FEBRUARY 27, 2007

A TIE to the Finish: Mexico's Omar Esparza and Costa Rica's Pablo Herrera fought for the ball Sunday during the final elimination round for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Soccer (CONCACAF) under-20 tournament played in Culiacán, Mexico. Ultimately, the two teams tied.

“NO al TLC!”: Tens of thousands of Costa Ricans marched down Paseo Colón yesterday to the Legislative Assembly in downtown San José to oppose the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). Students, union members and politicians made up the colorful march, which transpired peacefully.

CAFTA March Draws Thousands, Stays Peaceful

Sporting flags, banners, buttons and even pig disguises, thousands came out to march against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) yesterday in downtown San José. Though the march was one of the largest in recent memory, drawing tens of thousands to the Legislative Assembly, the event was overwhelmingly peaceful.

Trucks Allegedly Evade Customs With Load of Expensive Liquor

Two trucks that allegedly made their way into Costa Rica from Panama with ¢20 million ($38,535) worth of fine, imported liquor without passing through Customs were apprehended by police early Sunday morning near the Southern Zone town of San Isidro de El General, according to a statement released yesterday by the Public Security Ministry.

Earthquake Shakes Central Valley, Southern Zone

An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale was felt in the Central Valley and Southern Zone Sunday night, according to a statement from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José.

Little Theatre Group Presents “Strawberries in January”

CAFTA March Draws Thousands, Stays Peaceful

By Tico Times Staff
editorial@ticotimes.net

Sporting flags, banners, buttons and even pig disguises, thousands came out to march against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) yesterday in downtown San José. Though the march was one of the largest in recent memory, drawing tens of thousands to the Legislative Assembly, the event was overwhelmingly peaceful.

Shouts of “ No al TLC, No al TLC ” (“No to CAFTA, No to CAFTA”) rang out intermittently as protestors made their way from La Sabana Park, on the western edge of the city, down Paseo Colón and Avenida Segunda to the Legislative Assembly, where the controversial trade pact will soon be discussed on the legislature's main floor.

The colorful crowd was made up of union members, students, teachers, environmentalists and others, some of whom traveled from outside San José to march under the hot summer sun.

Former presidential candidate and leader of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), Ottón Solís, led a group of PAC politicians and party faithfuls, including the party's president Epsy Campbell, a former legislator, and one of its most outspoken legislators Alberto Salom.

“This march is organized to influence the Legislative Assembly process; it has been called together on these terms, so it seemed appropriate to us to be here,” Solís told The Tico Times. He explained his absence during previous CAFTA protests by saying “sometimes marches have been called to substitute the Legislative Assembly process.”

Jugglers, dancers and music entertained the crowds, and speakers on a makeshift platform in front of the assembly included legislators José Merino, of the Broad Front, and Elizabeth Fonseca, of PAC, who expressed their joy in seeing so many Ticos speaking out against CAFTA in a peaceful manner.

At the end of the day, Ombudswoman Lisbeth Quesada concurred that the events transpired peacefully overall. Approximately 50 officials from her institution observed the proceedings throughout San José and at regional offices outside the Central Valley, and reported few irregularities. One such incident was the arrest of six protestors in the Caribbean-slope town of Siquirres when police worked to remove a blockade across the highway to the Caribbean port town of Limón.

Ombudsman's Office employees were present during the arrests to ensure the legal process was followed, Quesada said.

Trucks Allegedly Evade Customs
With Load of Expensive Liquor

Two trucks that allegedly made their way into Costa Rica from Panama with ¢20 million ($38,535) worth of fine, imported liquor without passing through Customs were apprehended by police early Sunday morning near the Southern Zone town of San Isidro de El General, according to a statement released yesterday by the Public Security Ministry.

Police received news of the trucks Saturday night from an informant who said several armed people were inside them. The vehicles traveled through the Southern Zone until they were intercepted near San Isidro.

Hidden inside them were 419 boxes of liquor, according to Public Security Ministry spokesman Jesús Ureña. The drivers likely averted Customs at border crossings by instead traveling on one of the many small roads that connect Costa Rica and Panama, Ureña said.

One of the trucks, a Nissan, was driven by a man identified by the last name Mora, from Cartago, east of San José, and the other's driver was identified by the last name Campos, from Corredores, on the southern border. A man identified by the last name Caicedo, allegedly in the country illegally from Colombia, was in the car with Campos.

