Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has sent a letter showing full support to the French government in its attempt to negotiate the release of the 16 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, since February 2002, said a statement from Costa Rica's Casa Presidencial.

Open-Air Art Fair in New Locale
Now in Curridabat, more than 400 artists exhibit at the festival, Friday through Dec. 18, 10 a.m.- 9 p.m, Plaza José María Zeledón, in the Municipality east of San José.

Free Choir Concert
By Coro Universitario de la Sede de Occidente, Galería Amón, 250 m. north of kiosk at Parque Morazán. Info: 223-9725.

Benefit Christmas Dinner to Beat Alzheimer's
To help victims of Alzheimer's and other illnesses, Dec. 14, 8 p.m., Club Unión, downtown San José, in front of the Post Office. Info: 892-9097 o al email jcanas@dtcomunicacion.com

“The Nutcracker”
Performed by the Costa Rican Youth Ballet and Cuban dancers Rómel Frómeta, Elier Bourzac and Ernesto Fariñas, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 16, 11 a.m., 5 p.m., National Theater.

Festival of Lights
Featuring floats, bands, lights, the “Festival de Luz,” 6 p.m., leaving from the National Gymnasium, along Paseo Colón and Ave. 2, finishing at Calle 11.

Production of the Play Las Aventuras de Camila, la Ardilla
Dec.15-16, 1:15 p.m., La Uruca, Parque de Diversiones, Pueblo Antigüo, in front of the church.

A Christmas Gathering
Including Santa Claus, Caroling, Candlelight Service, Dec. 16, 4:30 p.m., Tamarindo Heights, Garden Plaza Commercial Center.

Middle Eastern Dance Performance
“Danza al son de Rumi,” i n honor of Sufi poet Rumi, includes belly dance, hip hop, ballet, flamenco, Gypsy Dances, and more, Dec. 16, 4 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum. Info: 296-2022.

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

Legislators passed the second of 11 bills required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) this week.

Under the bill, companies that engage in corruption will be shut down for up to five years with their operating licenses suspended. People convicted of bribing public officials, as well as officials who accept bribes, will go to jail for two to eight years. The bill also protects the privacy of people who expose corruption.

The bill was approved unanimously Wednesday in one of the assembly's three 19-member committees that have the power to pass laws. Legislators from the anti-CAFTA Citizen Action Party (PAC), voted for the bill, which will become law once President Oscar Arias signs it.

Last month, legislators passed the first CAFTA bill, which will regulate the relationship between foreign firms and their representatives in the United States. The remaining nine CAFTA bills, now under discussion by the assembly, are more controversial. They would open state monopolies on telecommunications and insurance and strengthen intellectual property rights.

If legislators do not pass all the CAFTA bills before Feb. 29, 2008, Costa Rica must ask for an extension from the treaty's other signers.

By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net

Slightly scratchy, but mostly sensual, the voice of Spanish pop singer-guitarist-songwriter Alejandro Sanz has been known to woo crowds on this side of the Atlantic, too. Sanz plans to do it again in Costa Rica on Feb. 12, likely at the Ricardo Saprissa stadium in Tibás, a suburb north of San José, local media reported.

It's the same venue Madrid's heartthrob greeted screaming Ticas last time in the stop-off on his 2004 “No es lo mismo” (It's Not the Same) Tour.

This time Sanz rides in on “El tren de los momentos” (roughly “Train of Time”), the widely acclaimed album released November 2006 featuring stars Juanes, Shakira and Calle 13.

Sanz' Costa Rica visit could come fresh after winning the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album, to be announced Feb. 10.

His “Tren” is also scheduled to make a stop Feb. 14 in Caracas, Venezuela, though it remains to be seen if President Hugo Chávez will allow that. In October, Sanz inadvertently became a voice for the opposition when Chávez banned the Spanish pop singer from performing in a state-owned arena in Caracas for having criticizing the government.

Sanz' opinion of the Venezuelan president since seems to have worsened. During a recent concert in Miami, Fla., he reportedly brandished a t-shirt with the words “Chávez sucks” printed on it.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has sent a letter showing full support to the French government in its attempt to negotiate the release of the 16 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, since February 2002, said a statement from Costa Rica's Casa Presidencial.

French Prime Minister Fraçois Fillon this week met with Latin American leaders, and topping his agenda were negotiations to see hostages including French national Ingrid Betancourt, also a former Colombian Senator, freed.

Arias' letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy encouraged France's efforts, stressing the need for peace in Colombia.

“War is the worst form of oppression. (…) The Colombian people, brothers and nearly neighbors of Costa Rica, have for years demanded to be free from violent killing, kidnapping, attacks and threats,” said the letter addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“I am president of a country without a military, where all conflict is resolved through dialogue and democratic institutions, not weapons. I will never admonish dialogue with FARC, for dialogue with an adversary – or an enemy even — is the only way to achieve progress toward peace,” it said.

“It is always time for peace; I hope the time has come for Colombia.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had played an active role in mediating a swap of captives between FARC and the Colombian government for three months until diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia collapsed.

Alvaro Uribe, president of Colombia, turned down FARC's demand to demilitarize two towns in southwest Colombia, and has insisted that the insurgents release all hostages “unconditionally and unilaterally,” newswire EFE reported yesterday.

French daily Le Figaro quoted Uribe saying, “If the FARC wants to deliver the hostages to French President Sarkozy or the Venezuelan authorities, our government would welcome those unilateral and unconditional releases.”