By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ti…

Immigration Director Mario Zamora, who has been praised for his efforts to root out corruption and reorganize the troubled Immigration Administration, was “personally condemned” in a ruling yesterday by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) following several suits by rejected visa applicants.

Judicial Branch spokesman Fabián Barrantes said the court found Zamora did not have adequate grounds for rejecting the applications.

“For many of the people who’ve turned to the Sala IV (regarding Immigration), it’s because he ( Zamora ) denied them a visa,” Barrantes said late yesterday afternoon. “The Sala condemned him because of a lack of grounds.”

Because the Sala IV doesn’t apply sentences, the ruling constitutes an “abstract condemnation,” Barrantes explained; however, if the parties involved file suit in an administrative contention court, it’s possible Zamora could eventually have to pay damages, he said.

According to a statement from the Sala IV, one reason for the decision is that the court has found in favor of those filing suit on multiple occasions, without corrective action by Immigration.

“In multiple cases, the Sala has had to restate the fundamental rights of Costa Ricans and foreigners because… the administration of Immigration has not corrected the constitutional errors in previous sentences,” the statement read.

by Rod Hughes
Costa Rica’s All-Star soccer team is off to Houston to play its second round opener in the Gold Cup competition, having been nearly been sent home early. The Ticos chipped out a hard victory last night, 1-0, against Guadalupe, on Walter Centeno’s third goal of the tourney.
First a word about Guadalupe, new to Gold Cup tourneys. The word is: IMPRESSIVE. The team from the tiny Caribbean island country led Group A and its only loss was last night where they ran a resurgent Costa Rica ragged on the field, so much that the Ticos were plainly exhausted two-thirds of the way through the second half.
It was, unfortunately, also a rough game and the referee nearly lost control of the game as tempers flared more than once. In fact officiating was not up to the standard one should expect of an international tourney, with the ref ignoring a clear penalty foul on what should have been Costa Rica’s second goal.
So Costa Rica’s Group A wound up with Canada, after yesterday’s win over Haiti, in first place, the Ticos second and Guadelupe third. It was a wild time, with Canada defeating Costa Rica, then falling to Guadelupe, which in turn got beaten by the Ticos. Haiti goes home, taking with them probably the best goalie in the tournament.
Ticolandia Sunday will play either Mexico, Cuba, Panama or Honduras–but without Walter Centeno whose yellow card means he will be watching from the bench. This is a blow to Tico hopes but perhaps will mean a bit more focus, knowing they cannot depend on just one player to see them through.
Centeno has shown himself a real star under pressure but he has one fatal defect that has got him repeatedly into trouble while playing the regular season with his Saprissa club: anger. When the going gets rough, he roughs back. He is short and solid but not large–except for his mouth which has been known to provoke not only opponents but officials.
An old saying in Latin American soccer is, “He who gets mad, loses.”