Costa Rica/Latin America Digest, Oct. 26

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Costa Rica News Digest
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*Feature Article: Resistance Mounts Against Torrijos' Intervention in
Supreme

Court in Panama

*News Digest

*Latin American News Digest

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Watch this newsletter for our official launch, coming soon!

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FEATURE ARTICLE
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*Resistance Mounts Against Torrijos' Intervention in Supreme
Court in Panama

In a press release today, lawyer José Salvador Muñoz announced that
Panama's Supreme Court President Cesar Pereira Burgos has filed a
request for a "precautionary measure" (medida cautelar) at the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights, for violations of due process,
judicial security, honor and personal integrity and the violation of
the obligation to respect his rights by the Panamanian Government of
President Martin Torrijos Espino.

----------

Cesar Periera Burgos

Also today, the National Front Against Corruption in a public statement
said that the decision by the Cabinet, with the extensive support of
Comptroller Alvin Weeden, has plunged the country into a "sea of
judicial insecurity," which "reminds us of the worst moments of
Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori."

Fujimori once fired three Supreme Court Magistrates. However, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights, on September 24 1999 decided that
the Magistrates had to be reinstated and that governments can not
remove Magistrates. Panama has to comply with that sentence as well,
however, the Torrijos government appears to be of a different opinion.

Fujimori resigned and fled the country when scandal broke about widespread

corruption in his government, and lives currently as a fugitive in Japan.

The National Front Against Corruption, headed by Enrique Montenegro,
further denounces the removal of the Supreme Court President as a
"shameless act of corruption, in violation of the Constitution and an
illegitimate interference with the independence of the judiciary."

According to the Front, the actuation of the Government is revealing
for what they really have in stock for Panama. "Only 48 hours ago,
legislators refused to lift their immunity so that electoral crimes by
the Electoral Prosecutor could be investigated and prosecuted," states
the front, "they believe that they are living in 1968.

Trying to get the replacement Magistrate approved in the Assembly without
going through the Credentials Commission first is a crime and a violation
of the rules of that same Assembly."

In 1968, the current President's father, Omar Torrijos Herrera,
overthrew the elected President and installed a military junta, which
has been characterized by extensive human rights violations, a disdain
for the separation of the Powers of the State and democracy in general,
and massive corruption unequaled in the history of Panama.

"The National Front Against Corruption repeats its call to all Panamanians

not to allow themselves to be manipulated by neither the corruptos of

yesterday nor those of today," closes Montenegro.

University Professor and publicist Miguel Antonio Bernal had earlier
called the removal of Periera Burgos by the government "a de-facto coup
d'etat," an opinion that is shared by ex-President Guillermo Endara.

Bernal has asked international Human Rights Organizations to investigate
and denounce the actions of the Government.

Periera Burgos, meanwhile, is still acting as the President of the
Supreme Court with the majority of the Magistrates supporting him. Only
days ago, he ruled that the presidential pardons that ex-President
Mireya Moscoso gave just before she left office are in violation of the
Constitution. The decision is currently awaiting the approval and
signatures of the Magistrates.

The pardons included those for four terrorists who had planned to
assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Panama.

24 Oct 2004

The Isthmian
http://www.isthmian.net
Daily news in english from Panamá
Free classifieds
Free banner advertising


.. Human Rights Court Magistrate Ernesto Rey Cantor
represents Cesar
Periera Burgos before Inter-American Commission of Human
Rights;
.. Request for "medida cautelar" now available for download;
.. Press release National Front Against Corruption available
in English
and for download

Again, we have it first.

The Isthmian
http://www.isthmian.net

========================================
= Feature Story =
Colombian Professor Ernesto Rey Cantor represents Pereira
Burgos before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights

Professor Ernesto Rey Cantor from Colombia will be
representing Panama's Supreme Court President Cesar Pereira Burgos
before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. Rey Cantor is an
internationally well-known specialist on constitutional and
human rights matters and actually served as a Magistrate on the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The request by Pereira Burgos which was filed with the Inter-American
Commission of Human Rights was composed Sunday the 24th at the offices
of lawyer Miguel Antonio Bernal, and in the presence of José Salvador
Muñoz (Pereira Burgos' lawyer), Prof. Rey Cantor and Pereira Burgos
himself.


