San José, Costa Rica -   Saturday 02 October 2004

1.396 Daily Average Visits in September!

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

Red or Green? Malfunctioning traffic lights immediately south of the Parque Central in downtown San José Thursday afternoon left drivers frustrated, as the traffic signals indicated both red and green at the same time. Click for larger image!

insidenicaragua A new weekly feature published on Sundays, featuring a summary  of current news and events in Nicaragua.

ICE-ALCATEL SCANDAL:
Fiscalía to Investigate Allegations Against Former President Rodríguez
Costa Rican authorities say they will investigate former President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez on allegations of corruption.

Local Telephone Rates Up, Long Distance Call Rates Down
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) - the state owned monopoly on telephone communications in Costa Rica - had asked the regulating authoritty - ARESEP - for an increase in the price of telephone services.

Government Explores Ways to Save on Gasoline
Yesterday, government officials and members of Costa Rica's sugar industry met to discuss alternative options with the objective of reducing the depending on gasoline. The meeting was organized by the Técnicos Azucareros de Costa Rica (ATACORI).

Pacheco Conditions FTA
In June 2002, Abel Pacheco, recently inaugurated President of Costa Rica, arrived at the White House in Washington to talk to George W. Bush about establishing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Central America.

Caution at the OAS
Diplomats from different nations stated caution about the plans to revamp the Organization of American States that the new Secretary General, former President of Costa Rica Miguel Rodríguez, announced.

BETonSPORTS Responds to Bill
BETonSPORTS, based in Costa Rica, said they were disappointed by this week's passage of H.R. 5011 by the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Cuba to shut plants to save power
Cuba plans to close more than 100 factories for all of October as part of a plan to deal with power shortages. Other measures to save energy include a shorter working week, reduced street lighting and scheduled power cuts.

Argentina opposes Brazil's entry into Security Council
Argentina on Friday voiced its opposition to the entry of Brazil into the UN Security Council as a permanent member, as part of the reform of the world organization.

Dominican Republic starts campaign against dengue fever
The Dominican health authorities started Friday a national campaign against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector of dengue fever, for which thousands of volunteers have been mobilized.

Cuba to denounce US blockade in Internet forum 
The Cuban government will hold six for a on the Internet on Oct. 6 to denounce the blockade imposed by the United States against the island for over four decades, according to a statement by the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

International News from the New York Times
 

BOLIVIA: Tense Truce Between Coca Farmers and Army Coca farmers and their families are calmly but closely keeping an eye on the camps of soldiers sent to destroy their crops in the Isiboro Sécure nature reserve, in the central Bolivian department (state) of Cochabamba. A violent clash between the two groups on Monday left one farmer dead and 15 people wounded, including four soldiers. Coca is the raw material used to make cocaine, although the plant's leaves have been used by local indigenous communities for centuries for medicinal and other purposes. Lawmaker Evo Morales, the leader of Bolivia's coca growers, managed to get the government to agree to postpone the eradication of the coca crops for four days, and to pay compensation to the family of the campesino (peasant farmer) killed in the clashes. Nevertheless, he called for the resignation of Government Minister Saúl Lara.

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