San José, Costa Rica - Saturday 24 July 2004

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Several international organizations in London, England, made a call to world airlines to evaluate the possibility of suspending flights to Costa Rica, given the current air traffic controller's strike claiming insecurity and near misses at Juan Santamaria airport. [Foto: Prensa Libre] Click for larger image!

Three Banco Elca officials will spend the next three months as guests of the Admisión de San Sebastián.

Costa Rica’s Proposed Tax Reforms Stalled
Costa Rica’s long-awaited Fiscal Reform - tax reform - package has suffered another setback as legislators will not be able to vote on the plan until the Sala IV Constitutional Court decides whether the former president of the Legislative Assembly acted unconstitutionally.

600.000 New GSM Lines in Doubt
Missed out on your purchase of a GSM line? ICE - the state owned telecommunications monopoly - announced Thursday, that all 15.000 GSM lines that went on sale Monday were gone. However, another 10.000 were made available Friday morning, which are expected to be sold out by Tuesday.

Union Files Criminal Charges Against President Pacheco
The Asociación Nacional de Técnicos y Trabajadores de la Energía y Comunicaciones (Anttec), yesterday presented a criminal charge against President Abel Pacheco for an illegal appointment and incompletion of his duties as president.

Banana Exports Up, Coffee Does Not Recover
The exports of Costa Rican bananas experienced a light increase, 1.2 percent, this year's first semester, as compared to the same period in 2003, according to data from the National Banana Corporation (CORBANA in Spanish).

News Briefs
- The Asociación Nacional de Educadores (Ande), the Unitaria Sindical y Magisterial (Cusima) and the Asociación de Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza has made it official that there will be a general strike on Thursday 29 July.

Nearly 4.5 tons of cocaine seized in Colombia Colombian police seized nearly 4.5 tons of cocaine in the northwestern shores of the country on Friday and the drug belonged to a paramilitary commander of the region, authorities said. Spanish FM visits Colombia to "update" ties Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos arrived here Friday for a brief visit to "update" the bilateral relations. Venezuela would never be a US colony: Chavez Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told visiting Argentine President Nestor Kirchner Friday that his country will never be a colony of the United States. 18 countries join in anti-doping campaign Representatives from 18 countries accorded to join efforts in their combat against doping within the framework of the meeting of Latin America, Spain and Portugal Sports Council (CID).  International News from the New York Times

SPECIAL REPORTS RIGHTS-MEXICO: Former President Faces Arrest - Some Activists Sceptical Some human rights activists and the families of victims of the ''dirty war'' of the 1970s in Mexico welcomed a special prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for former president Luis Echeverría and other former government officials, while others took a more sceptical stance. Rosario Ibarra, the head of the Committee for the Defence of Prisoners, the Persecuted, the Disappeared and Political Exiles, known as the Eureka Committee, told IPS that ''This is something that we have been demanding for many years, but there is a long way from words to reality.''   THE TAKE:  YOUR TAKE "This Muñeca has had enough" You are the most beautiful flower in the garden,” a brave Tico told me as I sat on a cliff in Manuel Antonio watching the sunset with my mother. I bit my lips not to laugh and that created a smile. So he kept on. “I want to make you my wife here on this cliff. We get married and I take care of you forever,” he insisted. My mother’s face turned white like Casper. I asked him his name. “My name David and I make a good husband for you. You no pay for nothing. I take care of you. My beautiful flower. The best princess in all the world. You are a princess, preciosa.”

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