MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaraguan Vice Foreign Minister Manuel Coronel Kautz said the rotating leadership of the Central American Integration System (SICA) should be passed to Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom instead of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who's scheduled to take over in July.

Arias is the only Central American president to skip all SICA meetings held over the past six months, three of which have been in Managua. Now Nicaragua thinks SICA should skip him.

“We can't afford to put Central American integration at risk,” Coronel told The Nica Times Monday, referring to his concern that the regional integration process would be weakened under a president who has been reluctant to integrate.

Costa Rica has been the least receptive Central American country to regional integration, refusing to join the Central American Court of Justice, the Central American Parliament or the CA-4 immigration initiative.

Arias expressed his disdain for SICA last week by saying the Central American presidential summits are a waste of time and never address important issues.

“My experience is that these meetings are not good; the agendas are not made to address the principal problems facing Central American countries,” Arias said in statements published in the Costa Rican daily La Prensa Libre.

Arias' comments could also have been interpreted as an insult to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who for the past six months has set the SICA agenda as its president pro tempore.

Though Coronel's statements do not yet represent Nicaragua's official position, the vice minister said steps are being taken to formalize the proposal in the coming weeks.

Coronel added that by giving the rotating presidency to Guatemala instead of Costa Rica, SICA would help give institutional backing to Colom's embattled government, embroiled in a murder scandal (NT, May 22).

“There is a lot in play right now,” Coronel said.

See the May 29 print or PDF edition of The Nica Times, a publication distributed with The Tico Times, for more on this story.

Costa Rican reggae singer Johnnyman has been chosen as the opening act of Tuesday night's much anticipated show by Argentine band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, concert promoter Evenpro said.

Set to perform at about 9:30 p.m., Johnnyman is best known locally for roots-style reggae singing with the band Mekatelyu, José Cañas, the Evenpro's Costa Rica spokesman, told The Tico Times.

Curious music fans can listen to Johnnyman songs such as “Sensi Sensi” and “In Jah We Trust” at the Web site: http://www.myspace.com/mekatelyu.

By contrast, the Argentine group is known for an upbeat sound of reggae-meets-punk-meets-Buenos Aires, featuring blaring horns and thumping carnival drums.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are rolling in after a more than six-year hiatus, choosing Costa Rica as the only Central America stop-off on their reunion Satánico Pop Tour 2009.

As of Monday afternoon, Cañas said tickets remained only for VIP (¢30,000) and gramilla (¢20,000) sections, available at www.specialticket.net, Servimás outlets and Bansbach stores, or by calling 2206-7770.

PAVONES, Puntarenas – Hundreds of people gathered beneath sunny skies and protest banners here on Saturday to demonstrate against a proposed tuna farm to be located just south of this small, southern Pacific coastal town.

Representatives from national conservation groups and local indigenous groups, as well as reggae musicians, presented viewpoints at the Save the Golfo Dulce Festival. Reasons for opposition varied, but all agreed on one point – “No to the tuna farms.”

“This is monumental,” said Lisa Thrash, one of the event coordinators. “This is an issue that affects us all, and this is the first time we have all come together on this issue.”

The Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) approved the construction of the tuna farms on April 30, based on a Sept. 16, 2008, report by the University of Costa Rica's Ocean Science and Limnology Research Center (CIMAR).

While CIMAR's report offers “technical criteria” for the tuna farm, it does not refer directly to, or offer any scientific information about, the Golfo Dulce (TT, Nov. 21, 2008).

Environmentalists believe the operation of the tuna farm will damage the Golfo Dulce ecosystem. Their major concern is that a high concentration of fish feces and food waste from the farm would flow into the gulf and choke the area of oxygen.

Without specific research on tuna farms in the Golfo Dulce, no one is certain which direction the currents would carry the waste.

In spite of MINAET's approval of the project, members of the Marine Turtle Restoration Program (PRETOMA) are heading up initiatives to convince the government to reverse its decision.

Jorge Ballestero, a biologist for PRETOMA, urged the event's attendees to sign a petition against the farms. The petition, which had collected more than 600 signatures as of Sunday morning, will be sent to Casa Presidencial later this week via fax.

“It's the only way to stop it,” Ballestero said. “But this is just the beginning of the fight.”

See the May 29 print and PDF edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

The favorability ratings are shifting in the final days of the National Liberation Party's campaigns in an election that many say will determine Costa Rica's next president.

The long dominant National Liberation Party (PLN), which has placed six people in Casa Presidencial and holds 44 percent of the seats in the Legislative Assembly, is fewer than two weeks away from its primary elections. With their main opposition Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) battling accusations of fraud in the courts, many believe the victor of the PLN primary will sweep the presidential elections in February.

Former Vice President Laura Chinchilla has an 11 percent lead, according to the most recent study done by Unimer R.I. and commissioned by the daily La Nación.

Tailing behind her is former San José Mayor Johnny Araya, who is projected to pull in 34 percent of the vote to Chinchilla's 45 percent.

“I have confidence that we are going to win,” said René Castro, campaign manager for Laura Chinchilla, in a phone interview with The Tico Times. “But we have to watch the organization on the day of the election,” he said, indicating that Chinchilla has 10,000 table-watchers to prevent fraudulent practices during election day.

A CID-Gallup poll conducted at the beginning of May put the two candidates much closer, with Chinchilla at 45 percent and Araya at 42 percent. In both studies, former Security Minister Fernando Berrocal claimed less than 5 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, in the opposition Citizen Action Party (PAC) race, Castro predicts Ottón Solís to be the victor, as “the election is tailor-made for him.”

“We are ready for him,” Castro said.

See the May 29 print or PDF edition of The Tico Times for further coverage and analysis of the race.