San José, Costa Rica -   Wednesday 29 September 2004

1.234 Daily Average Visits in August! Up 10%

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

Christmas Arrives in Costa Rica! This shop on Calle 1 in downtown San José has "unofficially" kicked off the Christmas season in Costa Rica with this window display. "Apartados" or  "lay aways" are a favourite way to shop for many and the "early bird gets the worm". Click for larger image!

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

Wife of Former ICE Director Flees Costa Rica
Following the revelation on Monday that the wife of former Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) director, José Antonio Lobo, had received a payment of US$2.400.000 dollars from ALCATEL, immigration officials confirmed yesterday that, Jean Philp Gallup, had abandoned Costa Rica on a flight to New York at 8:15am yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

Up in Smoke
More than forty police officers from Control de Drogas (PCD) section of the Ministerio de Seguridad, Fuerza Pública, Unidad de Intervención and Vigilancia Aérea, along with forty five officers from the U.S. decended a the Talamanca region on September 16 to destroy a marijuana plantation.

Poder Judicial Gets More Manpower to Combat Scandals
The president called on the officials for a quick resolution to the scandals that have been plaguing the country the last couple of weeks - the Fischel-Caja and the Alcatel payoffs head the list.

Looking for a Job?
The Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (Icafé) has set a 800 number for those interested in picking coffee this season, to direct workers to area were their services are needed most.

Delta Adding Second Daily Flight to Costa Rica
Delta Air Lines Inc. is adding a handful of new routes in Latin America as part of the carrier's strategy to do more lucrative international and long-haul flying that low-cost competitors haven't yet encroached on.

AT&T Readies Big Push Into Business-IP Markets
Thwarted in its attempts to make a profit in consumer-telephony markets, AT&T Tuesday announced its "transformation" and outlined an aggressive rollout of business IP-network enhancements. The firm also revealed that nearly 75 percent of its $34.5 billion revenue in 2003 came from its business customers.

Did You Know?
Population: 4.000.000+/-, Territory: 51.100 Km2,

US requests extradition of another Colombian rebel leader
The United States requested Colombia to extradite another chief of the illegal armed group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), official sources of the Colombian government said Tuesday.

Guatemalan troops to go to Haiti for UN mission
Seventy Guatemalan troops will go to Haiti on Oct. 15 for a UN stabilization mission there, a military official said Tuesday.

Brazil denies contamination of blood by mad cow disease
Brazil's Health Ministry on Tuesday denied reports that the country's blood supply could have been contaminated by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.  

International News from the New York Times
 

RIGHTS-CHILE: Ralco Dam - the Dark Story Behind the Biggest Source of Light  Environmental organisations in Chile praised President Ricardo Lagos' decision not to take part in the inauguration of the Ralco dam, the country's biggest hydropower plant, which began to operate Tuesday after an eight-year legal battle over indigenous land rights and the environment. "The president's presence would have legitimised the long list of illegalities committed with respect to policies on indigenous rights and the environment" during the construction of the dam, Sara Larraín, director of the Sustainable Chile Programme, told IPS.

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