Regarding Tim Rogers recent article: Doubts Plague Project, a piece on the "proposed" $430 million development effort in Limon.

On the one hand I applaud Tim's efforts to give balanced views from the official government point of view (highlighting the change in the official response once you were able to obtain a copy of the signed letter of intent) as well as Ariel Lovelace's point of view.  However, I take issue with your lead-in description of Ariel Lovelace as an "Arkansas development tycoon".  I would probably more accurately describe Ariel as an Arkansas development wanna-be. Fact: he has a letter of intent from JAPDEVA. Fact: he is from Arkansas (or do we really know?). Fact: he wants to do a development in Costa Rica (of this I am pretty sure). Fact: He has no web page. Other than this, what facts are there? Why would you call him a tycoon? We all know tycoons when we see them. They have lots of money, they spend their time on big yachts in the Mediterranean, they hang around with other tycoons and are generally pretty hard to get a hold of. What do you really know about Ariel Lovelace? Do you know his net worth? Do you know his previous business experience? Tycoon seems like a bit of a reach to me.

Tim, you obviously share this reader's impression that Ariel is a bit of a sham. He has no web page? His business endeavors are too diverse? Do you want examples of diverse businesses that have web pages? How about Siemens, ABB, Tyco, United Technologies. These are some of the world's most diverse businesses, and I can assure you that they all have web pages.. In the short timeframe of the last 10 years, a web page has become something that we all expect from a going concern. Even the smallest seaside hotel in Costa Rica seems to have one. One can only assume that a "tycoon" would have one, at least from one of his successful ventures.

Ariel looks instead like someone who wants to create something out of nothing. He wants to take a signed letter of intent from a government organization in Costa Rica and turn around to investors in the states and use it as proof that something big is "afoot". He has a grand scheme and a grand plan, but he has no experience to use in putting it together. In fact, one might say he sounds a lot like the late owner of The Vault. Someone who is an excellent salesman, very good at attracting money, and making things seem "larger than life," but who otherwise has no concrete operational experience running a large company. Can I say for the record, from my previous experience, that people like this can be quite dangerous to work with. They can mobilize forces, they can sometimes secure adequate funds to begin an effort, but in the end, there is no commensurate business expertise (involving both success and failure) to really deliver the goods. In this case "the goods" would be a sustainable level of economic increase to Limon, and to Costa Rica in general.  To venture one step further, I often found that people like this have an extremely checkered past... often they simply move from one area to another in search of a group of people that has no previous knowledge of their past foibles.

How many people are working at the Intel plant here in Costa Rica? 2,500? Maybe. Look at the bottom line effect on the Costa Rican economy. It's huge, measurable. Does Ariel Lovelace have that kind of experience?

I would expect more in depth experience and reporting here. Especially from someone who just by looking at his name, possesses the ability to dig a little bit deeper within the US on an issue such as this. Everyone knows that the way you initially characterize someone is the way that the reader will tend to think of him. Are you trying to placate Ariel in the case that you wish to continue to use him as a source? Hmm....

Thank you