Central Bank President to Stay
Following last week's disturbances and what many feel the government's caving in to the protestors demands, by giving public employees and additional 0.05% pay increase, we saw the resignations of Revenue Minister, Alberto Dent, on Tuesday, and Ronulfo Jiménez, economic coordinator on Wednesday.

Yesterday, rumours were dispelled that Banco Central president Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez was also going to resign.

However, later in the day, Gutiérrez made an official announcement that we would stay on for a time longer.

Gutiérrez told the press in a late afternoon press conference that he will continue his battle against inflation and to maintain economic stability in the country.

Gutiérrez added that the current monetary policies have to be closely watched to quench the rising inflation rate, as it has been happening this year.

Gutiérrez attributed the rising cost of consumer goods like gasoline to the unfavorable developments in the international oil markets and raw materials.

Rumours had been floating in political circles all day, especially following the denouncement by Ricardo Toledo, Minister for the Presidency, that were could be more resignations coming, like that of Exterior Minister, Alberto Trejos and Economic Minister, Gilberto Barrantes.

Shell to Sell Gasoline with Additives
In an attempt to lure more customers to it's pumps and perhaps give a little more value to high cost of gasoline in Costa Rica, Shell has announced that it's gasoline will have additives that improve engine performance, while eliminating engine corrosion, cleaning the valves and injectors.

Shell Costa Rica says that the additives will help fuel flow that affects engine performance and will allow the engine to use less gasoline for better mileage. Shell says that the additives are added to all gasoline the company sells in some 140 countries around the world.

According to the directors of Shell Costa Rica, their gasoline will not cost more.

In Costa Rica, the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo SA (Recope) sells gasoline to all the gasoline stations in the country and the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) sets the prices and conditions of sale.

Recope would not comment on Shell's decision, saying only that it has no control over the gasoline once it leaves it's storage tanks. The responsibility in Shell's case clear falls on the hands of the Aresep.

Recope also said that there have been additive products on the Costa Rican market for some time. Consumers can add any number of competing products to their gas tanks to improve engine performance and/or keep their engines tuned. However, it has not added any additives to it's gasoline products.

Costa Rican Coffee Big Hit in China
Traditionally, China has been a "tea" country. However, coffee is now coming to fashion in China and producers are taking the opportunity to explore the Oriental market.

Café Britt de Costa Rica reports that is has incursed into the China market for the last four months and is happy with the early results.

According to Pablo Vargas, manager of Café Britt, he expects China to be a major consumer of coffee in the long term and is making sure that his company gets a foot hold.

However, it's not just Costa Rican coffee that is invading the Chinese market, chocolate is also knocking on China's door. Café Britt is also exporting to China it's chocoloate covered coffee grain "chocolates Britt" which according to Vargas is being accepted by consumers.

Café Britt was founded 19 years ago by Steve Aronson, an American who made Costa Rica his home. The company has plans to distribute it's coffee products to a large number of hotels and supermarkets in China.

Tico Doctor Charged in the U.S.
Doctor Jorge Martinez, a citizen of Costa Rica, who got his medical degree in Mexico, set up his medical practice in the Cleveland, Ohio, area doctor is behind bars Thursday, charged with pushing narcotics and ripping off the federal government.

Martinez, was put in handcuffs at his million-dollar home Thursday morning as federal agents began to raid his offices.

Over the past few years, the doctor has amassed a fortune in the pain management business. Agents with search warrants raided his officeThursday morning, carting off box loads of documents.

The grand total, about $49 million in fraudulent charges.

They claim his so-called pain management practice was just an easy way to sell the narcotic Oxycontin - pushing out more than 149,000 10-milligram pills.

Two of his patients died after overdosing on the medication. The indictment claims that Martinez knew that persons who came to see him were already addicted to controlled substances.

The government has frozen the doctor’s home and his bank accounts related to his offices. Martinez will stay behind bars for the near future. A bond hearing will be held on Tuesday morning, but chances are good that he will not be released from jail because he is not an American citizen.

Second in Democratic Development
Costa Rica places second in democratic development in Latin America, according to a study by the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation that took in 18 nations in the region.

The study is sponsored by the Inter American Network for Democracy, in which 270 non-governmental organizations take part.

The democratic development index is based on the basic conditions of democracy, observance of political rights and civil liberties, the quality of institutions, political efficiency, and the exercise of true power to govern.
Chile is at the top of the list, while Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, and Mexico follow Costa Rica. Venezuela is at the bottom of the list.

Limited Access to the Internet
In spite of the programs and efforts made by the Omar Dengo Foundation - which promotes the use of computers in schools - and the Ministry of Education, only 27 percent of the students in public schools have access to the Internet, according to official estimates.

Sources at the Ministry of Education said that the figures are expected to double next year, once several obstacles are overcome, particularly the economic one.

They explained that the cost of connection had to be met by school boards, which simply do not have enough money.

This problem was partly solve through an agreement with the state's power and communications institution (ICE in Spanish), which has allotted $595,000 to that end for the year 2005.

FIFA WORLD CUP:
Costa Rica has tough trip ahead
Costa Rica will be haunted by memories of a stadium disaster and crowd hostility as the team visits Guatemala for Sunday's CONCACAF zone World Cup qualifier.

Costa Rica, who was unlucky to be knocked out of the 2002 World Cup at the first stage, has made a dismal start in its attempt to reach its second successive finals.

The Ticos scraped through their first-round game against Cuba on away goals and began the second round with a 5-2 home defeat by Honduras.

They now travel to in-form Guatemala, who is unbeaten in eight games and won 2-0 in Canada two weeks ago, for its Group B match. Guatemala is attempting to qualify for its first World Cup.

The match will be played in Guatemala City's Mateo Flores stadium, where more than 80 died in a crush before the two teams met in a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup.

When Costa Rica returned for another match four years later -- in a different stadium -- the team claimed it was kept up all night by supporters outside the hotel. "It was a complete scandal, but anything goes in this type of tournament, there's so much at stake," said Costa Rica midfielder Walter Centeno.