There is a company by the name of Yanber S.A. that has its headquarters in San José, Costa Rica (Yanber n.d.). However, no information on a "Caja" national labour union affiliated with this company could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response. Nevertheless, according to a representative in Costa Rica of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the name "Caja" refers to the Costa Rican social security fund (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, CCSS) (30 May 2003). The same source also stated that several unions and associations are affiliated with the CCSS: Unión Nacional de Empleados de la Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (UNDECA), Asociación de Auxiliares de Enfermería, Profesionales en Ciencias Médicas (PROCIMECA), Asociación Solidarista de CCSS, Asociación de Empleados de la CCSS, Asociación Nacional de Profesionales en Enfermería (AMPE) and Cooperativa de la CCSS (COOPECAJA) (AFL-CIO 2 June 2003).

The "Opinion" column and other sections of the electronic edition of the Diario Extra newspaper dated 19 February 2002 did not have any articles on the "Caja" organization. The Webmaster for the Diario Extra confirmed that the electronic version of the newspaper does not contain all the articles that appear in the original printed version (14 May 2003). However, a paper copy of the 19 February 2002 issue of this newspaper could not be obtained within the time constraints for this Response.

For information on the misappropriation of funds at the CCSS, see CRI40783.E of 24 December 2002.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). 2 June 2003. E-mail from a representative.

_____. 30 May 2003. E-mail from a representative.

Diario Extra [San José]. 14 May 2003. E-mail from the Webmaster.

_____. 19 February 2002. Complete electronic issue. http://www.diarioextra.com/2002/febrero/19/ [Accessed 14 May 2003]

Yanber S.A. n.d. "Grupo Yanber." http://www.yanber.com/GrupoYanber.html [Accessed 7 May 2003]

IRB Databases

Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social

NEXIS

Yanber

Internet sites, including:

Asociación Servicios de Promoción Laboral

Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)

Central del Movimiento de Trabajadores Costarricenses

Confederación Latinoamericana de Trabajadores

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

International Labour Organization

La Nación

El Nuevo Herald

High Commissioner for Human Rights

Ticos.centramerica.com

World News Connection

Search engines, including:

Altavista

Google

Yahoo