Fighting for Rights: Ombudswoman Lisbeth Quesada, here with her Panamanian counterpart Ricardo Vargas, yesterday attended a seminar called “First National Encounter on Palliative Care in Panama,” which seeks to promote this type of care for people with terminal illnesses as a human right.

Singing her heart out at a concert Sunday wasn't the only thing Mexican singer Julieta Venegas did during her recent trip to Costa Rica – she also filmed a commercial to encourage kids to stay in school through the campaign “Engánchate al cole ” (“Get Hooked on School”), according to a statement from the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Tango Class with Argentine Master Rafael Sangalli
5:30-7 p.m., Galería Amón, 250 meters north of Morazán Park, San José. Info: 223-9725.

Speakers Forum: Travel in Costa Rica for Physically Challenged Travelers
With Monic Chabot, 7-8:30 p.m., Big Mike's, Escazú. Info: 289-6333, 821-4708, 289-6087.

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

With visions of trash and crowds in her head, Public Health Minister María Luisa Avila yesterday announced she will deny the Caribbean port of Limón a permit to hold its annual Carnival festivities in October out of concern over an alarming wave of dengue affecting the area.

Avila made this announcement during a press conference yesterday regarding steps the ministry is taking to close down the Río Azul landfill, south of San José, according to Public Health Ministry spokesman Alex Ulate.

So far this year, there have been 2,191 cases of this mosquito-transmitted disease in the Limón province, according to a statement from the health ministry.

Health authorities fear Carnival would further exacerbate this problem by attracting more mosquitoes to the city to feast on visitors and breed in their trash, Ulate said.

The alternative for Limón would be to hold Carnival somewhere in the province that has not become so infected with this disease.

Though perhaps the minister's decision is unpopular with some it “was made for the well-being of the people,” Ulate said.

The ministry is trying to combat dengue by “arriving directly to the population,” to educate people about how to prevent it and is also fumigating in the area, he said

Despite efforts to destroy incriminating evidence by tossing it into the ocean, five Colombians accused of transporting 120 kilograms of cocaine were arrested off the Pacific coast Sunday, according to a statement released yesterday by the Public Security Ministry.

National Police in the northwestern Guanacaste province were alerted by U.S. and Costa Rican marine patrollers of a suspicious boat off the coast of the province's Playa Flamingo.

Upon spotting these authorities, the five aboard the boat allegedly threw their cargo overboard and headed ashore to Cablo Velas de Santa Cruz, where they burned most of the boat and fled into the mountains.

Meanwhile, police in small airplanes discovered six 20-kilogram packages of cocaine out at high sea. Costa Rican Coast Guard officials picked them up while National Police found remnants of the destroyed boat.

Searching through the mountains, police followed a trail of water bottles and candy wrappers to discover the five men, identified by the last names Góngora, Urtado, Florez, Condomi and Caicedo, according to a statement from the Judicial Branch.

They were hiding in a rocky area with a satellite telephone, GPS device, machete, suitcases, cash, their passports, cell phones and a bag of provisions.

Yesterday, a judge in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste ordered them six months in preventive detention.

Remarking on the case, Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal hailed the Costa Rican judicial system over Colombia's. “The Colombian drug traffickers were in the wrong country; Costa Rica is not an extension of Colombia, and we are not going to allow them to operate here,” he said.

-Tico Times

Singing her heart out at a concert Sunday wasn't the only thing Mexican singer Julieta Venegas did during her recent trip to Costa Rica – she also filmed a commercial to encourage kids to stay in school through the campaign “Engánchate al cole ” (“Get Hooked on School”), according to a statement from the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).

“School is a place where you learn math, Spanish, biography and geography, but, most importantly, you learn to get along with others... Don't miss the opportunity; get hooked on school,” Venegas says in the commercial, filmed alongside Costa Rican students.

It will be strategically aired at the end of the school year to try to combat the dropout that usually occurs during this time. In Costa Rica, every year about 40,000 high school students abandon school for reasons including limited economic resources, poor performance, family problems and boredom, the statement said.

“We're sure Julieta Venegas' message will serve as an inspiration for the country to unite its efforts and achieve the national goal that no child or adolescent is left outside the classroom,” said Costa Rica's U.N. representative Seija Toro.

“Get Hooked on School” is part of efforts by the Public Education Ministry to keep kids in school, train teachers and improve the overall quality of secondary education in Costa Rica.