No More Taiwanese "Chorrizos", Foreign Minister Announces
The donations made by the Taiwanese to Costa Rica by way of the Chancellery will now have to be deposited with the Ministerio de Hacienda (Revenue Ministry), announce the Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores (Foreign Minister), Bruno Stagno, at a meeting with his Taiwanese counterpart, James C.F. Huang.

"I have commented on the actions we have taken to channel those funds properly and can inform you that as of last Tuesday that the donations from Taiwan will go to the only cash register at the Hacienda. Today (yesterday) we us$356.000 was deposited there", said Stagno.

Stagno added that all funds received from the Taiwanese will be handled by Hacienda and the Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller's office) who appoves all government expenditures. Stagno said that anyone can verify the spending of the funds as there is now a special account speficially for those donations.

Stagno also said that the Taiwanese donation will continue to pay the salaries of the staff of the Foreign Ministry as it has been done since 2000, when former president Pacheco came under fire after the discovery of the practice. The minister said he is committed to stopping that after all the labour contracts have expired which will not be until March of 2007.

President Oscar Arias was also present at the meeting that was held at the Marriott hotel in San José, who was invited by Chancellor Huang to attend the "new democracy" celebrations in Taipei in January, along with other leaders of the world.

Stagno also said that at the meeting a memorandum was signed that will see the Taiwanese government give us$15 million dollars for the reconstruction of the Hospital Calderón Guardia.

Discussions at the meeting included housing co-operation projects and the interest of Costa Rica joining the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), that promotes liberal trade and economic policies along the Pacific Rim.