BREAKING Ground: In the company of schoolchildren in uniform, President Oscar Arias yesterday broke ground on a new free-trade zone to be built in Coyol, Alajuelita, south of San José. About 60 companies plan to set up shop in this new business park, which the government hopes will create 20,000 jobs.

Out-of-use cell phones and cell phone parts can be dropped off for recycling at bins outside service agencies of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) around the country today and tomorrow, according to a statement from ICE.

Flamenco, Wine and Tapas Night
8:30 p.m., Tintos y Blancos, Terramall, Tres Ríos, east of San José. Info: 278-6900.

Ayurveda and Yoga Workshops
Led by Dr. MTA. Shrimati Chandrika Devidasi Dharmavedi, today through May 23, Mandala Spa, Escazú, west of San José. Info: 228-9627, 829-8959.

Concert
Lou Chao-Yun -- a famous player of the pipa, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument -- plays from 7:30-9:30 p.m., Chinese Association, 300 meters east of Casa Matute, east side of San José.

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

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias, the Union of Private-Sector Chambers and Associations (UCCAEP) and others yesterday praised the Legislative Assembly's approval of a referendum decree that could send a controversial free-trade agreement to a public vote within months.

The assembly voted late Monday night to approve the decree for a nationwide vote on the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). The decree, submitted to the assembly by the Executive Branch last week, needed 29 votes for approval; 48 legislators of the 53 present voted in favor, while five voted against, according to a statement from the assembly.

Assembly president Francisco Pacheco now has eight days to submit the decree to the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE), which will decide how to proceed with the historic referendum.

Rodrigo Arias praised the consensus reached by the assembly's four leading parties, urging Costa Ricans to vote once the referendum arrives.

In a statement, the Union of Chambers praised the legislators' “patriotism” and expressed hopes that the referendum will take place in a timely manner, given that Costa Rica risks being left out of CAFTA if it does not make a decision by March 2008.

Though all legislators say they support a referendum, some, including Oscar López, say they want it to happen not through the decree, but through citizens' collection of signatures. The TSE gave a group of citizens the right to start collecting signatures earlier this month (TT, April 13), but President Oscar Arias sent a decree to the assembly that could eliminate the signature-collection period (TT, April 20).

López yesterday filed a motion of unconstitutionality before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV), alleging that the assembly approved the decree during so-called “extraordinary sessions,” instead of during “ordinary sessions” as the Referendum Law specifies, explained Emilio Granados, the Access Without Exclusion (PASE) legislator's chief of staff.

The Citizen Action Party (PAC) also yesterday released a statement announcing plans to send CAFTA itself to the Sala IV for constitutional review.

By Blake Schmidt
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net

State prosecutor Walter Espinoza gave a day-long closing statement yesterday in the trial of Osvaldo Villalobos, who is accused of fraud, money laundering and illegal financial intermediation in connection with a high-yield investment operation known as "The Brothers."

Villalobos and his fugitive brother Luis Enrique allegedly ran a defunct high-interest personal loan business that handled up to $800 million from more than 6,000 investors, many of them foreigners from the United States and Europe.

"Ofinter served only as a facade for illegal activity," Espinoza alleged, referring to a money-exchange business Osvaldo Villalobos ran. His closing statement began Monday and lasted all day yesterday. Espinoza argued that the business was fraudulent and that those who invested with the alleged "Brothers" scheme were not made fully aware of how the business functioned, an argument that the defense will have a chance to counter when its turn arrives, likely tomorrow.

Espinoza told The Tico Times his closing statements would last until today and would be followed by the statements of civil prosecutor Eduardo Acuña, who is presenting over 200 private claims added to the government's prosecution, cases known as querellas.

After the defense gives its closing statement and defendant Osvaldo Villalobos has the last word, which is expected to happen by early next week at the latest, the judges in the case have up to 10 business days to declare a verdict.

Out-of-use cell phones and cell phone parts can be dropped off for recycling at bins outside service agencies of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) around the country today and tomorrow, according to a statement from ICE.

ICE plans to collect these electronic wastes and send them to be recycled outside of the country, since Costa Rica does not have the equipment necessary to process them, the statement said.

This recycling campaign is part of an environmental fair ICE is holding outside its central office in Sabana Norte, on the western edge of San José, in celebration of its 58 th anniversary. Talks and activities for kids are scheduled for today and tomorrow, beginning at 8:30 a.m.