By Amanda Roberson , Tico Times Staff

After much controversy over proposals to move Casa Presidencial, President Oscar Arias has decided to relocate the presidential offices from their home in the southeastern San José district of Zapote to the city’s center, according to a statement from the Culture Ministry.

The new Casa Presidencial will be located on the eastern side of the National Park, near other government buildings including the Legislative Assembly, Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) and Supreme Court buildings.

The move is part of efforts to “revitalize San José and reaffirm our democratic culture,” the statement said.

Since assuming office in May, Arias has expressed a desire to relocate Casa Presidencial to downtown San José. His suggestion to move it to the National Cultural Center (CENAC), housed in the old National Liquor Factory building, sparked numerous protests of outrage by the artist community (TT, June 30).

Artists breathed a sigh of relief yesterday upon hearing of the decision not to move Casa Presidencial to CENAC, said actress and director of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) School of Theater María Bonilla.

“It was an act of good judgment,” Bonilla said of Arias’ decision, adding that the artist community is planning a celebration in the near future.

Nevertheless, Bonilla said artists must remain vigilant that the government takes measures to protect culture.

“No country can guarantee artists tranquility,” Bonilla said. “There will always be threats to our budget and sometimes to our expression.”

A commission called the Project for Regional and Urban Planning in the Metropolitan Area (PRU-GAM) was created to study options for Casa Presidencial’s relocation, taking into account urban planning issues such as transportation, green space, cultural activities and government affairs, the statement said.

The new Casa Presidencial will be completed within two to three years on the grounds of the Atlantic Train Station, which measure more than two hectares between the Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) and the Social Security System (Caja) buildings, according to the daily La Nación.

The space houses a parking lot, the Museum of Forms, Spaces and Sounds, which would be moved to a new, unspecified location, and the Atlantic Train Station, which would be converted into a reception hall, the daily reported. The train tracks would also be rerouted to accommodate the new Casa Presidencial buildings.

Costa Rica is one of six countries that have refused to accept a 78-year-old Cuban militant who is being kicked out of the United States.

The militant is Luis Posada Carriles. Venezuela’s government has accused Posada Carriles in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

There has been no statement from Costa Rica’s foreign ministry, but Donald George, a U.S. immigration official said in a judicial hearing that Costa Rica had rejected the man. Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador also have refused to accept the man, said the lawyer for Posada Carriles.

Posada Carriles has asked to be released from custody to live with relatives in Florida while U.S. officials process his deportation order. But U.S. officials say he is a threat and should remain in jail.

Costa Rica’s Constitution says that the nation’s territory shall be a shelter for all those persecuted for political reasons. As such the country has a reputation for accepting refugees. However, Posada Carriles is a  special case. He is accused as a terrorist and a political hot potato.

U.S. Immigration authorities seized Posada Carriles in May, 2005, after the Cuban exile gave an impromptu news conference in Miami, ending weeks of speculation about his whereabouts.

Posada Carriles and three other Cubans had won controversial pardons in Panamá where they were being held in a scheme to blow up Fidel Castro when he spoke as a local university.

Posada Carriles has denied involvement in the plane bombing and in the bombings of several hotels in Havana in 1997 that resulted in the death of an Italian tourist.

Posada Carriles escaped from a minimum security prison in Venezuela in 1985 where he had been held on charges of involvement in the airliner bombing. Eduardo Soto, Posada’s lawyer said his client would face certain death if sent to Caracas.

U.S. officials have refused to send him to Venezuela or to Cuba, saying he could be tortured or killed. The case is intertwined with international politics and with the Florida Cuban community.

The legislature’s Comisión Permanente de Asuntos Hacendarios voted out a measure that would allow the country to accept $130 million in Japanese foreign aid to fix the Central Valley’s rotting sewerage.

Mario Quirós, a lawmaker, opposed the measure because he said he didn’t think that municipalities have been consulted on it. The committee quickly approved a motion to seek consultation from the Municipalidad de Puntarenas, of Esparza, and of Santo Domingo de Heredia and from districts such as Lepanto, Cóbano, Paquera, and from the Universidad Nacional and the Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia.

The action means that the measure goes to the floor of the legislature where he would need favorable votes on two non-consecutive days to become law.

In its deliberations, the commission heard a lot of bad news about the nation’s lack of sewage treatment and that the human wastes from the Central Valley eventually flows into the Gulf of Nicoya via the Río Grande de Tarcoles.

The money from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation is just part of the bill. The bulk of the money has to come from Costa Rican sources. Although current estimates are at $300 million, considering inflation and the 20 years to do the project, the final price tag might be $1 billion.

Japanese officials had set a deadline on acceptance of the money. Then they extended it. The new deadline is at the end of the month.

A new income tax law will not be fast tracked through the legislature. Instead, the law will face the traditional committee hearings and discussion in the full assembly.

That was confirmed Tuesday by Evita Arguedas Maklouf, leader of the Movimiento Libertario, which wanted a full hearing.

She said that she and her fellow party members met with central government officials along with others in the legislature that do not support the new law. The fact track method, which was created especially for the massive fiscal package in the last legislature, would limit discussion by lawmakers.

Libertarios oppose the measure because they have said the financial problems of the country could be solved by better collection and action against corruption. Libertarios in the last legislature fought long and hard to keep the fiscal package from becoming law. They were helped by a Sala IV constitutional court decision that derailed the proposal.

The tax law that has been delivered to the lawmakers by the Arias government is identical to the proposal for income tax that was part of the fiscal package. It was Chapter V.

An introduction says that in the last 16 years the income of the lower 20 percent of the population increased only 6.8 percent while the income of the richest 20 percent increased 96 percent. That means the richest fifth earns 20 times the average of the poorest fifth, it said.

The new proposal retains the concept of global taxation in that citizens and residents will have to pay income tax on money generated anywhere. The proposal also retains the concept of capital gains tax on the sale of real estate or intangibles, like stocks and bonds.

The current law has different percentages of tax depending on the origin of the income. Salaries are taxed at 10 and 15 percent. Income from rentals pays a 15 percent tax. Income for professionals is taxed from 10 to 25 percent. Some other types of income are taxed at rates from 0 to 15 percent.

Under the proposed law all these incomes would be lumped together to be taxed at an established, progressive rate

The proposed rates for individuals are 5 percent of the first 2 million colons, some $3,880 at the current exchange rate, 12 percent from 2 million to 4 million, 18 percent from 4 million to 8 million, 22 percent from 8 million to 15 million, 26 percent from 15 million to 30 million and 30 percent for amounts over 30 million.

Today 30 million is about $58,250. The amount taxed is the net income after various deductions. Those who earn salaries less than 450,000 colons ($875) a month probably will pay little or no taxes under the new plan, lawmakers have said.

Corporations would continue to pay at the 30 percent rate, but there would be a rate break for small business.

The income tax proposal is 151 pages, and changes are likely in the legislature.