BROWSING For Books: José Martínez shopped for books yesterday at the Librería Lehmann bookstore on downtown San José's Avenida Central at a sale held in honor of World Book and Copyright Day. This occasion was declared by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1995; April 23 is the day Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died and is also the birthday of prominent authors including Vladimir Nabokov.

The weather phenomenon La Niña is predicted to hit Costa Rica during the next few months, creating 16% more rain than is normal along the Pacific coast and leaving an 8% rain deficit in the Caribbean, Pablo Manso, National Meteorological Institute (IMN) director, told journalists yesterday.

Gulf of Papagayo Festival
Three-day sports tournament, today through Wednesday; dive festival, Playas del Coco, today through Sunday; three-day multidimensional art project, Friday through Sunday; Coco Triathlon for Children, Saturday, Playa Panamá, northwestern Guanacaste province. Info: 670-0625.

Tuesday Night Concert
Bassoon recital, Tuesday, 7 p.m., room 107, University of Costa Rica (UCR) School of Music, San Pedro, east of San José.

The 61 migrants who were discovered lost at sea off the Pacific beach of Playa Guiones were taken yesterday to a shelter in the northwestern Guanacaste town of Carrillo, where they will stay until they are transported back to Ecuador, their ship's country of origin, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

The 56 Chinese, three Ecuadorians and two Peruvians were discovered by two Panamanian ships Saturday and delivered to shore at Flamingo, Guanacaste, by the Costa Rican Coast Guard early yesterday morning.

At the shelter, the migrants were given medical attention. Some had suffered dehydration, and one is a woman in the late stages of pregnancy, the statement said.

Although most of those aboard the boat are from China, the law states that they must be taken back to the country they departed from, and Costa Rican authorities are taking the necessary steps to transport them to Ecuador.

Authorities are also investigating whether any of the people aboard were acting as “coyotes” to smuggle the others.

This marks the third time in seven months a shipwrecked boat carrying migrants has been found off the Pacific coast. In January, an Ecuadorian ship was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard in Costa Rican waters (TT, Jan. 26), and in October of last year, 128 migrants lost at sea were discovered by a Costa Rican boat, the statement said.

-Tico Times

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

If you've got a blender, microwave, or other home appliance that was damaged by the power outages Costa Rica experienced over the past few days and can get together the necessary paperwork, you may not have to get rid of it. The Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) will be investigating complaints from people with damaged appliances and computers, and power companies will be compensating those whose items are determined to have been damaged by recent electricity irregularities, according to Xinia Herrera, director of ARESEP's User Protection department.

Owners of any damaged appliances or computers should file their complaints with the electricity distributor for their area. For example, most homes in the Central Valley area receive energy from the National Power and Light Company (CNFL), while Coopeguanacaste powers the northwestern Guanacaste province, Herrera said.

Those filing complaints must present a letter describing what is wrong with their appliance, and, if they had it fixed, a receipt showing the costs of the repair.

This receipt must include the name of the person placing the complaint, their cédula or passport number, their address and phone number, the brand, model, serial number and description of the damaged item, the cost of repair and a note from the person who repaired it describing the problem, according to a statement from ARESEP.

If the appliance is broken beyond repair, its owner must present a note from a technician diagnosing that it cannot be fixed, the original receipt and three quotes from different stores showing the current value of the item.

Once the complaint has been filed, an inspector will visit the user's house to determine if, in fact, the damage was caused by the blackouts and not by faulty wiring. If the blackouts were at fault, he or she will receive a credit for the cost of the repair or to buy a new appliance.

Those interested in filing a complaint can call ARESEP at 220-0102 for more information.

The weather phenomenon La Niña is predicted to hit Costa Rica during the next few months, creating 16% more rain than is normal along the Pacific coast and leaving an 8% rain deficit in the Caribbean, Pablo Manso, National Meteorological Institute (IMN) director, told journalists yesterday.

La Niña is expected to chill Pacific waters around the middle of the year, while Caribbean waters may experience a temperature increase. This “explosive” combination is likely to create a rainier rainy season than normal, Manso said.

Last year's rainy season was drier than usual, and scientists at the time attributed this to El Niño, which causes the water temperature in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the equator to heat up one-half a degree Celsius for a five-month period or longer (TT, Oct. 27, 2006). La Niña occurs when this water temperature decreases by one-half a degree Celsius for five months or more.

Scientists are also expecting eight tropical storms and nine hurricanes to form during this hurricane season, of which at least three could pass over Caribbean waters and indirectly affect Costa Rica with heavy rains, Manso said.