Working Toward Compromise: President Oscar Arias yesterday met with Citizen Action Party faction head Elizabeth Fonseca, the first step in reaching an agreement on the 12 laws required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

As of Saturday, drivers in Costa Rica will pay 15% less for their gasoline, thanks to a tariff reduction approved yesterday by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).

Art Exhibit Opening
Manuel Zumbado opens his show “Babel ,” including a tri-dimensional installation, video and paintings, 7 p.m., the Humboldt School , Pavas.

Flute Concert
With the Vivace Flute Quartet from Carnegie Mellon University, 7:30 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, Costa Rica-North American Cultural Center, Barrio Dent. Info: 207-7555, 207-7554.

By Gillian Gillers
Tico Times Staff | ggillers@ticotimes.net

President Oscar Arias and his brother, Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias, met with Citizen Action Party (PAC) faction head Elizabeth Fonseca yesterday to discuss laws required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

PAC has long opposed CAFTA and the 12 laws required to implement it. Yesterday, Fonseca reiterated that the party would present motions to change the laws before voting against them. But the party will not block debate on these laws, as it has in the past, she said.

For its part, the government promised to listen to PAC's suggestions on the content of the laws and the timeline for discussing them. The government will also bring Citizen Action into the negotiation process for a free-trade agreement between Central America and the European Union, which begins Oct. 22.  

Fonseca said Citizen Action will propose alternative, less far-reaching bills that would still allow Costa Rica to comply with the free-trade agreement. Rodrigo Arias and National Liberation Party (PLN) faction head Mayí Antillón said they are open to suggestions.

Rodrigo Arias identified bills on development and security that the government and PAC agree should be pushed forward. These include reforms to the Immigration Law, reforms to the Transit Law, a law to create a development bank, a property tax law and a law to facilitate the concession of public works projects.

Still, Antillón said these bills should not be tackled until March 1, 2008, Costa Rica's deadline to implement CAFTA

The steady rains that have washed over Costa Rica since Monday continued in earnest yesterday, brewing floods that damaged almost 300 houses in the central Pacific.

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) yesterday upped the green, preventive alert to a yellow alert for the Pacific slope. The Central Valley remains under a green alert, and steady rain is expected to continue in the area today, thanks to a low-pressure system over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula that's blowing rain over Costa Rica, according to a statement from the commission.

Residents in the central Pacific towns of Quepos, Parrita, Puntarenas and Esparza should remain particularly alert since some of these areas have received rain for 48 hours straight, saturating the ground and creating prime conditions for landslides and floods. Families living near rivers or other bodies of water should identify shelters and head to them promptly should water levels rise significantly.

Some families in parts of Puntarenas and Esparza are already in shelters after about 150 homes in the area flooded yesterday. Flooding has also been reported in the northwestern Guanacaste town of Cañas, and a landslide occurred in Palmares, northwest of San José.

-Tico Times

As of Saturday, drivers in Costa Rica will pay 15% less for their gasoline, thanks to a tariff reduction approved yesterday by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).

However, users of diesel fuel will pay 7% more.

The price of one liter of super gasoline will drop from $1.20 to $1.04, while regular gas will drop from $1.13 to $1.01. One liter of diesel fuel will cost $0.88, up from $0.82.

These prices will go into effect as soon as they are published in the official government daily La Gaceta, expected for Saturday, according to ARESEP.