Verdict Expected Tomorrow in
Madam Trial; Mothers Demand
Compensation
While the Colombian Madam will
spend the next six months in
preventive detention as
authorities continue their
investigation into the woman's
activities, another Madam, Sinaí
MOnge, could learn tomorrow the
decision by the judges following
the conclusion of her trial on
Friday.
The 40 year old Colombian woman
identified only as Sánchez was
arrested on Friday in Carmen de
Paso Ancho for providing
underage prostitutes to clients.
She used ads in the local
Spanish language newspapers to
promoted her "massage" services
and the internet where
investigators says more than 50
young girls - some as young as
14 - were featured on the
website, which police are
keeping secret.
Police say the woman would
charges up to us$250 dollars for
the services of the young girls,
of which they would only be paid
us$50 dollars.
The woman will be detained in
the women's prison, El Buen
Pastor, in Desamparados.
In the same prison, Madam Sinaí,
has been there since her arrest
in October of 2004, when police
raided her home in Hatillo 3 and
took down what is being called
the most important prostitution
ring in Costa Rica.
Sinaí went on trial last week
after her arrest in 2003 when an
Organismo de Investigacion
Judicial (OIJ) agent was able to
order an underage prostitute
from the Madam, took her to a
motel where the girls was
willing, able and ready to
provide sexual favours in
exchange for cash, according to
the police report.
The trial ended on Friday with
Sinaí making her statement. The
Madam asked for forgiveness, is
repentful of all that is
happened and said that she did
not know that the girls were
minors, referring also to the
three girls who testified
against her.
Sinaí told the judges that she
had turned to prostitution since
she was 20 years old to feed her
family, working hard since she
was 8 years old after her mother
left her. At first she would
send her friends in her place
when her regular customers
called and she was not able to
go with them.
Over time she provided shelter
for many of the girls that
worked for her, offering her
home instead of the streets. The
Madam said that the girls would
go to the other bars and discos
and offered their "cedula" to
enter, meaning their were of
age. She said she had no idea
that the girls were under the
age of 18.
Sinaí could face up to 16 years
in jail and to repay ¢15 million
colones - us$32.000 dollars -
(¢5 million - us$11.000 dollars
each to each of the three minors
who testified in trial) if
convicted.
Her lawyer, José Antonio
Arguedas, asked the judge to
consider why the mothers of the
three girls would now come forth
to ask for this compensation
when they never cared for where
their daughters were and what
they were doing, that the girls
had found shelter and a safe
place in Sinaí's home.
"Sinaí did not deceive,
obligate, nor prostitute anyone,
if they didn't want to go they
didn't, before coming to Hatillo
they were already trained, what
they wanted to do was go from
the minor league to the
majors...", were the words of
the Arguedas to the judges.
The lawyer continued in his
comments that the girls have
admitted to being abused by
their brothers, witnessed their
mothers become prostitutes,
suffered family violence and
abuses and though prostitution
is not illegal, these girls
lived in hell, victims of their
surroundings.
The judges are expected to
render their verdict on Monday.
La Fortuna Visitors Victims of
High Crime in the Area
With the robbery of a group of
Australian tourists, police are
asking visitors to the La
Fortuna de San Carlos to be keep
a close eye on their belongings.
This year so far there have been
45 robberies reported to police
and some ¢17 million colones
(us$36.500 dollars) lost to
thieves who take advantage of
tourists to the area.
The latest report was by the
fourteen young Australians who,
while enjoying the thermal
waters of the area, thieves
broke into their hotel room and
stole cash, cameras and
clothing.
Business operators in the area
are aware of the problem but can
do little to stop it, as the
thieves disguise themselves as
guides and befriend the
tourists, offering them special
deals to some of the area's
attractions.
Tourists often hire guides to
take them into the mountains
where they are abandoned. One
American tourist reported an
attempted raped.
The Fuerza Publica - police -
are organizing an effort to curb
this activity as tourism is the
number one revenue source for
the area.
Second
Trade Partner
Central America became the
second trade partner for Costa
Rica as of November last year.
Until then, the European Union
was second to the United States
as the leading destination of
Costa Rican exports.
According
to data from the Central Bank of
Costa Rica, sales to Central
America totaled us$614 million
from January through November
last year, while those to Europe
added to us$602 million.
