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FISCHEL-CAJA:
Emilio Bruce Impeded from
Leaving Costa Rica
Following two days of sifting
and packing, the Fiscalía, OIJ
agents and members of the
Ministerio de Hacienda
(Revenue), completed their raid
on the offices of the
Corporación Fischel in downtown
San José, loading hundreds of
boxes of documents and computers
to waiting trucks.
Thurdsay came the news that the
Fiscalía had requested and
granted by the courts that the
president of the board of
directors of Fischel, Emilio
Bruce, be impeded from leaving
Costa Rica.
Under the order, Bruce cannot
leave Costa Rica without
permission.
Bruce spoke to Telenoticias
news, saying that he accepts the
decision of the Fiscal General,
Francisco Dall'anese. "I am sure
he has his reason for doing so",
Bruce told channel 7 news
reporter, Danny Gonzalez.
"My lawyers will look at the
reasons for the decision", Bruce
added.
Bruce has been the president of
the board of the Corporación
Fischel that has been involved
in the Fischel-Caja scandal,
that has seen its president,
Walter Reiche Fischel, and
company lawyer, Randall Vargas,
waiting out the investigation
from a jail cell at San
Sebastian for several months.
A court decision on Tuesday
denied the two men, along with
former Caja president, Eliseo
Vargas, a downgrading of the
preventive detention order from
jail to house arrest.
Bruce says that he is innocent
and though members of his
company have been detained
(Monday, former Fischel manager,
Marvin Barrantes, was detained
as well) he is not involved and
not guilty. However, since he is
at the helm, he will accept any
responsibility that befalls him.
Bruce said, "If I have committed
any errors, I will have to
answer them. We will see what
the Fiscal has in his hands and
the reasons for his
arguments..."
CCSS Investigates Manager's
Meeting
In an attempt to make the Caja
Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)
more transparent, it's current
president, Alberto Sáenz, is
looking into the imprudent act
of Juan Luis Delgado, manager of
pensions for the CCSS, into a
meeting last month between
former manager of the Caja, Juan
Carlos Sánchez, and former CCSS
president, Eliseo Vargas.
Vargas and Sánchez had court
orders at the time not to be in
communications with each other
or other CCSS employees.
According to the Sáenz, the
institution is looking into the
possibility of suspending
Delgado while the case is being
investigated internally.
However, there weren't
sufficient votes by members of
the board of directors for the
action.
Sáenz told the press that he
feels strongly that Delgado
should step aside from his
position while the investigation
is ongoing.
Sáenz was appointed earlier this
year by President Pacheco to
replace Eliseo Vargas, who is
implicated in the Fischel-Caja
scandal and is currenlty in
preventive detention waiting the
outcome the police investigation
into the deviation of funds from
the credit loan by Finland to
the CCSS.
Bruce Harris Leaves Costa Rica
The Dirección General
de Migración y Extranjería
confirmed that Bruce Harris,
former director of Casa Alianza,
left Costa Rica last Sunday on a
7:30 am flight to Miami.
Harris, according to immigration
official information, boarded
American Airlines flight AA700
at the Juan Santamaria airport.
Rumours that Harris had left
Costa Rica had been circulating
when news reporters were not
able to find the man and no one
answered the door at his
residence in Curridabat, east of
San José.
Harris was not under indictment
in Costa Rica, although he is
being investigated in Honduras
for having had sexual relations
with minors, Costa Rica does not
have pending investigation or
charges against the man.
Rosalía Gil, Minister for the
Children and president of the
child welfare agency, PANI, has
made a call to anyone who has
any information that could
involve Harris with any
misconduct on his part.
Harris admitted to his "15
minute mistake" when a young boy
declared before Honduran
officials that Harris paid him
for sexual favours.
Honduran Minister
of Security,
Óscar Álvarez, told the press
this week that
Harris "could have had sexual
relations with minors in every
country he visited while on
work."
Álvarez was quoted as saying,
"please, those who have sexual
aberration don't do it only one
time, he is 58 years old and it
is not to say that he has had a
sexual aberration only one
time."
Harris was fired as director of
Casa Alianza by the head office
in New York following the
reports.
The Honduran young man who made
the charge against Harris is of
legal age, however, Honduran
officials are looking into any
improprieties since the boy had
been in the care of a Casa
Alianza shelter.
Casa Alianza does not operate
shelters in Costa Rica.
Costa Ricans Meditate with
Tibetan Monks ahead of Dalai
Lama Visit
Locals of different
religious backgrounds gathered
to meditate with three Tibetan
monks visiting Costa Rica in
preparation for the arrival of
the Dalai Lama, who begins a
visit here on Sunday.
"I usually meditate with a
spiritual group from India, but
I came here to learn a bit about
Tibetan spiritualism," said Ana
Luisa Gonzalez, one of the
participants.
The monks meditate with locals
each morning in a room at the
Children's Museum, which has
opened a display of photographs
of Tibet and Tibetan Buhddist
artifacts ahead of the Dalai
Lama's visit.
After the hour-long meditation
session one of the monks,
Thubten Wangchen, spoke with
participants about Tibetan
Buddhist philosophy.
Wangchen invited the Costa
Ricans to repent their negative
acts, cherish the good ones and
"live with dedication,
compassion and knowledge."
The Dalai Lama, 69, will stay in
Costa Rica until Tuesday, when
he travels to El Salvador,
Guatemala and Mexico.
The Tibetan religious leader,
who won the 1989 Nobel Peace
Prize, is scheduled to give a
public presentation with Costa
Rican former president Oscar
Arias, the 1987 Nobel peace
recipient.
He is also to speak at the
University of Costa Rica and to
meet with Catholic church
bishops.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in
1959 amid a failed uprising
against Chinese rule. In recent
years has been trying to engage
Beijing in negotiations over a
potential return.
Rodriguez Takes Over at OAS
Former Costa Rican President
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez took
office as Secretary General of
the 35-nation Organization of
American States, declaring that
the foremost challenge facing
the Americas is to fight
pervasive poverty.
Rodríguez assumed his new duties
at a ceremony in Washington on
Thursday in ceremony that was
attended my many heads of state,
who showed Rodríguez their
support.
One of his first actions as the
new head of the OAS was to cut
salaries, including his. He also
announced an internal
restructuring of the
organization, that saw several
people being fired. The action
is intended to save $2.3 million
dollars per year.
Rodríguez, who is now 64 years
of age and a lawyer, was
president of Costa Rica from
1998 to 2002. His achievements
in Costa Rica include the
opening of the national banking
system, allowing private banks
to enter the local market with
more services.
Exports to Mexico
Costa Rican exports to Mexico
grew 676 percent between 1995 -
when a Free Trade Agreement was
signed between the two nations -
and last year, according to data
from the Ministry of Foreign
Trade.
Meanwhile, the imports from
Mexico also increased by 105
percent in the same period.
Also, Mexican investment in
Costa Rica is 8 percent of the
overall figure, second only to
that from the United States.
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