Bah Humbug's Back: Teatro Dionisio at Café Britt in Heredia, north of San José, is featuring the Charles Dickens' classic “A Christmas Carol” (in Spanish) beginning Saturday and running through Dec. 22. Call 277-1600 or visit www.brittespressivo.com for more information.

Costa Rica yesterday launched a pilot plan that promotes hand-washing in hospitals to prevent infections.

On yesterday's Daily News page, we reported that two hotels in the northwestern beach town of Tamarindo -- El Milagro and Pasatiempo -- as well as Hostel Tamarindo, had been issued closing orders by the Public Health Ministry. Only Hostel Tamarindo has been closed. The others have been issued sanitary orders and will be closed if action is not taken to halt pollution, according to Rodrigo Acuña, of the Health Ministry.

Tamarindo Town Meeting
4 p.m., La Baula Restaurant, topics include water pollution problem, security and regulatory plan. Info: 653-1679, bodapmt@tamarindocommunity.org

Talk and Concert
“Mythological Origin of the Textile Designs of the Ngöbe Culture” and concert by Proyecto Jirondai featuring a fusion of Ngöbe ancestral chants and electro-acoustic music, 6 p.m., Costa Rican Art Museum, El Dorado Room, east Sabana Park. Reservations: 358-9712.

Cine-Forum “Human Trafficking”
6:30 p.m., free, public library, Paraíso, Cartago, 150 m. north of the market.

Warehouse Dance
Break dancing, Hip-hop, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, 4 p.m., 7 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m., National Auditorium, inside National Children's Museum, San José, end of Calle 4. Info: 258-4929. 

Anniversary of El Pueblo Commercial Center
Concert with Pimienta Negra, Martha y Los del Barrio, Escats and Le Pop, 5 p.m. Sunday, family day with inflatable castle, clowns, face painting, parade and more, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Trova, Rock and Belly Dance Night
Nov. 11, 8:30 p.m., Cuartel de la Boca del Monte Restaurant, Barrio La California, San José, opposite Cine Magaly. Info: 221-0327.

El Carretón de la Fantasía
Play for children about traditional games and songs, 4:30 p.m., Pueblo Antiguo, Parque de Diversiones, La Uruca. Info: 290-3035. 

Chamber Music Concert
With National Band and invited guests, 11 a.m., Conference Room, National Museum, San José. Info: 206-8643, www.museocostarica.go.cr

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

The Public Security Ministry sent police officers to guard the Legislative Assembly in San José yesterday in response to a false bomb threat and protests Wednesday.

After an anonymous caller warned of a bomb in the building Wednesday afternoon, legislators evacuated and were greeted by about 200 shouting protestors, officer Jorge Barrantes said.

A handful of officers guarded the building throughout the day yesterday, while a bus full of backup officers waited nearby in case chaos erupted, Barrantes said. At press time, there had been no disturbances and the legislature held its usual afternoon session.

The bomb threat came exactly one month after Costa Ricans voted in favor of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) in a referendum. The protestors oppose the treaty, as well as the 11 laws legislators are now discussing to implement it.

The assembly's executive director Antonio Ayales also stepped up security inside the building yesterday. Assembly guards were more vigilant about checking bags and identification cards, and the main meeting room was searched before the afternoon session. Still, Ayales said, the building is vulnerable.

“Assembly security does not have the capacity to deal with such outside pressure,” Ayales said. “Our building doesn't lend itself to good security measures because it has fences” that troublemakers can climb over without guards noticing. 

As legislators filed into the assembly yesterday afternoon, Jorge Eduardo Sánchez, of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), said the CAFTA opponents should express themselves in other ways.

“The debate has to be in Costa Rican style, which has always been argumentative, vehement and forceful, but never violent,” he said. 

Public Security Ministry officials are investigating the phone call, which they believe came from a public telephone in Cristo Rey, a neighborhood in southern San José.

The Northern Zone and Caribbean have become the latest victims of damage caused by heavy rains. Yesterday, these areas remained under a yellow alert and four shelters housed some of those who were forced to abandon their homes, according to a statement from the National Emergency Commission (CNE).

A cold front has blown heavy rains from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, and the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) is monitoring another one that could be headed this way from the U.S. state of Florida. The institute predicts rains are likely to continue through Saturday.

More than 30 communities in the Northern Zone cantons of Upala and San Carlos and the Caribbean-slope areas of Sarapiquí and Pococí have seen flooding and more than 1,300 families have been affected, the statement said.

About 125 people remain in four shelters in Sarapiquí and Pococí.

-Tico Times

Costa Rica yesterday launched a pilot plan that promotes hand-washing in hospitals to prevent infections.

The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) chose the National Children's Hospital to carry out this pilot plan, which it hopes to implement in other Latin American countries and around the world if it's successful.

It focuses on training health-care workers who are in close contact with patients to wash their hands frequently and use an alcohol-based sterilizing solution to prevent spreading infections, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

The plan was launched yesterday during an activity at the National Children's Hospital attended by PAHO representatives, national medical authorities and Vice-President Laura Chinchilla.

“We should be filled with pride that PAHO is carrying out this pilot plan in our country, but at the same time we must be clear that it's a big commitment,” Chinchilla said.