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.

Today's Stories: Fiscalía to Investigate Allegations Against Former President Rodríguez Local Telephone Rates Up, Long Distance Call Rates Down Government Explores Ways to Save on Gasoline Pacheco Conditions FTA Caution at the OAS BETonSPORTS Responds to Bill

Graffiti spray painted outside the home of José Antonio Lobo Solera expresses the sentiment of many Ticos. Lobo is under "house arrest" for the next six months while the investigation continues.

Once former Costa Rican president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was implicated by his long time friend and former minister, the international press has picked up the story.

Headlines in various online news sources have been running the headlines and stories of the newly appointed Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), about receiving payoffs.

Facing record prices for gasoline and with more increases coming soon, the government is calling on Costa Ricans to save and promoted the used of an alchohol mix in gasoline.Full story

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.

The request was approved, so the cost of residential telephone service will go from ¢1.650 to ¢1.850 colones per months, while commercial service will go from ¢2.000 to ¢2.150.

The basic rate includes 150 minutes or "impulses" as they are referred to by ICE. The cost of each impulse above the basic will also increase from ¢3.25 to ¢3.60 colones.

Impulses are registered only by the caller, thereby, receiving calls is free.

The 12% increase will mean that an average user of 500 impulses per month will see a ¢320 colones difference in their monthly bill.

Good news however, is the reduction of international calls ot the United States, Mexico and Canada. The cost per minute on calls to those countries will drop the current $0.45 to $0.27 per minute. A 15 minute call will now cost only $4.05 instead of $6.75.

Long distance calls placed to points in Europe and South America are also being reduced from $0.60 to $0.52 cents per minute.

*All international calls are billed at US$ dollar and charged on the telephone bill in local currency.

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).

The project calls to substitute 10% of the gasoline used today with alcohol. Critics question the used of alcohol from a technical point, fearing that the mixture could be more harmful than good.

Costa Rica imported us$573.000.000 dollars of petroleum last year. Recope, the national refinery, estimates that this year's bill could reach us$700.000.000 dollars.

Alla Chin, engineer for the "la Comisión Nacional de Energía" says that 72% of the imported petroleum goes towards gasoline consumption and that an alcohol mixture is a good option to reduce costs and reduce contamination.

Currently a litre of super gasoline at the pumps costs ¢349.8 colones, while regular is ¢334.3. Recope has asked for an increase in the price of gasoline, which would see the cost jump to ¢361.41 for super and ¢345.3 for regular. Deisel gasoline now costs ¢250 colones per litre and the price increase would set it at ¢258.93.

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.

Bush's response encouraged Pacheco, who in the following months championed the advantages of such an FTA with the region's leading trade partner.

But, in recent weeks, Pacheco has changed his position and now asks for a growing number of conditions before submitting the Agreement to the Legislative Assembly.

He points out, among other issues, that before Congress discusses the FTA, he has to be sure that the Agreement will have no negative effects on the poor, the farmers, and the small manufacturers.

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.

While, at first, delegates from several nations stated support to the idea of re-structuring the Organization, their enthusiasm began to ebb when the issue of increasing the financial support of each country to the OAS was raised.

Meanwhile, sources close to Rodriguez pointed out that the Secretary General's first actions included cutting salaries -his included-, dismissing officials, and re-organizing some bureaucratic units, all to achieve some $2.3-million savings a year.

They added that Rodríguez aims at making the Organization more efficient in the mid-term, therefore encouraging the states to increase their support in order to strengthen the OAS programs.

These comments came before the news of the allegations against Rodríguez of his involvement in the corruption scandal with respect to ICE and Alcatel.

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.

Many of the bill's goals are laudable -- particularly provisions to protect military personnel from bad financial sales practices, and to address a number of issues relating to terrorism and the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

The bill, however, also contains a surreptitious provision inserted by Alabama Representative Spencer Bachus to bar US citizens from using credit cards to place bets on online gambling sites.

It is regrettable that, rather than engaging in an open public dialogue on the issue of online gaming, some elected leaders would use the important issue of homeland security as a thinly-veiled opportunity to impose their own narrow views on Americans.

Further, the bill's provision to ban the use of US-issued credit cards on online gaming sites will undermine the financial transparency it purports to advocate. When the millions of American consumers who place bets online are unable to use their credit cards to do so, they are forced to use other financial tools, most of which are significantly less transparent than credit card transactions.

BETonSPORTS located in San José, Costa Rica, is the world's largest legal and licensed sports book, has played a leading role in engaging Americans on the issue of online gambling.

In addition to an ongoing national television, print and outdoor advertising campaign, BETonSPORTS recently hosted a series of summit meetings in cities across the United States, bringing leaders from the legal, academic, and non-profit communities together with industry representatives to discuss the future of online gambling in America.

In the coming weeks, BETonSPORTS will be sponsoring a series of college campus debates on the topic of online gaming, as well as publishing a white paper on the topic.

David Carruthers, CEO of BETonSPORTS.com states, "The position of the United States government regarding online wagering is made up of total inconsistencies. There is only one difference to what we are doing on line as to what is being done in Las Vegas at casinos such as the Bellagio and Mirage. At BETonSPORTS.com you can wager without leaving the privacy of your own home."