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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 306 Introduced in House (IH)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 306

  Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Costa Rica 
  should take steps to protect the lives of property owners in Costa 
                     Rica, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 23, 1998

 Mr. Bonilla submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Costa Rica 
  should take steps to protect the lives of property owners in Costa 
                     Rica, and for other purposes.

Whereas although the United States embassy in Costa Rica had forewarned Costa 
        Rican officials about threats on Max Dalton's life, on November 13, 
        1997, 78-year-old United States citizen from Idaho and World War II 
        veteran Max Dalton was surrounded and murdered in a dispute with 
        squatters, some of whom were illegally occupying his property in the 
        Pavones region of Costa Rica;
Whereas the murder of Max Dalton was the tragic conclusion to a seven-year 
        assault perpetrated against Mr. Dalton by the squatters in an attempt to 
        steal his property, and Costa Rican citizen Alvaro Aguilar was also 
        killed in the incident;
Whereas the initial investigation of Max Dalton's death was flawed in that 
        investigators failed to take fingerprints, collect bullets, and secure 
        the scene of the crime;
Whereas landowners, including United States and Costa Rican citizens, have 
        reported harassment and invasions by squatters in areas of the country, 
        other than Golfito in Pavones, including Cocotales in the North East, 
        the Caribbean cities of Cahuita and Cocles, and Jaco on the Pacific 
        Coast;
Whereas the squatters' tactics have included stealing and starving livestock, 
        burning homes, leveling crops and fruit trees, death threats, machete 
        attacks, and, in the case of United States citizen, murder;
Whereas Costa Rica has a long history of democratic governance, respect for 
        human rights and close, friendly relations with the United States; 
        nonetheless, successive Costa Rican governments have failed to deal with 
        squatters invading property held by foreign and Costa Rican landowners;
Whereas although Article 45 of the Costa Rican Constitution states that ``no one 
        may be deprived of his [property] unless on account of legally provided 
        public interest and after compensation in conformity with the law'', 
        this Constitutional guarantee has been eroded by the broad 
        interpretation of the Agrarian Code by individuals who have used it as 
        the basis for aggressive squatter campaigns against landowners;
Whereas United States citizens who were drawn to Costa Rica by the relatively 
        reasonable cost of living and property, particularly for retirement, 
        report spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs to pursue 
        repeated challenges in the Costa Rican courts without achieving 
        permanent solutions to the squatter problems on their lands; and
Whereas a concerted national effort on the part of the Government of Costa Rica 
        to deal with the legal confusion and enforcement issues relating to 
        property expropriations by squatters is necessary and desirable: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the Government of Costa Rica 
should--
            (1) in the interest of justice to which Costa Ricans have 
        long been committed, consider fundamental reform to protect the 
        property rights and lives of all law-abiding residents and 
        property owners of Costa Rica from acts of intimidation, 
        violence, and property invasion; and
            (2) conduct a complete and thorough investigation into the 
        death of Max Dalton.
                                 <all>
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