On an International Note: The Swiss quintet Eole Dixtuor, directed by Jan Dobrzelewski, is among classical groups that will perform at the 17th annual Credomatic Music Fesitval that begins today. The three-week festival features concerts set in venues across the country, from the Central Valley to the northwestern province of Guanacaste, mostly at resorts and hotels but also at San José's National Theater. For more information, see the Calendar section of this week's print or electronic edition of The Tico Times.

Two earthquakes measuring 5.5 and 4.8 on the Richter scale rocked the Pacific coast of Nicaragua Wednesday, the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER) reported yesterday.

Credomatic Music Festival
Featuring the Swiss quintet Eole Dixtour, 7:30 p.m., Punta Leona, near Jacó. Info: 231-3131.

8th CICOMEX Golf Tournament
Today through Sunday, Los Sueños Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort, Playa Herradura, Puntarenas, www.cicomex.com.

Play “La Vida si Tiene Solución”
Play about women's lives and challenges, 7 p.m., Auditorio Maná, La Uruca, in front of Pintura Sur. Info: 235-4028, 354-0331.

Tamarindo Beach Marathon
10 km race, half-marathon and marathon, start/finish at Banco Cuscatlán, 2 p.m., register at Runners stores in San José area in La Sabana, Curridabat, Heredia, www.tamarindobeachmarathon.com.

Hot Dog-Eating Contest
Qualifying night, 7 p.m., Los Pescadores Bar and Grill, Quepos, 777-1827.

Biker Day
Motorcycle exhibition, raffles, contests, music, food, first beer free, 11 a.m., Oscar Moore's American Thunder, 100 m north of Castella Conservatory, Barreal, Heredia. Info: 293-0669, 308-3040.

“Falstaff”
Verdi's comedic opera, 5 p.m., National Theater, Ave. 2, Calle 3/5. Info: www.teatronacional.go.cr, 221-5341.

One Catholic leader mixed a heavy dose of politics into the spiritual message he offered yesterday those who made the pilgrimage to Cartago, east of San José, to pay homage to the country's patron saint on Our Lady of the Angles Day.

Angel San Casimiro, the bishop of the Alajuela province, asked those gathered at the Cartago basilica to show tolerance and respect to people with different views on the divisive Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which the country will vote on in a referendum Oct. 7.

“Costa Rica is facing a grand dilemma,” Casimiro said.

Costa Ricans should “be careful because the country will not have a future if we believe that those who think differently than us are our enemies,” he said, calling for the country to eventually look beyond the result of this election and build a more inclusive country, remembering “that the base of democracy is tolerance.”

President Oscar Arias, who listened to Casimiro's speech, echoed his message of the need for Costa Ricans to unite.

“On Oct. 7 we will vote in a referendum that has dangerously divided the country and, as Evangelicals say, ‘no house that is divided amongst itself will prevail.' We have to unite not in favor of one option or the other on paper, but in favor of Costa Rican democracy,” he said.

Costa Ricans will vote on CAFTA in a popular referendum Oct. 7; if 40% of eligible voters turn out, the results of the vote will be binding. Costa Rica is the only signatory country that has not ratified this controversial trade pact.

-ACAN-EFE and Tico Times

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

A summer study abroad program in Costa Rica was cut short for 20 U.S. students after three of them were robbed here and they decided to head home early.

The group of international business students from Mississippi State University in Starkville was attending classes at the University of Costa Rica (UCR) in San Pedro, east of San José, living with families and working, according to director of university relations Maridith Geuder.

During a four-week period, three students were robbed in two separate incidents, one of whom was then treated for minor injuries and released, said Geuder, who did not have any more details about the robberies.

The university has brought students here “for 16 years through the Study Abroad department and we've never had an incident like that. I can tell you this is the first time,” Geuder told The Tico Times yesterday by phone.

Upon learning of the robberies, the university sent the head of the Foreign Language department and a language teacher here to “assess the situation.” Together with the students, they decided it was best to cut the trip short rather than completing the final two weeks. The students still received full academic credit for the program, Geuder said.

One student, Tyler Hardin, told the Clarion Ledger he chose to stay in Costa Rica and finish out the program.

“I hadn't had any problems here, and it's been a month," he said. His father Andy Hardin told the daily his son wanted to stay through the program's final weeks to continue improving his Spanish.

The other 20 students flew from San José to Atlanta last week and traveled by bus from Atlanta back to Starkville.

University officials are now reviewing the process through which they select countries for study abroad programs and may consider opting for another Spanish-speaking instead of Costa Rica next year, Geuder said.

Two earthquakes measuring 5.5 and 4.8 on the Richter scale rocked the Pacific coast of Nicaragua Wednesday, the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER) reported yesterday.

There were no injuries or major damage reported, but the local population was startled by the quakes, the first of which occurred at 4:43 p.m. and was felt near Port Sandino.

It originated 100 kilometers below the earth's surface and was caused by a collision of the Cocos and Caribbean tectonic plates, according to INETER seismologist Virginia Tenorio.

The second earthquake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale and occurred at 10:50 p.m. near Cosiguina Volcano. It originated 12 kilometers below the earth's surface and was also felt in El Salvador.