U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden said President Barack Obama's government is taking an important step toward a “new day” in Washington, D.C.'s relations with Latin Ame rica.

In an op-ed piece published over the weekend in a dozen Latin American daily newspapers, Biden stressed the importance of the progressive governance conference he attended in Chile over the weekend and the meeting he will have in Costa Rica with Central Ame rica n presidents Monday, prior to Obama's appearance next month at the Summit of the Ame rica s in Trinidad and Tobago.

“These meetings are an important first step toward a new day in relations and building partnerships with and among the countries and people of the hemisphere,” the vice president wrote, stressing the importance of “working together” in the face of challenges currently facing the region, with the global economic crisis not the least of them.

“The world economic crisis has touched virtually all of us — every country, every community, every family. … It is our duty, as partners, to heed their calls and together forge a shared solution to a common problem,” wrote the former chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“A robust U.S. economy is good for the hemisphere and can become an engine for bottom up economic growth and equality throughout the region,” Biden wrote. “We recognize that the United States is still striving to meet its constitutional goal of forming a ‘more perfect union' and that we have, in the past, fallen short of our own ideals. But we pledge every day to honor the values that animate our democracy, and to lead by example.”

The vice president also encouraged Latin American countries to cooperatively combat climate change, poverty, social inequality, arms trafficking, gang violence and the international drug trade, and acknowledged that the U.S. must “do more to reduce demand for illicit drugs.”

Shut out: Mexican forward Vicente Matías lines up a shot against Tico defenders Esteban Granados, left, and Michael Umaña at the 103,000-seat Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Saturday. Mexico beat Costa Rica 2-0 in a qualifying match for the 2010 South Africa World Cup, ending Costa Rica's seven-game winning streak.

José Méndez EFE

Some records are made to be broken, and others, well, they're records for good reason.

The Costa Rica national men's soccer team lost to Mexico 0-2 Saturday night at the infamous Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, ending a seven-game winning streak for La Sele in World Cup qualifiers. Conversely, the game snapped a four-game winless streak for Mexico.

The venue is one of the world's most foreboding for visiting teams: El Tri has won 63 of the 68 qualifiers it has played in the mammoth 103,000-seat Azteca, tied four and lost one, to Costa Rica. On Saturday, La Sele were a ways away from being able to repeat that 2001 win.

Both teams were without their captains, but the Ticos seemed more affected by midfielder Walter Centeno's absence, and struggled throughout much of the game to move the ball up the field in any concerted way.

In the 19th minute, Mexican striker Omar Bravo beat his defender to take a shot, which Tico keeper Ricardo González deflected, but wasn't able to hold onto. Bravo followed up the shot, sending it to the back of the net for the night's first goal.

At the beginning of the second half, U.S. referee Terry Vaughn, with whom Costa Rica has had a rough history, made a dubious call and awarded Mexico a penalty kick, after Tico Rob Myrie took down Pavel Pardo, cleanly it seemed, in the box. Pardo took the shot and scored easily.

But the merits of the call were irrelevant since that goal ultimately was not deciding. La Sele made only two shots on goal the whole game, much less a goal of their own.

“Mexico won with strength; they deserved the win,” Head Coach Rodrigo Kenton told media after the game, adding, “You have to recognize that they also were favored here in this environment and pressure.”

Fans at Ciros bar in Sabanilla expressed disappointment in Saturday's result, but did not consider the loss fatal.

“We'll qualify easily for the (2010) World Cup. Definitely,” said Esteban Salas, 27, who said the loss wouldn't affect the team's position in group standings since now Costa Rica and Mexico have both lost and won one game.

The fans were in general more considerate than the Tico press, who called the team's play “timid,” among other things.

An estimated 5,000 Costa Ricans followed the team to Mexico City, including President Oscar Arias, who watched the game alongside Mexican President Felipe Calderón.

Also Saturday night, in the game between the 17th–ranked U.S. and 107th-ranked El Salvador, El Salvador went up 2-0, but the U.S. came back, with Frankie Hejduk scoring a goal with two minutes left to pull off the tie in San Salvador. Trinidad and Tobago tied Honduras 1-1.

Costa Rica and Mexico are now tied for second place in the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) regional qualifying standings with three points, behind the U.S., which has four. Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador both have two points, and Honduras one.

Costa Rica hosts El Salvador on Wednesday in Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibás, on the north side of San José.

For many tourism outlets throughout the country, Semana Santa, or Easter Week, is traditionally a final shot at full hotel rooms and busy restaurants, before the heavy rains of the green season wash away the crowds.

This year, however, the economic slump has hit the tourism industry hard. With an eye on their wallets, many travelers have elected to stay home in order to save a couple bucks, and Easter Week is shaping up to be no exception.

According to the National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR), 71.2 percent of tourism-related businesses report that reservations are down compared to last year's Semana Santa.

The chamber, which surveyed 52 tourism outlets, said that 19.2 percent of businesses reported similar numbers as last year, while 3.8 have seen reservations rise.

Those that reported a decrease saw reservations decline by an average of 38.1 percent compared with last year. Hardest hit were tour guides, car rental agencies and hotels, the chamber said.

Sue Kalmbach, owner of La Paloma Lodge in Drake Bay, on the Southern Zone's Osa Peninsula, says reservations are down 50 percent compared to last year's Easter Week. More and more tourists are waiting later to make reservations, however, so she hopes that things will pick up over the next week.

“We are exceptionally slow this year,” Kalmbach said. “I think people are waiting, and I hope that, little by little, they keep coming.”

At 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, the only light in downtown San José's Plaza de la Democracia came from a thousand candles.

Costa Rica was one of 2,848 cities in 83 countries worldwide that participated in Earth Hour. This was the first year Costa Rica participated, according to Lilian Márquez, event organizer.

“My goal was to try and hand out all the thousand candles I had,” said Márquez, “and they were gone by 8 p.m. and I had people asking for more.”

Earth Hour is an annual event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in which communities agree to turn off their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in their time zone Saturday, shutting down famous luminaries such as the Sydney Opera House, London's Big Ben and New York City's Times Square.

In San José, the plaza's outer street lamps were still on, but the ones in the plaza were out, and the stage was darkly lit with candles as families, teenagers and couples filled the seats to listen to music and take in various performances. The concert featured well-known national artists, jugglers and a Chinese dragon dance.

At the half-hour mark, Márquez announced that thanks to local participants this year, “We have saved 80,000 kilowatts of energy, the equivalent of 32,000 homes switching off for the hour.”

Mother and daughter Ana Jiménez and Abby Rodríguez were at the plaza at 8 p.m., waiting for the lights to switch off, cheering enthusiastically during the musical acts.

“The performance has been so amazing, we're near tears,” said Jiménez. “It's so great to see so many people coming together for one cause.”

Rodríguez is confident participation in the event will grow as more Costa Ricans become aware of “the immense problem” of global climate change.

“People are coming around,” she said, with a broad smile on her face.