----------


Ernesto Rey Cantor (r) and Miguel Antonio Bernal in the
latter's office

(...)

To read the full story and download the documents, go to
http://www.isthmian.net

The Isthmian
http://www.isthmian.net
Daily news in English from Panamá
Free classifieds
Free banner advertising


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NEWS DIGEST
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*Green Fund's Jafek denies he lied or cheated

Tom Jafek said that he faced intimidation, stalking and extortion from

unhappy investors, but he has no money and denies he lied or cheated.

Jafek, operator of the Costa Rica Green Fund, was responding to a news

article Monday that said he, his wife and son were the targets of

international arrest warrants from Costa Rica charging fraud.

"I am responsible for whatever goes down," said Jafek in an e-mail
message. "Certainly my son and my deceased wife had nothing to do with
what the complainants are involved with. I wish to hell they would quit

picking on a dead person, Billie Jo."

The posting of the warrants on the INTERPOL Web site listed all three.

Jafek did not give particulars on the death of his wife, who died of an

illness in early 2003, but he did say that those in his fund knowingly put

money in a high-return/high-risk investment and now "they have selective

hearing and selective reasoning."

"There was no fraud or lying or cheating on my part," Jafek said. "I
invested the funds and after 9/11 and Villalobos and Roy Taylor and
Savings Unlimited etc., the whole HYI [high-yield interest] thing came

tumbling down like a house of cards.

"Whether stupid, as a lot would like to say, or unfortunate, as of course
I would like to believe, the money was invested and it is not available
now, even though the possibility still exists that I can make it happen.
I can make it happen if I am not in a jail in Costa Rica."

Jafek was writing from an undisclosed location, probably somewhere in
Panamá. He used the same Hotmail.com e-mail address that he has used for

years. He was responding to a reporter who wanted to know if he was aware
he was the object of an arrest warrant.

Jafek said his location is not a secret. "They already found me because
I am not trying to hide, because I never did anything dishonest or
knowingly illegal, it was easy for them," he said of informal groups
of recovery agents commissioned by investors.


*The Scandals. Who's Next?

With the detention of two former presidents Rafael Angel Calderón
and Miguel Angel Rodríguez, and a handful of public functionaries and

businessmen, many in Costa Rica are wondering who's next.

That sentiment carries through to the entire region of Central America
with accusations against Nicaraguan president, Enrique Bolaños, of
illegal campaign financing and Arnoldo Alemán, former president of
Nicaragua, is serving 20 years for fraud.

Guatemala is slowly gathering evidence about misspent funds under
Alfonso Portillo, who fled to Mexico after leaving office in January.
And, the Honduran attorney-general last week fired 10 prosecutors who

protested against his decision to drop corruption charges against
former president Rafael Leonardo Callejas.

Panama is also heating up with scandals of its own, involving the new
government illegally firing the President of the Supreme Court and other
matters. In fact, all of Latin America appears to be in a state of flux.
See our Latin American Digest section below for some of those stories.

Many Costa Ricans were surprised at the events of the past two weeks,
when they saw on television on on the front pages of every newspaper,
one of their own, a former president who reached the heights of being

Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) be
escorted off an arriving flight in handcuffs and then placed in a police

wagon taken to court. Miguel Angel Rodríguez is under house arrest,
which is being appealed by the Fiscalía, who want to see the former
president spend the next nine months in a jail cell.

Less than a week later, another former president, Rafael Angel Calderón,
was detained and this time a judge agreed with the Fiscalía's request and

ordered to spend the next six months in a jail cell in La Reforma prison.

Both former presidents are being accused of corruption and illegal

enrichment, Rodríuez in the ICE-ALCATEL scandal, while Calderón in the

FISCHEL-CAJA scandal.

