THIS'LL Just Hurt a Second: Four-month-old Tamara Cheng yesterday became the first Costa Rican baby to get vaccinated against rotavirus, a gastric infection that produces diarrhea and vomiting and can kill young children. The oral vaccine is now available to health-care providers around the country.

A recent incident Nicaraguan police are calling accidental yesterday sparked outrage from the Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry, as news of Nica police raiding the Managua home of Costa Rican Embassy Advisor Oscar Camacho made headlines.

Orange Fair
Featuring concert by the German Wind Orchestra Blaswerk Leipzig, 7 p.m.; concert by Sonata Bohemia (guitar, cello and percussion), 8:30 p.m. Tomorrow, horse parade, noon; mascarade, 1 p.m.; percussion concert, 2 p.m.; folkloric dances, 3:30 p.m.; metal quintet, 5 p.m.; concert by Taller Latino of San Pedro de Poás; poem recital by Walter Quesada, 8 p.m. All under the Jícaro Tree. Sunday, hike, 8 a.m.; mascarade, noon; concert by Municipal band, 1 p.m.; marimba concert, 3 p.m.; trova concert, 4 p.m.; jazz concert, 6 p.m.; contemporary tango concert, 7 p.m.; comparsa show, 8 p.m. All under the Jícaro tree, Ciudad Colón, southwest of San José. Info: 249-3124, 390-3318

Orchid Show
10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Municipal Library, Santo Domingo de Heredia, north of San José. Info: 396-7695, 244-4497.

Celebrating the Chinese New Year
Year of the Pig, 2:30 p.m.-3 p.m., Tin Jo Restaurant, San José, Calle 11, Ave. 6/8. Info: 221-7605, 257-3622.

XXIX International Chirripó Race
34-km race up the country's highest peak in the Southern Zone, 7 a.m., leaves from Plaza de San Gerardo de Rivas, heads uphill to the Crestones Base in the Chirripó National Park.

Hike
About 5 hours and 5 kilometers, Grifo Alto de Puriscal, southwest of San José. Group leaving at 6:30 a.m. from Puriscal bus stop at Coca-Cola bus terminal in San José. Info: 223-3186, caminarshkuk@gmail.com

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Three assailants entered the home of a U.S. Embassy employee in the western San José suburb of Escazú yesterday afternoon, tied up the diplomat's wife and stole items worth $10,000, police representatives told The Tico Times.

Karla Arrieta, spokeswoman for the Public Security Ministry, said the robbery took place at approximately noon in the neighborhood of Trejos Montealegre. The Tico Times obtained the name of the embassy official in question, but is withholding his identity at the request of embassy spokeswoman Evelyn Ardon.

“If the name is published, we're worried about a possible negative repercussion,” she told The Tico Times, adding that the official is neither U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale – who lives at the Ambassador's Residence, also in Escazú – nor one of the embassy's section chiefs, but holds a lower post.

Francisco Ruíz of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) said the thieves tied up the official's wife and made off with jewels and a computer; Arrieta added that cash and documents were also stolen. The victim escaped shortly after the assailants fled and alerted authorities, according to Ruíz. She was not injured.

“We're in the process of investigating now,” Ruíz said. “It appears that (the thieves) had studied the house… it had all kinds of security.”

He said the house does have security cameras, but that he is not sure whether the official's rank was high enough to warrant embassy security guards.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Environmentalists yesterday reacted to a declaration by Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles they'd been hoping to hear – Dobles Wednesday told the daily La Nación Costa Rica will pay pending dues to the International Whaling Commission and be able to vote in May against Japan's plans to resume commercial whaling.

Private organizations have offered to pay the $31,819 necessary for Costa Rica to vote, Dobles said.

Members of several environmental groups unified under the Costa Rican Coalition for Whales are glad to hear this news, but they want to know which private interests will pay the country's dues and see a “guarantee” that Costa Rica will be able to vote, said coalition member Edgar Castrillo.

The commission issued a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, but the Japanese government is seeking to end it to resume the practice of hunting whales for meat and scientific purposes.

This practice could hurt whale-related tourism in Costa Rica, a lucrative enterprise, if migrating whales are killed, Castillo said.

The coalition will help the government square away the more than $300,000 debt it owes the commission, but only if Dobles keeps his promise to make sure Costa Rica votes, he said. The country has been behind on its dues since the 1980s.

A concert organized by the commission to call attention to the plight of whales is scheduled for tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Culture Plaza in downtown San José.

Local rock groups including Evolución, Raza Bronce, Bernal Villegas, Santos and Zurdo will perform, and there will be games for kids, according to a statement from the coalition. Additionally, concertgoers will have a chance to talk with members of environmental groups.

A recent incident Nicaraguan police are calling accidental yesterday sparked outrage from the Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry, as news of Nica police raiding the Managua home of Costa Rican Embassy Advisor Oscar Camacho made headlines.

The raid on Camacho's home in the Las Colinas suburb of Managua occurred Feb. 7 while he was on vacation, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Nicaraguan police say the raid was “circumstantial” and was part of an anti-drug, anti-arms operation, reported the daily La Nación.

Questioned by Costa Rican Consul in Managua Víctor Láscarez, who carried out a preliminary investigation into the incident, Nicaraguan National Police commissioner Denis Tinoco said there was “no evidence that signals (Camacho's) participation in any delinquent act.” Tinoco offered apologies for the raid.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday filed a complaint with its Nicaraguan Affairs officer and the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry, claiming the raid violated norms established by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the statement said.

“It is my duty to present a complaint before the government of Nicaragua, reiterating the request for explanations in the case and demanding that necessary measures are taken so that similar situations don't occur,” read the complaint, which was signed by Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno.

Costa Rica first asked for a formal explanation of the raid on Feb. 9, but the Nicaraguan government has yet to provide one, the statement said.