FISCHEL-CAJA:
Anonymous Calls Results in Raid of Legal Offices of the Caja
Agents with the "Delitos Económicos" (Financial Crimes) section of the Organismo Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) raid the offices and car of the Legal Director of the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS), Rodrigo Cordero.

Today's Stories: Anonymous Calls Results in Raid of Legal Offices of the Caja Private Sector Distancing Itself from Fischel Consulting Firm Can't Account for $200K in Aid for Costa Rica Two Elderly Women Murdered in their Home Kayaker Set to Begin Journey for Peace New Los Angeles Auxiliary a Native of Costa Rica Did You Know?

Former Costa Rican president and now Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Miguel Ángel Rodríguez told reporters that he knows nothing of the scandal surrounding the Fischel, the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social and the credit loan from Finland. He also told reporters from the Spanish daily La Nación, that he has not been following the news on the subject and what is being said in Costa Rica about the matter. The credit was approved in December of 2001, during the Rodríguez presidency. When pressured by reporters to give his opinion on the scandal, Rodríguez, said that he has been immersed in the restructuring of the OAS for the last couple of months.

Did you Know? Costa Rica is located at the center of the American Continent, with coasts on both the Pacific and Caribbean, three volcanic mountain ranges and 12 climactic zones. Costa Rica harbors 5% of the world's biodiversity. In these diverse habitats and ecosystems, 13 thousand species of plants can be found as well 163 species of amphibians, 220 of reptiles, 1600 of fresh and salt-water fishes and at least 850 species of birds.

The Ministerio Público said it received an anonymous phone call that Cordero was removing documents from the legal department of the CCSS and storing them in the trunk of his car, with the intent to remove them completely from the building.

Authorities spent more than three hours reviewing the documents in the vehicle and speaking with Cordero before moving to the third floor offices where the man worked.

No official news has been released on the results of the raid and the inspection of the documents nor the results of the conversation between Cordero and the authorities.

Private Sector Distancing Itself from Fischel
The scandal that has surrounded the Corporación Fischel, the Caja Costarricense del Seguros Social (CCSS) and the Finland credit loan, had not only been a focus of attention for the Ministerio Público, but for the private sector as well.

Several companies have already place a distance between itself and anything to do with the Fischel and any of it's officers.

Yesterday, Asesores de Servicios en Salud (ASERSA) publicly made the announcement that in the following days the names of Walter Reiche Fischel, Marvin Barrantes and Randall Vargas, will disappear from the board of directors of ASERSA.

Fischel owns some 40% of the stock of ASERSA. Another 40% of ASERSA stock is held by ASEMECO, the company that also owns the Clínica Bíblica hospital, and the rest of the stock in the hands of various shareholders.

William Cubillo, manager of ASERSA, says that the company is in the process of purchasing the stock held by Fischel.

The move by ASERSA to separate itself from Fischel comes on the heels of another company, ANVECO, who built the new building housing the new Clínica Bíblica clinic.

More companies are expected to distance themselves from any relations with Fischel in the coming weeks.

Consulting Firm Can't Account for $200K in Aid for Costa Rica
About $200,000 linked to a Japanese official development project in Costa Rica remains unaccounted for after it was paid to a major Japanese consulting company, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Saturday.

The fund is part of $230,000 (around 25 million yen) paid to Pacific Consultants Co., based in Tama, western Tokyo, which was supposed to subcontract part of a Japanese-financed project to a Costa Rican government agency, the major newspaper said in a front-page article.

The irregularity was disclosed through investigations by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the government's aid donor body, the Yomiuri said.

On Sept. 15, JICA suspended the company from bidding on aid projects for two months, the Yomiuri said.

Costa Rican law enforcement authorities also appear to have launched investigations into the case, it said.

The project was for devising an agricultural development plan in Costa Rica's northwestern region, the Yomiuri said. The consulting company formed a consortium with another firm in October 2000 to bid on the 423 million yen project, entirely financed by Japanese aid.

Pacific Consultants subcontracted the surveying and mapmaking related to the project to the National Geographic Institute of Costa Rica, according to the paper.

The subcontract fee cited in the contract submitted to JICA was $230,000, but an audit by the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Works and Transport found only several tens of thousands of dollars in the institute's account, the newspaper said.
 

Two Elderly Women Murdered in their Home
Two elderly Costa Rican ladies were murdered in their own homes in Porvenir en la alameda N° 5 in Desamaparados yesterday, in what police believe the motive to have been robbery.

Seventy two year old, Susana Medina and her sister, Yolanda, who is 64 years old, where shot at close range; Susana in the heart and Yolanda in the neck and head.

Missing from house where the two women lived is a case that is believed to contain jewelry the women sold to the neighbourhood with a value of between ¢500.000 and ¢1 million colones.

Nothing else was apparently missing from the home and there was no forced entry, leading police to speculate that the women knew the assailant.

Jorge Rojas, director of the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), believe that person who attacked the two women knew of the jewelry and whose intent was to simply rob the women, however, something must have gone wrong.

Police are being tight lipped on the potential identity of the assailant.

Kayaker Set to Begin Journey for Peace
After more than a year of planning and training, Carlos de la Fuente, a retired San Diego, California, a lawman and lawyer, will take to the sea today in a daring mission to draw attention to his concerns about environmental degradation and the ravages of war.

Alone on the ocean in his 18-foot kayak for six months, de la Fuente will travel from Santa Barbara to San José, Costa Rica, on a 2,500-mile journey that to his knowledge has not been attempted.

He'll keep family members and friends informed using a satellite telephone, and his thoughts, words and observations will be posted on a Web site to be updated weekly. The site, www.kayakingforpeace.org, will include a map or an aerial photograph pinpointing de la Fuente's location, said Web master Philip Mally.

Supporters will be able to follow his journey or post messages that de la Fuente's family will pass along to him, Mally said.

A longtime peace activist, de la Fuente, 66, hopes his mission will bring attention to water pollution and destruction of sea life, particularly in his beloved Sea of Cortez.

In a statement against war, he intends to end his journey at the University for Peace in San José, Costa Rica. The school is affiliated with the United Nations and promotes conflict resolution, human rights and environmental security.

De la Fuente's route will take him along the California coast to the Mexican border, where he'll cross over by truck to the gulf side of Baja California. From there, he will paddle down the Gulf of California, take a ferry to Mazatlan, then continue south to Costa Rica.

Inside his kayak, named for his wife, Mariana, de la Fuente will carry water, dried food, several changes of clothing, a tent and a thin sleeping bag. He will rest on ocean shores, in fishing camps wherever possible.

De la Fuente, who has been training with one of the world's top sea kayakers, Roger Shuman, has admitted some nervousness. He could be facing 14-foot waves in the ocean around Mexico and Central America, which he said "could be very nasty."

Paddling solo for long distances is risky, so de la Fuente has been practicing his "rolling" technique, a means of righting a kayak after it capsizes, and schooling himself about the potentially deadly effects of hypothermia. "You can never be completely prepared for something like this," de la Fuente said. "The sea is so unpredictable.

New Los Angeles Auxiliary a Native of Costa Rica
Pope John Paul II has appointed Monsignor Alexander Salazar, the 54-year-old vice chancellor of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, as auxiliary bishop.

Alexander Salazar was born in San José, Costa Rica. His family went to the United States in 1953 and settled in Los Angeles. He became a U.S. citizen at the age of 18.

Salazar studied at California State University, Los Angeles, and later at Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, where in 1978 he received a bachelor's in bilingual studies.

In 1977, he entered St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. He was ordained a priest in June 1984.