Both men were detained after witnesses, who themselves are being
accused of wrongdoing in the scandals, decided to "sing" to better their

situation

Many political leaders have distanced themselves from referring to or

speaking about the scandal and the detentions. President Abel Pacheco has

made several small commentaries, the last being on Sunday at the official

opening of the new Alajueal hospital, when he told the crowd that the

"sinvergüenzas y los canallas" (scoundrels and swines) are few within the

CCSS and other public institutions.

Apart from that comment, he has not said much more than that he is "pained"

and hopes that all will resolve well for his two friends and colleagues.

Oscar Arias, former president. Nobel Peace prize winner and presidential

hopeful in the next elections has said very little as well, preferring to

stay quiet on the subject.

And another former president, José Maria Figueres Olsen, has been absent of

commentary on all that is happening in Costa Rica. Figueres, who was

president in 1994-1998, following Calderón and preceding Rodríguez, is now

CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF) - one of the most influential private

organizations in the world. Based in Switzerland, the WEF brings together

heads of state and government and prominent business leaders from over 100

countries.

Both Arias and Figueres belong to the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) or

Green party, while, Calderón, Rodríguez and Pacheco belong to the Partido

Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) party.

Perhaps, the most feared man in Costa Rica by politicians and businessmen
at this time is the current Fiscal General (Chief Prosecutor), Francisco

Dall'Anese, who has shown that no one - not even former presidents - are

above the law and is moving ahead with full force to clean up corruption
in Costa Rica.


*Yet Another Minister Resigns President Pacheco's Administration

Ovidio Pacheco, the newly appointed Minister of Obras Públicas y
Transportes is the 14th minister to resign from president Abel Pacheco's

administration.

The decision was made public following a revelation by the Spanish
language newspaper La Nación, accusing the minister that one of his
family businesses involves high interest lending in the small town of

Turrialba.

Pacheco admitted that in the 1970's the company was involving in lending

money at rates of 60% per year and higher and resigned his post rather
than cause the government any embarrassment and further damage to Costa

Rica's image.

La Nación reported that the company Agropecuaria La Pradera S.A. was being

managed up until the year 2002 by the law firm Pacheco and Pacheco, and is

now being run by Pacheco's sons.

This is curious in light of President Pacheco's comment about the
Villalobos high yield investment company, known informally as The Brothers,

that it "must be an illegal ponzi" because "there is no way to make such
high returns" in light of this fact that has just come to light of just
such a business in his own back yard. One wonders if the President
considers the investors in that company to be "fools" too, as he accused

Brothers investors of being.

The Brothers had a flawless payment record for well over 20 years, with no
investor complaints, until the government raided their offices within 2
months of Pacheco taking office. Information demanded under Canada's
Freedom of Information Act, and which was grudgingly supplied by the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, showed that they allegedly had referred the case to
Prosecutor Walter Espinoza and the judge in the case through "unofficial
channels," which is illegal for them to act on, but they did anyway.

Further, in testimony before the Legislative Assembly earlier this year,
the attorney for the investor group UCCR testified to other irregularities

and illegalities allegedly perpetrated by Espinoza in this and other cases,

including the mysterious setting free of an Italian drug smuggling suspect

under his "care." But nothing has come of this "investigation" despite
the passing of several months.

One wounders as to the true motivations of the new chief prosecutor, who is
going after the former presidents with both barrels, while apparantly not

conducting any investigations into allegations of gross irregularities and
crimes allegedly committed by his own prosecutors.

It is also curious that while the President of Nicaragua faces impeachment
for campaign finance illegalities, why a vigorous investigation of Costa
Rica's current President does not seem to be being pursued, considering
the seriousness of the charges, including accepting donations from a
Panamanian businessman who is on the US terrorist watch list! One would
think THAT would be of interest to any Prosecutor worthy of the name.

Of course, the fact that BOTH major political parties allegedly took
donations from this same source, as well as other illegal contributions,
maybe THAT has something to do with it, although prosecutors are supposed
to be apolitical. Maybe Calderon and Rodriguez are just sacrificial lambs,
or, perhaps prosecuting these two serves some other political agenda we
are not aware of.

