by Rod Hughes
This must irk Costa Rican President Oscar Arias no end…
Panama’s National Assembly has ratified a free trade treaty with the United States barely two weeks after it was signed in the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington D.C. June 28. And the issue was not in doubt—58 Panamanian congressmen voted for it and only three against.
Of course, the U.S. congress must, in turn, ratify the pact for it to go into effect and now, with the Democrats having the majority in both houses, that may be harder than with the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which passed with flying colors. The Democrats have shown themselves fearful of exporting domestic jobs as a result of free trade pacts, although outsourcing began long before free trade treaties came into fashion.
But even without the chance of U.S. congressional opposition, CAFTA has had a rocky road here and President Arias must feel bruised by the jolts he has received. The other Central american countries included in CAFTA have long since ratified the treaty with Costa Rica being the sole holdout. The pact has been the subject of street demonstrations pro and con and it is hard to remember an issue that has so divided the country.
CAFTA was finalized and signed during the administration of former President Abel Pacheco. But he faced a Legislative Assembly so splintered into small parties that he was hard-pressed to get his pet tax reform bill passed. (It was later nullified by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court as a sort of ironic anti-climax.) By the time the last year of his term rolled around, Pacheco had largely given up on getting anything out of his squabbling congress.
Ratification of CAFTA might have had the 38 votes necessary for Arias to pass it through the Legislative Assembly, but early this year a movement arose to hold a referendum on the treaty and Arias acceeded. The Legislative Assembly, possibly relieved to let the voters decide, quickly agreed. The vote is now scheduled for Oct. 7.
One of Panama’s incentives to pass their treaty was the hope of backing for the proposed $5.2 billion expansion of the Panama Canal.
(See other stories on CAFTA in our archives.)

by Rod Hughes
Work accidents happen, even on the other side of the law.
A thief climbed to the roof of El Gollo home furnishing store in San Pedro Tuesday night, removed a couple of sheets of tin roofing and lowered himself to the ceiling of the showroom.
But police say he had not calculated what his weight might do. In this case, he passed right on through the ceiling, falling to the floor. (Even most commercial buildings in Costa Rica tend to be lightly built, since insulation against cold winters is not a factor.)
But his troubles were just beginning—he could not get out the hole he had made without bringing more of the the ceiling down on him and the doors were locked from the outside.
Police say that he philosophically settled down in an easy chair and turned on one of the TV sets in stock. He was calmly talking on the telephone when police arrived.
He had a police record of previous alleged thefts, the daily La Nación reported.

by Rod Hughes
A manhunt is on by judicial detectives for fugitive Italian millionaire and accused con artist Matteo Quntavalle, a resident of and investor in Costa Rica. The flamboyant businessman was accused last April by 17 U.S. investors of cheating them with unauthorized deposit slips on a fictitious bank, according to Judicial Branch spokesman Fabian Barrantes.
An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued but local police fear he might have already escaped to Panama.
The plaintiffs have accused the Italian and five other persons of fraud, conspiracy and illegal financial intervention, according to the English-language weekly The Tico Times. When 30 judicial police raided Quintavalle’s homes, hotels and offices in the central Pacific town of Quepos and the western San Jose suburbs of Santa Ana and Escazú July 5, the millionaire was not to be found.
Quintavalle has many interests here including being deeply involved in the national soccer scene.
According to the arrest warrant quoted by the Spanish-language daily La Nacion, Quintavalle invited Florida investors to buy stock in a bearer share corporation named Inversiones Quintavalle Financial Institution. In exchange for their putting money in the company, they were allegedly offered high yield stock, the money to be dedicated to real estate projects in Quepos and in the active market at Tamarindo Beach on the north Pacific coast.
Fiscal (the judicial equivalent here of a proscuting attorney) Carlos Meléndez told La Nación that, unlike what Quintavalle and the others allegedly promised, Banco de Costa Rica did not back the projects. Moreover, neither does the Depository Pacific Bank exist in Costa Rica where the investments were allegedly held.
So far, the judicial investigators estimate that some $4.6 million is involved. The international apprehension order alleges that so far the investors have received nothing from La Vida Real Real Estate Partnership that investors say was offered as guaranteeing the deal.
Quintavalle has an order forbidding him to leave the country but this has been scant deterrant in the past for people determined to pass through this country’s porous borders by any means necessary.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@t…

Communication between boats at high sea and base camps is about to become easier for the Costa Rican Coast Guard, thanks to a donation of equipment made yesterday by Christian Albrechts University in Germany, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

The equipment, valued at an estimated $5,000, will allow Coast Guard officials at sea to communicate more quickly with nine central stations around the country, explained Public Security Ministry spokeswoman Patricia Meléndez.

“The equipment the Coast Guard was working with was very antiquated; this is a lot more modern,” she said.

Christian Albrechts University is recognized worldwide as a center of scientific research, and students from about 100 countries, including Costa Rica, have studied there.

About a year ago, one of the university’s research boats anchored at the Pacific port of Caldera for an exchange between German and Costa Rican scientists. The Coast Guard also helped place buoys in Costa Rican waters to provide data for university scientists.

The donation was made yesterday during a ceremony attended by Vice-Minister of Public Security Gerardo Láscarez, German Ambassador Volkner Fink and Costa Rican Coast Guard Director Carlos Alvarado