San José, Costa Rica -    Saturday 16 October 2004

1.396 Daily Average Visits in September!

¡ESPOSADO! Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría, former president of Costa Rica and now former Secretary General of the OAS, is in Costa Rica and behind bars, as he was handcuffed, taken off the airplane and sped to the San José courthouse to face Costa Rican justice for his alleged acts of corruption. Click for larger image! Our foto gallery of Miguel Angel Rodríguez's arrival at the Juan Santamaria airport The La Nación foto gallery  for a closer look of the man himself as he steps off the airplane and taken into custody

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

Miguel Angel Rodríguez Returns to Costa Rica and Now Behind Bars
Former president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría kept his word that he would return to Costa Rica and face Costa Rica justice on accusations that he took money from the French telecommunications firm, Alcatel, and as revealed in the last few days, also accepted money from the government of Taiwan.

OPINION
The Rise and Fall of Angel
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría decided early in life that he wanted the reach the top, and not only scaling the Chirripó, high point in Costa Rica as he did in July of 2001, but to the presidency and beyond.

The Scandals Scorecard
We thought to keep a scorecard on who's who, who is involved in what scandal and where are they now. We seek your help in keeping this list current and factual.

Electric Train Proposed Between Heredia and San José
San José could soon have an electric passenger train that can transport up to 52.000 passengers daily between Heredia and San José, in a project being studied by government an municipal authorities.

Gasoline Prices Up. Again!
While Costa Ricans have been consumed with the arrival of former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez and focusing on the acts of other politicians and public functionaries, they have been distracted from the day to day life of rising gasoline prices.

More Cruise Ships
The cruise ship season -that will go on through July 2, 2005- started in Costa Rica last September 12 on the Pacific side, and on the Caribbean one it did so on October 14 with the arrival of the Coral Princess to the Port of Limon.

Illegal Aliens
On a truck normally used to carry cattle, the Costa Rican police found 40 Nicaraguans, including 7 children and 2 pregnant young women, who were trying to enter Costa Rica illegally.

El Salvador likely to send fourth contingent to Iraq
El Salvador could send a fourth military contingent to Iraq, depending on whether Iraq would return to the normality after the January elections, Salvadoran Defense Minister Gen. Otto Romero said Friday.

Lat Am ought to integrate with Caribbean for talks with US: Mexican FM
Visiting Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Derbez said Friday that Latin America should integrate with the Caribbean as a single region in order to have more balanced negotiations with the United States.

Helicopter crash kills 3 in Mexico
The Mexican National Defense Ministry said on Friday that three soldiers were killed and two wounded in two accidents of the air force helicopters.  

International News from the New York Times
 

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BOLIVIA: Indigenous and Civic Groups to Field Candidates In Bolivia's upcoming local elections, indigenous and civil society organisations will for the first time be able to field their own candidates, thanks to a modification of the country's election laws. Political parties will find themselves competing against some 70 indigenous and citizen groups in December, when voters choose 3,500 mayors and town councillors. And in the view of Professor Joaquín Saravia, citizens organisations and indigenous groups will occupy the spaces left vacant by the parties, which have fallen into discredit. But, the analyst predicted in a conversation with IPS, a lack of experience in public administration is likely to create a gap between good intentions and what these new candidates will really be able to achieve, which would eventually lead to the traditional parties regaining a leading role.

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