Informed sources have hinted that there may be some internal investigations
going on behind the scenes against Espinoza and others, but nothing has yet
been revealed in public. It would certainly help the image of the

Prosecutor's Office to show that it is just as tough on "its own," instead
of simply "investigating" high profile cases to make headlines for

themselves.

Pacheco had been at the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transporte (MOPT)
for only six weeks, replacing Javier Chaves, who resigned following the

blockades and protests against the government and it's policy on the

vehicular inspection contract with Riteve SyA.

Pacheco had also been a legislative deputy for the periods of 1990-1994 and

1998-2002 and was secreaty general of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana

(PUSC) between 1995 and 1996. The PUSC is the same party of former
presidents

Calderón and Rodríguez and current president Abel Pacheco.


*UN Delays Decision on Human Cloning Ban

Sixty-one countries, including the United States, believe that all
scientific research using cells extracted from cloned embryos should be

banned immediately and support Costa Rica's proposal to ban both
reproductive and research cloning.

However, 24 other nations -- including Singapore and South Korea -- say that

cloning for research purposes, if regulated properly, has the potential for

advancing health and science.

Those nations are supporting a proposal by Belgium that would ban

reproductive cloning but allow research cloning. The Belgian proposal would

leave the question of cloning for research purposes up to the discretion of

individual countries.

The Royal Society, Britain's national academy of science, is urging
countries

to reject the U.S.-backed proposal to ban all forms of human cloning. The

U.N. General Assembly in December 2003 agreed to delay until the current

session a discussion about a treaty that would recommend banning human

cloning.

According to Bernard Siegel, executive director of the Genetics Policy

Institute, the delay marks a "tremendous victory" for proponents of stem
cell

research, as well as a "definite erosion of the U.S. plan to ban" cloning
for

research purposes.

However, an "up-or-down" vote may still take place, according to David

Prentice, who is monitoring the debate for the Family Research Council - a

group that supports the U.S.-backed ban. "I think the Costa Rican proposal

probably will pass" if a vote occurs, Prentice said.

Roberto Tovar, Costa Rica's minister of foreign affairs, said, "Today we
must

decide whether the international community will adopt a utilitarian ethic

that justifies the deliberate creation of human embryos with the purpose of

destroying them for scientific experiments".


*Coffee Harvest Expected to Drop

The Instituto Costarricense del Café (ICAFE)said it predicts a drop of 7%

over last year, in the production of coffee during this harvest season,
which begins in November.

ICAFE blames the lower prices for the coffee bean in the past several
months.

Coffee bean price have been regaining strength in the market and that could

mean a good harvest next season.

Currently the price paid to pickers is ¢500 colones per bushel.

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LATIN AMERICAN NEWS DIGEST
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*Haiti is a violent basket case filled with death

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Political violence, instability and natural
disasters are taking their toll on the people of Haiti. In the past few
weeks more than 50 people have died in political violence. Nearly 2,000
died and hundreds remain missing from floods caused by Tropical Storm
Jeanne.

Haitian police each day work their way through the slums of Bel Air,

exchanging gunfire with the dreaded Chimieres, gangs of supporters of
former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. The Chimieres, which in
Creole roughly means ghosts, live up to their name. They disappear
into a maze of alleys in one of Port-au-Prince's oldest neighborhoods
that is a stronghold of support for the former president.

Scores have died in violence in Haiti since Sept. 30, when Aristide

supporters began violent demonstrations calling for his return.
Aristide, who lives in exile in South Africa, says he was forced to
leave Haiti earlier this year by the United States and France, a charge
both countries strongly deny.


*Chile rejects remarks of Bolivian president

The Chilean government rejected and lamented the words of Bolivian President

Carlos Mesa that his Chilean counterpart is "extremely temperamental," local

daily El Mercurio reported Monday.

The Chilean authorities, however, said it opted not to "fall in the game"

with Mesa and keep the discussion in the field of bilateral relations, based

on respect for international laws and treaties.

It has expressed friendship with concrete gestures, the government added.

Chilean right-wing leader Joaquin Lavin also voiced support for President

Ricardo Lagos Escobar, despite their many differences on domestic politics.

