EVERY Book Counts: Mariángela Ortiz, director of Casa Presidencial's Social Aid Office, ceremoniously gave books to children from the school Las Brisas del Virilla Friday to kick of a project to donate more than 4,000 books to schools around the country. The publisher Santillana is providing these books, which Ortiz said will help children at schools with little resources to continue their studies.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez could “very likely” pay a visit to his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega tomorrow to firm up agreements being discussed between the two countries, Venezuelan Ambassador to Nicaragua Miguel Gómez said in a press conference Friday.

Music Appreciation Gathering
Featuring Marvin Araya, director of Philharmonic Orchestra, and cello player Aurora Sáenz, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Galería Valante, Barrio Escalante, San José. Info: 253-1659, 225-0765, www.galeriavalanti.com.

Milk Fair
Cattle exhibit, food, concerts, dances, bullfights, through March 12, fairground in Zarcero, northwest of San José. Info: 854-3480.

The Spanish alternative fuel company Biodiesel de Andalucia (BIDA) plans to inaugurate an $11 million biodiesel plant near the Caribbean port of Limón in December, BIDA president Cristóbal García announced Friday.

The company is in the process of acquiring permits to build the plant, which will occupy 1.6 hectares of a lot seven kilometers from Limón, García told the daily La Nación. BIDA plans to hire 35 people to work at the plant and anticipates that an additional 300 jobs will be created indirectly for those providing services to the plant.

Additionally, BIDA already has agreements with producers around Limón and the Central Valley who will provide prime material for the biodiesel plant.

Biodiesel is produced by burning fats and oils from animal and vegetable sources such as sunflowers and palm. Other sources are being investigated, according to a statement from BIDA.

Biofuels are important in today's world because “the main ecological problems of the planet stem from global warming produced by burning fossil fuels,” García said.

The benefit of this alternative fuel is a reduction in harmful emissions and better efficiency for diesel engines. Biodiesel produces 80% less pollutants than conventional diesel fuel, and it can be used by any diesel motor, explained García, who gave a lecture last week at Universidad Nacional's (UNA) Tropical Science Center.

The center plans to use the new biodiesel plant to research methods of abstracting methanol, or wood alcohol, from forest debris and vegetable biomass, La Nación reported.

-Tico Times

A series of investigations led police to confiscate thousands of pirated CDs and DVDs yesterday in Alajuela, northwest of San José, and arrest a Salvadoran man they believe to be one of the main distributors of this illegal merchandise in the area, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

Officials from the ministry's Department of Special Investigations (DIE) surprised the alleged vendor, a Salvadoran man driving a green BMW from which they believe he sold the illegal goods, the statement said.

His selection of CDs and DVDs included reggaetón and Christian music as well as a wide range of movies. These confiscated items are being further studied by police investigators.

The sale of illegally reproduced, or pirated, goods violates the Law of Author's Rights, the statement said.

-Tico Times

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez could “very likely” pay a visit to his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega tomorrow to firm up agreements being discussed between the two countries, Venezuelan Ambassador to Nicaragua Miguel Gómez said in a press conference Friday.

Chávez “is placing importance on the relationship with Nicaragua and on agreements signed, and it is very possible that he will travel (to Nicaragua )... as these agreements are made concrete,” Gómez said.

Chávez's visit would coincide with a meeting of a mixed commission of Nicaraguan and Venezuelan representatives scheduled for today and tomorrow in Managua. The group plans to analyze 12 cooperation agreements signed between the two countries in January.

The Venezuelan delegation will be led by Agriculture Minister Elías Agua and Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for Latin American and the Caribbean Rodolfo Sanz, along with 15 other ministers and presidents of public banks, all leaders of “the sectors most involved in the agreements with Nicaragua,” Gómez said.

Potential agreements the group plans to discuss include Venezuela supplying Nicaragua with petroleum, aluminum processing plants and an oil refinery, he said.