harelb@cabot.dartmouth.edu (Harel Barzilai) (06/15/91)
Topic 20 June 91 News Response 1 of 7 carcmn carcmn.ens 8:19 pm Jun 5,
1991
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Costa Rica
Indians Gain Legal Status
The Costa Rican Assembly has passed, and President Calderon
has signed, a bill making thousands of indigenous people eligible to
obtain the identity cards known as cedulas which every Costa Rican
over the age of 18 is required by law to carry. Previously the law
provided no recourse for indigenous people born in remote areas where
there were no facilities for registering births. Without the cards
they were unable to use banks or to obtain health care from the
government. Times of the Americas, 5/15/91
World Bank Requests Privatization
Costa Rica has been asked by the World Bank to privatize
state-run banks, cooperatives, port facilities and other enterprises.
The 'request', similar to the conditions set for many Latin American
countries who want to be eligible for loans from the international
lenders, was confirmed by Jorge Guardia, president of the central
bank, who expressed surprise that the matter had been leaked to the
press. Prensa Latina, 5/4/91
Human Rights Conditions Deteriorating
The non-governmental Costa Rican Human Rights Commission
(CODEHU) issued a report on May 13 which examined the human rights
situation in Costa Rica from March 1989 to August 1990. The report
noted an increase in arbitrary arrests and police brutality. Over
20,000 persons were illegally detained during the period in question.
The report also noted that the budget for police agencies had
increased by 30% while the budget for other social services remained
virtually the same. 70% of Costa Ricans were described as
impoverished, and 170,000 children were said to be unable to attend
elementary school. CODEHU blames the inadequacy of social welfare
spending on the austerity measures required by the International
Monetary Fund. ACAN-EFE 5/13/91
Earthquake Aftermath
An official of the Costa Rican Health Ministry told reporters
on May 6 that the April 22 earthquake caused damage to housing and
sanitation systems which increases the danger of malaria. On May 16,
the government announced that the Inter-American Development Bank has
approved a $21.4 million concessionary loan to Costa Rica for the
repair of water treatment systems damaged in the earthquake. This is
about half of what the Costa Ricans requested. Prensa Latina, 5/6/91;
ACAN-EFE, 5/11/91
New Border Police Installed
Public Security Minister Victor Herrera told reporters that a
new 400-person border police force had been installed to patrol the
6,000 km. border with Nicaragua. The new police force is a response
to the rising incidence of arms trafficking, cattle rustling,
abductions and violent crimes against area residents. Some of the
border area violence has been attributed to former Nicaraguan contras.
Another task of the border police will be locating and deactivating
land mines, several of which have been discovered in the past few
weeks. ACAN-EFE, 5/20/91
Deforestation
A report by the World Resources Institute entitled "The
World's Resources, 1990-91" shows that Costa Rica's annual
deforestation rate is almost seven percent--the highest rate in Latin
America. If this pace of deforestation continues the country's
forests could be gone in less than 15 years. The main causes of the
deforestation are agriculture, abetted by increasing population
pressures, and logging for exotic woods. Earth Island Journal, Winter
1991