According to a poll by Borge and Associates, published in Diario Extra, the PLN candidate Arias would get 41.3% of the votes. 1017 people over 18 were polled between August 20th and September 14th.

At least 40% of the total vote is required for the candidates to win outright in the first round and avoid a two-candidate run-off. The results have a en error margin of +/- 5 % . Arias is the only candidate currently advertising, as the other candidates plan to begin the official campaigns in October.

The Association of Journalists in Costa Rica has filed a complaint at the Interamerican Human Rights Court in Washington, DC. They denounce that local means of justice have been exhausted in the case of the “La Penca” bombing in 1984.

No one has ever been brought to trial or even charged with the bombings that killed 3 journalists, 4 guerillas, and wounded 28 others.

Ericsson de Costa Rica did not deliver the new GSM network and its 600,000 lines on September 5th as originally planned. So new lines will not be available in October, but are likely to be on the market in December.

The delay is in the installation of towers for the network, which is only 74% complete. The ICE board of directors is analyzing a request from the company for a 2 month extension for the delivery, which would make November 5th the new target date. The company and ICE will test the network for 1 month before beginning to sell the lines.

PWS re-insurers responded yesterday that they will willingly answer inquiries by INS over the $1.6 million “training fund”. The actual cheif of Re-insurance for INS, José Luis Soto said that there are no other similar cases under the current administration.

ICE has unveiled 25 machines that allow Internet access at public spots. Users only need to by a 1000 or 2000 colon “chip” telephone card. The initial machines were placed in places frequented by tourists, public hospitals and rural areas. The cruise ship docks in Limon and Puntarenas, the souvenir shops in Sarchi, hospital San Juan de Dios and the Hotel Centroamericano San Jose all have the machines.

President Pacheco received the report on the CAFTA agreement from the Council of Notables yesterday and details of the report were not officially released. The secret will remain until Tuesday, when the report will be made public.

Leaks indicated the the CAFTA is favored by the commission, but also care must be taken to implement additional measures and legislation. 15 topics are covered in the report, but no definitive answers are given since, “our job was not to decide the issue, but to give information necessary for decision-making”.

Fiorella and Yurelia came home yesterday after being released to their parents for the first time. In February they will return to the hospital for ultrasound exams as doctors continue to study the possibility of separating them.

ATLAS has donated a refrigerator, but there is no food in it because the twin’s father is unemployed, and others have donated a crib and a playpen. The family can use food and doesn’t have furniture, a stove or washer.

If you want to help, you can donate items to the Tibás Lion’s Club (838-7396, with Rafael Manzanares or 257-3451, with Luis Alfaro) or deposit in an account in the del Banco de Costa Rica #377-15600-0 .

The twins do have godparents, Carmen Arias and Alvaro Jimenez. They were the parents of the last siamese twins born in Costa Rica in 1985. Those twins died at 5 months after an unsuccessful attempt to separate them.

Thursday’s Matches
Cartago 0 - Saprissa 1
Puntarenas 1 - Heredia 1
Wednesday Night
Carmen 2 - San Ramon 1
Alajuela 1 - Perez Zeledon 0

Next Games
Saturday September 17
Santacruceña-Alajuelense,
estadio Cacique Diriá, 7 p.m.

Sunday September 18
Herediano hosts Saprissa 11 a.m.
San Ramon at Liberia, 11 a.m.
Carmelita hosts Cartago 11 a.m.
Pérez Zeledón hosts Brujas 11 a.m.

Monday September 19

Santos at Puntarenas 7 p.m.

From September 30th to October 2nd 45 tourism related companies will be accepting applications at the Liberia Mall. According to the Labor Minister Fernando Trejos hotels have the most openings, but travel agencies and rent-a-car companies are also looking for personnel in view of the upcoming high season.

Even though miniskirts were banned by the Education Ministry, everyone had a good time at the Independence Day festivities in mostly traditional activities. In some areas students “retaliated” for the prohibition by dressing in hip hugging pants and halter tops, since nothing was said about “mini-blouses”!

President Pacheco marked the 184th year of Costa Rica’s Independence from Spain with a speech in front of the national monument. He called for “all of society’s segments to … free themselves of their fears, their calculations, their radical views, and that together we reach an agreement for the advancement of the country.”