In the vehicle Campos was driving, police discovered two unregistered firearms along with the alcohol.

None of these men were arrested, but given the size of the alleged contraband, the Pérez Zeledón Prosecutor requested that a local judge order the drivers to appear in court every 15 days while the case is investigated, the statement said. The judge, however, denied this request.

-Tico Times

Earthquake Shakes Central Valley, Southern Zone

An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale was felt in the Central Valley and Southern Zone Sunday night, according to a statement from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José.

The quake originated in San Marcos de Tarrazú, a coffee town in southern Costa Rica, 25 kilometers below the earth's surface. No damages were reported.

-Tico Times

Little Theatre Group Presents
“Strawberries in January”

By Tyler Pearce
Tico Times Staff | editorial@ticotimes.net

The Little Theatre Group's latest production, “Strawberries in January,” is a funny, ironic and entertaining web spun around the adventures of four singletons looking for love.

“It's more than just your typical romantic comedy,” said director David King.

The play, set in Montreal, Canada, features Sophie (Sheila McCann Morrison), and Francois (Theodore Hope), former college roommates both looking for love that just may be right under their noses.

Sophie is a neurotic, practical, 28 year old aching for a “dreamy, classy Italian guy” to sweep her off her feet. She sees Francois as “anti-romantic and tactless” and constantly crushing her current love interests. Francois' calmer, thoughtful demeanor compliments Sophie's dramatic, impatient flair. Their petty arguments that could only come between two former roommates elicit plenty of laughs.

Smooth, rapid, choreographed scene changes advance the play quickly, intertwining stories and alternating between characters that know more about each other than they initially think.

The hour-and-a-half-long play is running at the Blanche Brown Theatre in Bello Horizonte, Escazú, west of San José, through March 11, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. It will then move to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in San José's Barrio Dent from April 20-22 at the same show times. For more information, call 355-1623 or visit www.littletheatregroup.org.

See this Friday's print or electronic edition of The Tico Times for more on the play.

Bypass wasn't getting along too well with his wife of 40 years. He wouldn't tell me why, but I concluded it was a simple case of what in the trade we call OS, or Overfamiliarity Syndrome. Two people living together that long know exactly what each is going to say in any given situation, but the one with OS, on hearing the same dumb joke for the thousandth time, is liable to rush out of the house screaming, “I can't stand it any longer!”

Normal couples deal with the problem by preserving a companionable silence from breakfast to suppertime, but that option was not open to Bypass. While he himself was a man of few words, his wife was the original motormouth, whose maximum silent time was one minute.

So Bypass tried another option. Two doors down the street lived a comely divorcée by the name of Clara, who went on monthlong cruises twice a year, financed by a generous alimony. So at the next street party, Bypass, fortified by strong drink, drew her aside and said, “Clarer, will you take me on your next cruise?” Clara immediately responded, “Sure. Next week suit you?” Bypass, who had come prepared for an argument, was taken aback by this glib response, and promptly assumed she was a loose woman, but managed to stammer out, “F-fine, I'll give you a call.” Which, with some misgivings, he did, and after telling his wife he would be gone for a month on a business trip, he and Clara departed Miami in a first-class cabin bound for the Azores.

Novelty is an important component of any social relationship, so the couple had little problem getting along for the first eight hours. But from then on the escapade became, from one point of view, a total disaster. At dinner that night, Clara pronounced the Dover sole uneatable and the Chardonnay undrinkable, and sent back the baked Alaska three times before even tasting it. On returning to their luxurious cabin, she complained bitterly about the facilities and, worst of all, positively rejected any form of intimacy before Bypass even brought up the subject. And, it must be admitted, conversationally Bypass is a crashing bore.

From another point of view, however, the trip was a roaring success. Thoroughly fed up with each other, the couple abandoned the cruise after only a week and flew home separately. Bypass reported to his wife that he had cut short his business trip because he missed her, even going so far as to kiss her passionately that night. She, of course, being by no means stupid just because she talked too much, had readily guessed the truth, but responded in kind. Thereafter, Bypass learned simply to withdraw his attention while his wife was speaking, and the two lived together reasonably happily ever after.

The moral of this story is “Try a little harder before you try another.” Or how about “The grass is not necessarily greener two doors down the street”?