President Oscar Arias

Font size: AP Photo Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias visits the Hall of Names at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. Arias is on an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Add to : Add to Any AskJeeves Newsvine Onlywire AskJeeves BlinkList Facebook Furl Google Myspace reddit technorati Windows Live Favorites Yahoo MyWeb Digg this story Read Full Story

A judge Monday sentenced former Costa Rican president Rafael Calderon, the first former head of state tried for corruption here, to five years in jail, likely shooting down his plans to seek reelection. Calderon, leader of the opposition Social Christian Unity Party who was president from 1990-1994, maintains he is innocent, and had planned to stand for president again in the February 2010 election. After an 11-month trial, Judge Alejandro Lopez McAdam sentenced Calderon to five years behind bars for embezzlement, but rejected the prosecutor's call for Calderon to be detained immediately pending his expected appeals. The court also handed down jail terms to ... Read Full Story

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias next week to discuss the Honduran political crisis, her spokesman said. The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which begins Monday, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters, without providing further details. "I would expect next week we'll continue to look for ways to support the San Jose process," Crowley said, referring to the peace process brokered by Arias to restore president Manuel Zelaya following the military-backed coup that ousted him from power on June 28. Washington has halted most visa services in ... Read Full Story

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is suffering from the H1N1 virus, making him the first head of state known to have contracted swine flu. Nobel Peace Prize winner Arias, 68, felt unwell over the weekend and tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, the government said. Arias is at home and his case is a mild one. "The tests ... show that there is no other complication," Information Minister Mayi Antillon said. The H1N1 flu outbreak, declared a pandemic on June 11, has spread around the world since emerging in April and could eventually affect 2 billion people, according to ... Read Full Story

Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and mediator of the Honduran political crisis, has contracted swine flu, the government said. "In the afternoon he was informed that he had contracted the A(H1N1) influenza virus," said Rodrigo Arias, the president's brother and chief of staff. The 67-year-old president, who was under medical care, must remain isolated in his residence for at least seven days, but will not delegate power during his absence, his brother said. President Arias, a Nobel laureate who suffers from chronic asthma, was said to have had flu-like symptoms for some days, prompting medical tests. The veteran leader ... Read Full Story