According
to the executive director of the
Costa Rican Chamber of the Food
Industry Mario Montero, the
Central American market is the
most important one for several
sectors, such as the
agricultural one and the packed
food one.
The Foreign Trade
Promoter (PROCOMER in Spanish)
reported that the firms
exporting to Central America
increased from 1,366 in 1999 to
1,513 in 2003, and that in the
same period the number of goods
exported to the region went from
2,520 to 3,198.
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Costa Rican Informant Shown
The Door in Canada
By Nicholas
Keung, Toronto Star
A Costa Rican man who says
he informed on other illegal
migrants has landed in
detention after his own
immigration bid failed.
Juan Carlos Campos Cordero
is scheduled to be deported
Monday morning to Costa Rica
- where he said his life
will be threatened by those
deportees, some of them
criminals, he helped finger
in the past.
Campos said he hoped that by
"doing favours" for the
authorities, he would be
able to remain in Canada.
That dream was shattered
when the 38-year-old was
arrested by immigration
enforcement officers Feb. 3
at a North York (North
Toronto) coffee shop.
Both his refugee claim and
an immigration application
on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds have
been denied.
"All I wanted was a chance
to stay in Canada. I got my
forklift operator
certificate and truck
license. I worked hard in
this country. I have no
criminal record. I
contributed to Canada by
more than working hard; I
helped Canada get rid of the
bad people," Campos said in
an interview from an
immigration detention centre
in Rexdale yesterday.
"They told me I would not
get into any trouble with
immigration."
Campos supplied documents to
back up his claim.
In a letter to immigration
officials dated June 7,
2001, Toronto police Det.
Const. Lauron Pogue wrote:
"Mr. Cordero has been
providing information to the
... Fugitive Squad since
April 1998. The information
has led to numerous arrests
of many people previously
deported from Canada for
crimes of violence, as well
as those living in Canada
illegally and some wanted on
outstanding criminal
warrants."
Campos also supplied a copy
of an email from the
immigration department
bearing the name and contact
information of enforcement
officer Andy Jenkins. Dated
Dec. 6, 2001, it asks Campos
to help track down a failed
refugee claimant who lived
on Bloor St. W.
"We need to know which
apartment he lives in and if
he has a phone # ... just
around Bloor and Dovercourt.
Any info you can provide
would be appreciated," it
reads.
Jenkins declined to comment
when reached by the Star.
Pogue did not return calls.
Immigration Canada
spokesperson Rejean Cantlon
said he could not comment on
Campos's claim, but noted
that he has exhausted all
avenues of appeal, including
a pre-removal risk
assessment, to remain in the
country. Campos was arrested
because he failed to report
to the department and is
considered a flight risk,
Cantlon said.
Immigration officers simply
can't make promises that
someone would not be removed
from Canada by serving as an
informant, he said in an
interview.
"It is important that people
would come forward with
information on people
violating the (immigration)
act, but it is also
important that we fulfill
the mandate of the
department," Cantlon said.
Campos, who dropped out
after two years of law
school at Costa Rica's
Universidad Autonoma of
Centroamericana, first
arrived in Canada in
November 1988 and was
deported in 1994 after his
first refugee claim was
rejected.
He returned to Canada
through the U.S. a year
later and started working
illegally at an Etobicoke
bakery. Upset with the
owner's exploitation of
undocumented Latino workers,
he said he called Crime
Stoppers.
That led to contacts with
immigration authorities and
Toronto police, and soon he
embarked on his "volunteer
job as an informant," he
said
"I speak both English and
Spanish, and I mingled with
the community well. They
knew I could be helpful to
them," he said. "I have no
grief against the officers.
But if our immigration
minister could give permits
to help strippers stay in
Canada, why can't they help
me?"
Campos said his informant
activities involved risks
and led to the arrests of
dozens of people.
He went underground in 2003
after a second immigration
application failed. But he
continued to work as an
informant, he said.
An Ecuadorian man who has
known Campos since they met
in Canada in the late 1980s
said he does not approve of
what his friend did.
"We are buddies, but what he
did was bad. He betrayed
others' trust," said the
man, now a Canadian citizen,
who asked that his name not
be used.
"I know he's desperate to
stay in Canada, but it's
just not right. Those who
know what he did call him a
rat."
Campos vows that he will
return one day to Canada, a
country where he's spent 16
years.
"When I come back, I'll be
back legally," he said.
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