On Saturday night, San José will be one of almost 2,500 cities worldwide turning off their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. for Earth Hour. Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. in Plaza de la Democracia, featuring a concert by candlelight and acoustic performances throughout the night.

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people turned off their lights for at least one hour. In 2008, more than 50 million people around the globe participated. Costa Rica is one of 83 countries participating in the event, and in Costa Rica's case, for the first time.

The candlelight concert will feature Manuel Obregon, Carlos Tapado Vargas and Jaime Gamboa, three well-known national artists. Come 8:30 p.m. the only light in the plaza will be provided by 1,000 candles that will be distributed by WWF to everyone in the plaza. Most businesses in the area have also agreed to turn off their neon signs and music during the event.

The spokesperson for WWF in Central America, Lilian Márquez, is eager to see Costa Rican involvement.

“Figuring out how to stop global warming seems so overwhelming to some people,” said Márquez, “and they're always asking what they can do to make a difference. Here's something they can participate in that makes a difference.”

In 2009, Earth Hour aims to reach out to two billion people worldwide in order to demonstrate the magnitude of this support to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. The meeting will determine new international policies against global warming to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Márquez has concentrated most of her efforts on the San José event, where aside from concerts, there will be performers juggling fire and artists creating images with UV and florescent colors.

“Earth Hour is a call to action for all citizens of the world,” said Márquez. “By turning off your lights you're showing that you're conscious of your impact on the environment.”

For more information about Earth Hour, visit the official website at www.earthhour.org.

Traffic for the commute to and from Escazú, west of San José, will take a turn for the worse this week, as the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) began work Thursday on the Prospero Fernández Highway at the Agres river bridge.

For a stretch of 100 meters directly east of Multiplaza Escazú shopping mall, construction will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction, with periodic closures expected as well.

MOPT advises motorists to take a detour along the old road between San José and Santa Ana, or, alternatively, the frontage road by the Plaza Itsk azú shopping center on the westbound side and the Cima Hospital on the eastbound side.

The Agres bridge is the last bridge to undergo work as the Prospero Fernández Highway expands to six lanes.

MOPT expects the construction to last five weeks, with the closures continuing 24 hours a day.

Costa Rica's national men's soccer team play Mexico in World Cup qualifying Saturday night at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium in what could prove to be a deciding match for both.

Mexico's El Tricolor historically has far outplayed La Selección – 21 wins to five Tico wins, with 13 draws in 39 matches – and outscored them by a nearly 3 to 1 margin. In its history of World Cup qualifying, Mexico have only lost one game at home in the massive 100,000-seat Azteca, according to the international soccer federation FIFA.

The one team to have bested them? Costa Rica, in 2001, in a game now known as the Aztecazo (meaning “big Azteca event”) when, thanks to a late goal from Hernán Medford, the Tico side beat El Tri 2-1, on the road to the 2002 world finals in South Korea and Japan.

Neither team is guaranteed the win, but if there is an opportunity for a second Aztecazo, tomorrow night is a ripe one for La Sele.

Head Coach Rodrigo Kenton earlier this week told Swiss soccer news Web site Goal.com that Mexico shows a “lack of humility” in its attitude toward Central American opponents. “They always underestimate teams from Central America,” he told the site after spending the prior week deflecting insinuations from local press about tensions between the squads.

“Mexico is a strong team,” striker Bryan Ruiz told the daily Al Día. “We have to be smart; it's not impossible to win (in Mexico ).

Moreover, as Mexican Captain Rafael Marquez told the global federation's Web site FIFA.com this week, El Tri's play has been “stagnating” of late.

The team has remained winless in its last four qualifiers, including three shutout losses, only squeezing past Jamaica in the previous qualifying round on goal differential.

Meanwhile, La Sele is unbeaten in World Cup qualifying this time around, having won nine of its last 10 games, yet, besides a trio of wins against El Salvador and Honduras, the team has played fairly undemanding opponents. The Ticos racked up 22 goals in its last seven games, while Mexico scored nine.

Both squads will be without their captains, Tico midfielder Walter Centeno and Mexico's center back Rafael Marquez, who are both ineligible to play after accumulating yellow cards and a red, respectively, in previous matches. Marquez will also not be able to attend the match as his club, FC Barcelona, will not release him for travel.

President Oscar Arias, who will be in town to discuss economic relations, plans to attend the game alongside Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Casa Presidencial has confirmed.

See this week's print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Flown in from Florida: JetBlue's first Central America flight is parked Thursday at Juan Santamaría International Airport.

Ronald Reyes | Tico Times

U.S. budget airline JetBlue made its first nonstop flight from Orlando, Florida to Alajuela's Juan Santamaría International Airport amid much fanfare Thursday, an event imbued by the local tourism sector with great hope amid a tourism slump driven by the U.S. recession.

Juan Santamaría, west of San José, and Daniel Oduber International Airport, in Liberia, in the northwestern Guanacaste province, both reported a 13 percent drop in tourists during the first two months of 2009, the daily La República reported Thursday.

As if to spite the gloomy numbers, JetBlue launched its San José route with a celebration including balloons and children dancing traditional Tico dances such as El Punto Guanacasteco.

Incongruously, security was so tight that reporters were prevented from seeing the actual landing and disembarking of passengers from JetBlue's historic flight, it's first to Central America.

To attract customers, JetBlue is holding a two-week sale offering $73 tickets each way from San José to Orlando, Florida. To receive the rate, trips must be taken between April 14 and June 17. The sale started Thursday and it ends on April 8, 2009. The average price for this route is $139 each way.

“In a time when airlines are moving away or closing down operations, Costa Rica is keeping airlines, increasing flights and routes… That's a good sign for us,” said Costa Rican Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides, in December, a sentiment he shared this week as well.

When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden lands in Costa Rica this Sunday, he will sit down with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a man whose trademark legislation, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) Biden once adamantly opposed in the halls of the U.S. Senate.

CAFTA aside, however, the two leaders largely see eye to eye on a host of other issues – especially on the economy, which will likely be the dominant subject at Monday's meeting of Central American leaders. The region's leaders hope Biden's visit, which also includes a meeting with South American leaders in Chile Friday and Saturday, is an indication that the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama will be more engaged with Latin America.

“The visit of Vice President Biden is a clear sign of renewed interest of the U.S. government with its closest partners and neighbors,” Arias said earlier this month, announcing Biden's tour.

According to the White House, Biden's sweep through Chile and Costa Rica will help set the stage for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, taking place in Trinidad and Tobago next month. There, the leaders of the region will meet with Obama, who campaigned promising better relations with Latin America.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Thomas Shannon said earlier this month that the summit presents an opportunity for a fresh start in relations between the United States and Latin America, based on “a spirit of engagement and constructive dialogue.”

Absent at April's summit will be Cuba, although it may be on the minds of many leaders and the elephant in the room during Biden's visit to Costa Rica. With Arias' decision to reverse nearly 50 years of policy and restore diplomatic relations with Cuba (TT, March 20) as well as promises to do the same by El Salvador President-Elect Mauricio Funes, Central America now has united in recognizing the island nation.

Biden may expect some subtle prodding from the region's leaders for the Obama administration to go beyond its recent easing of restrictions of travel for Cuban-Americans to their homeland, but focusing too much time and attention on Cuba, according to former U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Frank McNeil, would be a mistake.

See this week's print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.