cup finals in Germany in 2006.
In Group B, Costa Rica runs second with 9 points, one less than
Guatemala and is ahead of Honduras with three points.
That's why the Hondurans need to win to get one of the two berths.
Pinto said this list is not definitive because a preliminary
evaluation of players is underway and basic tactical schemes have to
be worked. This means there could be further changes and training
will start on November 2.
Preliminary line-up:
Goalkeepers: Jose Porras (Saprissa), Alvaro Mesen (Herediano).
Defenders: Junior Dias (Herediano), Leonardo Gonzalez (Herediano),
Michael Umana (Herediano), Berny Pena (Brujas).
Midfielders: Jose Lopez (Saprissa), Danny Fonseca (Cartagines),Christian
Badilla (Herediano), Alonso Solis (Saprissa), Walter Centeno (Saprissa),
Mauricio Alpizar (Puntarenas), Roy Myurie (Alajuelense).
Strikers: Alvaro Saborio (Saprissa), William Sunsing (Perez Zeledon),
Roy Miller (Cartagines), Whayne Wilson (Cartagines), Andy Herron
(Chicago Fire, United States).
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