In Defense of Dolphins: Humane Society International representatives Gretel Delgadillo (right), Jennifer Felt (center) and Luisa Trujillo (left) yesterday held signs with the estimated number of dolphins killed each year in Japan during a peaceful protest outside the Japanese Embassy in San José. Various animal rights groups attended the protest against the killing of dolphins off Japanese coasts.

The U.S. Consulate in Costa Rica is recommending that those requesting a visa to travel to the United States in December or January make their appointments promptly since the consulate is currently short-staffed.

Roots Vibes Live
With DJ Shonetto, Selecta Herbalist, Selecta Jah Cris, Huba, 8 p.m., El Observatorio, Barrio La California, San José. Info: www.gruponativeculture.com.

Latin American Film Festival
Featuring “Domésticas,” 7 p.m., Sala Calle 15, San José, Ave. 2, across from Plaza de la Democracia.

International Guitar Festival
Featuring Central American guitarists William Orbaugh (Guatemala), Eduardo Acosta (Honduras), Jorge Sanabria (El Salvador), Trio MP3 (Nicaragua), University of Costa Rica Guitar Orchestra, 8 p.m., National Theater, San José.

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

Public defender Luis Fernando Burgos was sentenced to 35 years in prison yesterday for murdering his wife Maureen Hidalgo.

In a dramatic verdict reading that drew a packed, sweaty crowd to the courtroom in downtown San José, former state prosecutor Zulay Rojas was also sentenced to two years for failing to report Burgos' murder confession. But judges reduced the sentence of Rojas, who is also Burgos' ex-girlfriend, to a five-year probation period.

The three presiding judges in the case based their decision on the testimony of two key witnesses – one of them Rojas – who testified that Burgos had confessed the murder to them, as well as other testimonial evidence and phone records investigators seized showing who Burgos called before and after the murder.

Prosecutors faced a case with no physical evidence and an inconclusive autopsy since Burgos apparently covered up his tracks after the murder, leaving no evidence in his apartment where he kept his strangled wife's body for two days before disposing of it.

Still, the defense failed to discredit the testimonies of the prosecution's key witnesses, including Rojas and Antonio Calderón, said judge María de los Ángeles Arana.

“There was nothing about the characteristics of witnesses who supported (Rojas' testimony against Burgos ) that showed they were interested in harming Burgos,” she said as she read part of the hour-long verdict to a standing-room-only crowd, explaining that Hidalgo had long been a victim of Burgos' domestic violence.

Family, friends and acquaintances of those involved in the case, press and curious Costa Ricans started filling the courtroom three hours before the verdict reading. The crowd ended up packing the courtroom, the hall leading to the courtroom and spilling out onto the sidewalk in front of the court.

Burgos reported the disappearance of his wife July 13, 2006, two days after she was last seen (TT, July 21, 2006). Two hours after Burgos made his report, Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese received an anonymous call from someone (later revealed to have been judge Elizabeth Tossi) who had received a tip that Burgos was the murderer.

Five days after the murder, a man riding his bike noticed some low-flying vultures circling Hidalgo's rotting body just off the highway in Atenas, a coffee town northwest of San José.

Burgos was also ordered to pay $350,000 in damages to Hidalgo's family, whom he “tortured” for days after the murder by leading them on to believe that Hidalgo could still be alive, said judge Ana Patricia Araya.

By Dave Sherwood
Tico Times Staff | dsherwood@ticotimes.net

The first leatherback sea turtles of the season arrived recently to nest on the sandy shores of the northwestern province of Guanacaste.

The turtles were spotted at Playa Junquillal, a small beach community just south of Tamarindo, and Playa Grande, a beach inside Las Baulas National Marine Park, just to the north.

The turtles' unusually early arrival – almost one month ahead of schedule, according to biologists, has given conservationists hope of a fruitful season ahead.

The Junquillal nest was found by locals on the beach and then protected by a crew of local beach patrollers, known as the “Baula Boys,” who put a fence around it to prevent local dogs from disturbing it.

The turtle that built the nest is expected to arrive two to three more times at the beach, as most leatherbacks do.

Junquillal is the site of a community project funded by the World Wildlife Fund and directed by Argentine biologist Gabriel Francia that seeks to educate locals on the importance of turtles to both the ecosystem and local tourism.

Francia reports that turtle poaching during the two-year program has dropped from nearly 100% to 15%.

In nearby Playa Grande, five turtles arrived in so many days, according to park director Rodney Piedra. He says the accelerated pace bodes well for surpassing last year's total of just 58 turtles – the lowest return of nesting females since record-keeping began, and perhaps the lowest ever.

“We're hoping for a much greater number of turtles this year, improving our chances for conserving the species,” Piedra said. Leatherback sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean are on the brink of extinction, their numbers having plummeted 90% during the past 20 years.

Both biologists caution that increasing development on local nesting beaches, which leads to lights that disorient baby turtles, is threatening populations, as is mortality at sea and egg poaching

The U.S. Consulate in Costa Rica is recommending that those requesting a visa to travel to the United States in December or January make their appointments promptly since the consulate is currently short-staffed.

Getting an appointment for a visa now takes about five weeks. The consulate is working on reducing this time and hopes more workers come to the country soon to allow more visa interviews to be conducted and reduce waiting time, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy released yesterday.

Information about getting a U.S. visa is posted at http://sanjose.usembassy.gov. Those wishing to make an appointment should call 0800-052-1465.