by Rod Hughes

Oscar Lopez, the sole elected representative of the miniscule Accessability without Exclusion party (PASE, the acronym in Spanish), stridently accused three prestigious hospitals here of benefitting from the elimination of tariffs on human organs destined for transplants if the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States passes.

All three hospitals, internationally respected for the quality of their medical care and their ethics, strenuously denied that they engaged in such a trade. Reactions of the three institutions, Clinica Biblica, CIMA and Clinical Catolica, ranged from calling the congressman’s statements “unfortunate” to terming them “irresponsibly aimed at confusing” the public on the CAFTA trade pact. Clinica Biblica, the oldest private hospital in the country and prominant in so-called “medical tourism” in which foreigners seek high-quality, reasonably priced care, refused to discount legal action for defamation.

Lopez, speaking on a regional radio station in the southern canton of Perez Zeledon, stated flatly that the three hospitals “do business with transplants.” His party opposes CAFTA, the subject of a binding nationwide referendum Oct. 7.

The English-language weekly The Tico Times also covered this subject recently but made it clear that the pact would remove tariffs from a bewildering host of items, some of them even illegal under Costa Rican law. Two of the tariff-exempt items were transplant organs and human tissue.

But Lopez did not stop there, but went on to say that removing tariffs on “kidneys and human viscera as a commercial value…could result in the elimination of indiginous peoples.”
Spokespersons for the hospitals noted that any organ transplants performed by the institution are under the strict control of the National Transplant Commission that also oversees similar operations in public hospitals here.

Mario Pacheco of CIMA San Jose characterized the congressman’s statements as “absurd,” pointing out that Costa Rica has actually imported corneas for transplants for years.

Jorge Cortes of Clinica Biblica said Lopez’s remarks “offend” the “medical staff” and that Lopez “is ignorant of the social and scientific history of an institution” (Biblica) that has been respected for 80 years.” Cortes added that Lopez’s “unfounded” statements “show evidence of bad faith.”

Kaeity Lindo of La Catolica as the clinic and hospital is known today, was also indignant. “La Catolica doesn’t import anything. Each patient has his private doctor and no one has even talked about trade in human organs (with us).”
In Costa Rica, congressmen (called “deputies”) are immune to prosecution or lawsuits, but only until the end of their terms. The only exceptions are if he voluntarily waives immunity or if an overwhelming majority of his colleagues vote to strip him of immunity.

by Rod Hughes
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega are due to have a private chat today in Managua and both countries are watching closely to see if the sparks fly as they have in recent months when they have exchanged barbs in separate statements.
New Costa Rican ambassador to Nicaragua, Antonio Tacsan, describes the agenda as “unpredictable,” as is the outcome. “The agenda is open and we hope the conversation will turn out to be friendly,” Tacsan added, a comment that may have been made with crossed fingers.
Arias, understandably proud of his 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Central American civil wars that had cost thousands of lives, is touchy that Ortega has said that Arias does not merit the honor and that the real peacemaker at the time was Vinicio Cerezo, the Guatemalan president at the time the peace accords were signed.
Ortega has been stung by Arias’s remarks criticizing Ortega’s close ties with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and, by inference, to Fidel Castro, as well. Ortega also has accused Arias of being used by the United States to “conspire” against Nicaragua.
The occasion that finds the two presidents in the same city is the conference organized by Cardinal Obando y Bravo at Nicaragua’s Universidad Catolica to celebrate peace in the region.
Arias made his journey in the company of his foreign minister, Bruno Stagno, and the new bishop of Alajuela, Msr. Angel Sancasimiro. Two weeks ago, Ortega was significantly absent from a similar celebration of 20 years of peace, pleading an agenda conflict.
In the press conference that announced the bilateral talks, Samuel Santos, Nicaragua’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, denied that friction exists between the two although admitting that there were certain “differences of opinion.” But that is what diplomats are supposed to say, even when their bosses are throwing rocks at each other…

by Rod Hughes
Well, the ravenous sports writers of this country cannot gripe about this: The Costa Rican under-17-year-old soccer All-Star team has advanced to the threshhold of the quarter finals in the world tourney for the age group being held in South Korea.
They did it with a 2-0 pasting Tuesday of the host South Koreans at Suwon. The game, as might be expected at that level, was hard-fought with the first goal coming late in the second half when substitute Marcos Urena scored in the 85th minute. Six minutes later, in replacement time, midfielder Jessy Peralta sealed South Korea’s fate.
With a total of four goals so far, Costa Rica leads the tourney with a difference of 2 goals in their favor. Second place Peru also has four goals but has suffered one more goal against them and is up only one goal. Peru, by the way, tied Togo 0-0.
The AFP wire service reporter described both teams’ performances Tuesday as “brilliant.”
The hosts rate a certain sympathy. South Korea has suffered from being overwhelmed by the Latin tactics of soccer. But according to the wire service, the home team played well against their Tico rivals and even put Costa Rican goalie Leonel Moreira through his paces a couple of times.
The games were actually played in the afternoon Costa Rican time, but South Korea is across the International Date Line.