"There is a single voice and we back him a hundred percent," Lavin said. "He

deserves, as the president of Chile, all the respect of his counterparts."

Mesa's remarks are part of Bolivian diplomatic offensive to pressure Chile
to

return the coastal territories taken from it at the end of the 19th century.

Last Wednesday, the 100th anniversary of the peace and friendship treaty
that

defines the border, Mesa repeated demands to renegotiate the 1904 accord,

saying Bolivia's economy has been hurt by the loss of a seaport.

The treaty established the territorial limits between both countries after

the War of the Pacific (1879-1884). Chile occupied 120,000 square kilometers

of territory belonging to Bolivia and Bolivia has aspired to reclaim sea

access ever since.

Mesa insisted on Bolivia's sovereign control over a port in the Pacific

Ocean. But the Chilean president replied that there are no pending issues

with respect to sovereignty and the 1904 accord was final.



*Brazil's nuclear program not for military purposes: minister

The Brazilian government said there does not exist any possibility that its

nuclear program could be used for military purposes, the local media
reported

Monday.

"It is clear we'll only make a peaceful use of nuclear energy. It is a

decision established by the Constitution itself that our nuclear program has

to be that way," Eduardo Campos, Minister of Science and Technology, was

quoted as saying.

Campos made the remarks in response to an article issued in the latest

edition of the journal Science, which said Brazil would have the capability

of producing nuclear warheads and would have purchased uranium-enrichment

technology from foreign scientists.

The article indicated that if the Brazilian government manages to limit the

inspections of the experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA), Iran could claim the same treatment.

Last week, IAEA inspectors were allowed to enter the nuclear-fuel plant in

Resende, Rio de Janeiro State, but their visual access to uranium enriching

devices was restricted.

"As it is not possible to patent this equipment, the only way to preserve
its

uniqueness is not giving visual access to technicians from other countries,

who would identify the differences through this contact," said Campos.

He said the accusations against his country had reproduced an economic

dispute, derived from the growth of the nuclear-energy market and because of

the fact that Brazil's uranium-enrichment devices could have a performance

superior to foreign equipment.

"Brazil is a country with great abundance of this mineral, with70 percent of

our territory yet to be investigated," he said.

"In 11 or 12 years time, nuclear energy will represent 25 percent of our

energy production and we want to be self-sufficient by 2010. It is quite

clear this potential places us in an important group," said the minister.

Brazil in early October agreed to allow the IAEA to inspect some of its

nuclear facilities. The tentative compromise is aimed at allowing inspectors

to verify that Brazil has neither enriched uranium to weapons-grade levels

nor diverted the nuclear material to other places.

But the country has refused to allow IAEA inspectors to conduct a full
visual

inspection of the Resende plant, saying the plant's advanced technology
could

be stolen by other countries should outsiders be allowed into it.


*Mexico's New Power Before the United States

"...it is impossible for the United States to militarily invade Mexico
- or even place an economic embargo upon it - without causing conditions
that would fast lead a rebellion by United States citizens against their
own government at home, and that Mexico enjoys a unique power in this

sense..."

I have said this, in fact, to thousands of people in recent years,
imploring Mexican friends and allies to realize the real power they
have to change drug policies, and others, without fear of Uncle Sam, and
imploring gringo friends and allies to understand that a potential silver
bullet exists South of the Border to collapse the entire drug war game.

I usually get blank stares in response. To suggest that the little guy can
beat the neighborhood bully here in a barrio called América seems to
cause a kind of nervous discomfort.

But in today's Mexico City daily La Jornada, somebody else just said it:
a very official-looking bloke from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin
American Studies at Harvard University. His name is John Coatsworth.
Look at his photo. It's not like he's wearing a ski-mask over his
suit and tie. This guy is as establishment as they come. I'll translate
his words. Maybe y'all will listen to the guy in the suit...

Coatsworth, director of the Rockefeller Center, said:

"For the first time in the history of the Mexico-United States
relationship, the latter can't act against its neighbor in a manner that
damages significant Mexican interests without damaging its own interests...

