A Day in the Park: Gerardina Ramírez and her son Juan Abelardo Fernández, 9, yesterday spent part of their day off work and school in observance of Costa Rican Mother's Day catching up on some reading at Parque Nacional in downtown San José.

Police seized more than $100,000 worth of Central American and U.S. currency they believe to be related to drug trafficking from two trucks at the northern border crossing of Peñas Blancas over the weekend, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

National Artists' Day Celebration
5:30 p.m., José Figueres Ferrer Cultural Center, San Ramón, Alajuela.

Piano Recital
By Mijail Tumanov, 8 p.m., National Theater, Ave. Ctrl/2, Calle 3/5. Info: 221-5341.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega plan to meet privately today in Managua, a much anticipated encounter after tension between them has been brewing during the past several months.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos announced yesterday that the two leaders plan to meet while Arias is in Nicaragua for a forum on peace in Central America organized by Catholic University. However, Casa Presidencial spokesman Pablo Gueren could not confirm that Arias plans to attend.

The forum is being held in honor of the 20 th anniversary of the 1987 Esquipulas peace agreements, which ended years of violence in the region. Ortega was among signers of the agreement, and Arias later won a Nobel Peace Prize for drafting it.

Ortega did not attend a similar event held in San José Aug. 8 (TT, Aug. 10) because he was busy meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Many suspected the real reason for his absence was the tension between the two leaders, whose terms also coincided during their first stints as President in the 1980s.

Ortega said in March that Arias' Nobel Peace Prize should have gone to former Salvadoran President José Napoleón Duarte. In May, Ortega argued that the anniversary celebrations should be held in Esquipulas, Guatemala instead of San José.

Other points of friction between the two leaders include the countries' border region, the treatment of Nicaraguan immigrants and Costa Rica's unwillingness to join institutions of regional integration, such as the Central American Parliament (TT, April 27).

Santos said Arias and Ortega plan to discuss at least a few of these topics today.

-ACAN-EFE and Tico Times

Its turns out wind and rain spawning from Hurricane Dean is not likely to hit Costa Rica as intensely as expected as the hurricane rips its way through the Caribbean, according to a statement released yesterday by the National Emergency Commission (CNE).

Thanks to low humidity over the Pacific Ocean near the Southern Zone, the category 5 hurricane has lost speed, preventing it from kicking up the inclement weather it was expected to blow over to Costa Rica.

“The most recent analyses have shown that precipitation on the Pacific slope and Central Valley will fall within the normal range for the rainy season,” said National Meteorological Institute (IMN) director Pablo Manzo.

In light of this diminished risk, the commission has changed the yellow alert for the Pacific slope to a green, preventive alert.

It is also keeping its eye on the Caribbean port of Limón, where huge waves hit Sunday night, washing up to one of the city's parks.

This phenomenon was likely the product of disturbances in the Caribbean Sea caused by Hurricane Dean, the statement said.

-Tico Times

Police seized more than $100,000 worth of Central American and U.S. currency they believe to be related to drug trafficking from two trucks at the northern border crossing of Peñas Blancas over the weekend, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

The trucks were coming from Honduras and were driven by two Costa Ricans who said they knew nothing about the money, which was hidden inside the vehicles.

The drivers were identified by the last lames Fallas, 33, and Gonzales, 37. A man identified as Arguedas, 47, whom police believe to be the head of the transport company that owns the trucks, was also a passenger inside one of them.

The cash was distributed between the two trucks and hidden in various compartments, the statement said. Dollars, as well as Costa Rican colones, Honduran lempiras, Guatemalan quetzales and Nicaraguan córdobas were seized in addition to cell phones and a 38-caliber gun.

This contraband cargo was delivered to the Prosecuctor's Office, where the three arrested face charges of money laundering.

Police still do not know the total value of the confiscated cash. They asked a bank for help counting the money and, as of yesterday, they had counted $132,260.