Out to Scare You: The Little Theatre Group will be celebrating Halloween Saturday with a performance of the musical “Sing Zombie Sing” at Tex Mex restaurant in Santa Ana, west of San José.

Three Immigration officials accused of forming a corrupt network that falsified documents to slip people into the country were arrested yesterday, according to a statement from the Judicial Branch.

Expo-Fitness
With Latin Dance, Tae-Bo, personal trainers and more, today through Sunday, Plaza Real Cariari. 

Dance Show
By the National Dance Company, today and tomorrow, 7 p.m., Contemporary Art and Design Museum, National Culture Center (CENAC), San José.

Concert by Trío Amsalem
Jazz, 8 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center, Barrio Dent, San José.

Oktoberfest
Fundraiser for Humboldt School with sausage, sauerkraut, beer and other German treats, entrance ¢4,000 (about $8), 7 p.m., Costa Rica Country Club, Escazú.

Open Studio Day
Free Event with refreshments to follow, four visual artists, two writers and one experimental artist share their work, 2 p.m., Julia and David White Artists' Colony, Ciudad Colón, west of San José. Info: 249-1414, royce@forjuliaanddavid.org

Concert
Los Acetatos y Las Tortugas perform, entrance ¢3,000 (about $6), 9 p.m., Highway to Poás, 3 km from La Laguna de Fraijanes. 

Little Theatre Group Halloween Show and Party
“Sing Zombie Sing” musical, costume contest, trivia games and prizes, 8 p.m., ¢1,000 ($2) admission, Tex Mex, Santa Ana, west of San José.

Concert in Memory of Luciano Pavarotti
Performed by Arsyss Choir, 5 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center. Tickets at www.arsyss.com

VIII International Baroque Music Festival
11:30 a.m., EMAI Band, Guitar Orchestra, Children's Orchestra, Intermediate Orchestra and Youth Orchestra, Santa Ana Church, west of San José.

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

The European Union has agreed to give Costa Rica about $48.7 million during the next six years to promote social development and regional integration.

The amount was fixed yesterday in an accord signed by Costa Rica's acting Foreign Minister Edgar Ugalde and Joao Aguiar, Deputy Director General for External Relations at the European Commission.

“There's no doubt that Costa Rica is the Central American country with which the European Union has most in common,” Aguiar said.

The donation is part of an association agreement being negotiated between Central America and the European Union. The agreement will also involve a free-trade pact and greater political dialogue.

About $36.5 million of the grant will go toward reducing poverty and inequality through investments in healthcare, education, employment programs and the environment, Aguiar said. The remaining $12.2 million will help Costa Rica integrate into the Central American Customs Union while still remaining competitive. Aguiar said the European Union would review the fruits of its donation in 2010.

Costa Rica is receiving less money from the European Union than any of its regional neighbors. During the same period, 2007-2013, the European Union will donate $54.4 million to Panama, $173.3 million to El Salvador, $193.4 million to Guatemala, $210.6 million to Honduras, and $306.5 million to Nicaragua.

Aguiar said the donations reflected the varying needs for aid.

“The fact that Costa Rica is receiving less is not a reason to be sad,” he said. “It's a reason to be glad.”

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

When Delroy Ferguson set out on a fishing trip off the Caribbean shore of Cahuita Wednesday, he didn't know it would be his last. Rough waters overtaking his small fishing boat left this Costa Rican who had U.S. citizenship stranded at sea, according to Public Security Ministry spokeswoman Marielos Barboza.

Costa Rican Coast Guard officials yesterday brought Ferguson's body to shore. His two fishing partners, Ticos identified by the last names Johnson and Wright, survived the accident by swimming toward the shore and being rescued by the Coast Guard.

The group got into trouble when they found themselves four kilometers out at sea in rough waters that filled and sank the boat.

Ferguson lived in the U.S. state of Connecticut and had been in Costa Rica two weeks visiting family when the accident occurred, according to the daily La Nación. He planned to return to the United States today.

Three Immigration officials accused of forming a corrupt network that falsified documents to slip people into the country were arrested yesterday, according to a statement from the Judicial Branch.

An investigation carried out in San José, Alajuela and Naranjo, both to the northwest, revealed that these officials modified the records of foreigners who had been denied Costa Rican residency because of “doubtful reputations,” mostly Colombians, the statement said.

Police yesterday raided these officials' homes and seized photocopies of falsified Immigration records. They are accused of information sabotage, bribery and conspiracy. The Prosecutor's Office is requesting preventive detention.