Former President Rodríguez Teaching At UCR; To Unveil Book Next Week
Former president, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, who is under investigation in the ICE-Alcatel scandal, will soon unveil his book "Di la cara" (I gave face) and has been working teaching at the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR).

Rodríguez has been teaching the course "Comercio Internacional" at the commerce school of the university since last March. Faculty dean, Doris Sossa, confirmed Rodríguez's position at the UCR to the Spanish language daily Al Día.

However, Sossa, referred questions by Al Día about the contracting of the former president to Carlos Palma, director of the school.

Palma is a former secretary general of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), the party led by Rodríguez during his presidency of 1998-2002, and was not available for comment.

There has been no advance of the Rodríguez book, though its title may be a clue to its content. The former president referred any questions regarding the book to his press agent, Betsy Rojas.

Rojas said that, in accordance with the publisher Planeta de Colombia, details of the content of the book cannot be revealed before it is officially presented, next Tuesday, at the Colegio de Abogados.

Former president Rodríguez is tied to alleged payoffs he received while president from the French telecommunications firm Alcatel in being awarded the contract to install 400.000 cellular telephone lines, the existing "old" GSM network.

Following his term of president,. Rodríguez was elected as head of the Organization of American States (OAS) and was forced to leave office one month after his taking office and arrested on his return to Costa Rica last October.

Following a time under house arrest, the former president, after a judge rescinded the house arrest order, spent several months behind bars, who was again released to house arrest after posting bail.

According to the Oficina de Prensa del Poder Judicial (Court press office), the former president's bail conditions do not restrict him from teaching at the UCR. His bail conditions are only to sign in each month, not to the leave the country and not to have any contact with his co-accused or witnesses in the case, which is still under investigation.