"I think that the most interesting and least recognized aspect of the
relations between both countries is how power has been displaced so
dramatically from the United States toward Mexico. The people who keep
talking about the asymmetry have to rethink it. That offers Mexico the
capacity to project power toward Washington in favor of its own interests
and in a way that is still not being exploited, very consistently and
consciously..."

Coatsworth was interviewed by David Brooks and Jim Cason about the
upcoming elections in the United States, prospects for changes in
immigration policy, and economic issues. To be fair, I'll note that he
didn't bring up drugs.

But I'll also say that everything he says about the changing power
dynamics between the two countries applies with exactitude to questions
of drug policy.

The days are over when U.S. Ambassadors and special envoys - like
Washington's Charles Shapiro attempted Thursday in Bolivia (Read Alex
Contreras' Narco News report on that adventure in imperial arrogance)
- can threaten Mexico with similar harm if it doesn't toe the line on
drug policy.

The dynamics are simply too explosive. Harm the Mexican economy, and you
harm the U.S. economy. The right hand can't shoot the left hand without
losing blood itself.

So what keeps the drug war in place in Mexico?

Read the analysis on The Narcosphe

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/sto...0/25/122117/29



*The United States Opposes New Agreement Between Government and Coca Growers
State Department Representatives Push for More Violent Eradication as
Bolivia

Looks for Peaceful Solutions

By Alex Contreras Baspineiro
Narco News South American Bureau Chief
October 22, 2004

"It is very important that Bolivia meet its eradication goals this year,"

Charles Shapiro, the U.S. State Department's Andean envoy, told the press on

Thursday. "The president says that the goal of 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres)

eradicated will be met. But the new agreement says that (the government)
will

carry out a study and not eradicate all the coca in the Chapare. This is

troubling. "

Shapiro met with Bolivian President Carlos Mesa and several government

ministers on Thursday, to explain to them that the United States opposes the

agreement recently signed with Chapare coca growers. The agreement
recognizes

the legitimate existence of 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres) of coca in the

Tropic of Cochabamba (the region where the Chapare is located).

The October 3 Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the
coca

growers says, in its fourth point: "The reduction of all coca crops the

Tropic of Cochabamba to no less than 3,200 hectares is agreed upon, until
the

results of the Study of the Demand for Legal Coca Consumption are known."

The fifth point adds: "This area for coca cultivation will be distributed

among the 23,000 members of the Six Federations, including the settled area

of the Isiboro Sécure National Park."

"There is joy throughout the Chapare, because if we calculate it, this
allows

every coca-growing family one cato of coca." said congressman and coca
grower

Evo Morales upon signing the memorandum. (A cato is a 40 by 40 foot plot of

land.) "This is the product of many years of struggle with previous

governments, who were subject to the will of the United States Embassy,"

According to the agreement, the coca growers themselves are in charge of

coordinating the peaceful elimination of their crops. Many consider this

agreement a major victory because it was able to break Law 1008, the
Bolivian

"Regulation of Coca and Controlled Substances Law" that has been in effect

since 1988. Interior minister Saul Lara assured the press, after signing the

agreement, that it did not, in fact, weaken Law 1008 - that in fact, it
would

help to reach the goal of eradicating 8,000 hectares of coca by the year's

end.

"We have no doubt that the United States Embassy and the international

community understand that this is a move to comply with international

efforts," said Lara. "We are using our own sovereign law in a peaceful

manner, working in consensus with the coca growers' leadership."


Find complete story he

http://www.narconews.com/Issue34/article1088.html

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We give you hard hitting, timely, common sense articles and
news that the mainstream, or corporate media, either will
not or cannot give you. Several times a week we bring you
an up to date digest on what is going on in the world around
you.

At The Costa Rica Digest, we don't give you hype or BS or
"common knowledge" solutions, but we aim to give you
the cutting edge information you need. If you wish to
become a writer for us, submit your article[s] for
approval to . We cannot
pay for articles, but, instead, you may include a resource
box at the end of your article promoting your website
or product. We welcome submissions of all kinds to
make this a great publication for all to read!
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