CENAC Summer Festival
Trova concert by Esteban Monge, 7 p.m., at the National Culture Center (CENAC).

“Rigoletto”
Opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by international musicians and Costa Rican choir and orchestra, Friday, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, tickets at theater box office, www.mundoticket.com, 207-2025.

Mozart's Requiem
Performed by Danza Universitaria, National Symphony Orchestra and UCR Choir, 8 p.m., National Theater.

CENAC Summer Festival
Hip Hop, 4 p.m.; Concert by Turbios Strepitossa; Dance show 6 p.m.; Concert Lunatica, 8 p.m., National Culture Center.  

First Latin American Pilates Convention
March 1-2, Hotel Ramada Herradura, Ciudad Cariari, Heredia, info@pilatesfitnesstudio.com. Info: 201-9038, 201-9018.

Mercedes Sosa in Concert
Palacio de Deportes, Trova, March 1, 8 p.m., tickets at Bansbach stores, Servimás outlets, Häagen-Dazs stores, 207-2025, www.mundoticket.com.

Bonanza 2008
Spanish horse exhibit, including paella marathon, climbing wall, zipline, March 1-2, Club Hípico La Caraña, Santa Ana. Info: 291-6810, asocpre@ice.co.cr.

I Rembrant Festival
Including entrance to see his engravings, tulips and cheese sales, engraving workshop and a concert, March 2, 11 a.m., Costa Rican Gold Museum (also known as Museos del Banco Central), underneath Plaza de la Cultura. Free entrance.

CENAC Summer Festival
Cimarrona, 11 a.m.; Play for Children by Paraguas Rojo, noon; Story Telling Show, 1 p.m.; Mural, 3 p.m.; Play Insoportable Gravedad, 4 p.m., CENAC.

Trova Concert
By María Pretiz, 8:30 p.m., Cuartel de la Boca del Monte, Barrio La California. Info: 221-0327.

11th Zaguate Festival
Organized by the National Association for the Protection of Animals (ANPA), with dog contests, selection of “king and queen mutt of the year,” food, music, children's games, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Plaza de Deportes de José María Zeledón, Curridabat, 200 m east, 100 m north of La Princesa Marina restaurant, 233-0779, info@anpacostarica.org.

While outside observers continue to speculate about Cuba's lilting revolution, inside there's at least one voice that still recalls the days of “Che.” Not just Fidel Castro or his brother Raúl, the newly anointed leader of the island nation, but a folk singer, Silvio Rodríguez.

Rodríguez, forerunner among Latin America's nueva trova troubadours, will bring the song revolution back to Nicaragua on Sunday, at Pharaoh's Casino, in a concert that could be one of his last.

Rodríguez announced the end to his more than 40 years of live gigs is near, preferring to dedicate his time to composing, “which is what I like most,” newswire EFE quoted him saying at a press conference in Guatemala.

Two decades have passed since his last Nicaraguan jam – in the days of President Daniel Ortega's first run at ruling the country with a Sandinista program. By then the contagious romantic rebel songs of nueva trova had already swept Latin America several times over since their inception in the 1960s, taking cues from North American folk icons Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Later, Baez would reciprocate, famously rendering Carlos Puebla's ode to a revolutionary, “Hasta Siempre Comandante Che Guevara,” a Marxist hymn that is also a proud part of Rodríguez's repertoire.

Another song Rodríguez became famous for, “Ojalá ” (“I Wish”), also became an anthem for the genre and is heard to this day in smoky music clubs throughout the Spanish-speaking world. “Ojalá they'd wipe you out suddenly, not to see you any more, not to see you ever again” – harsh words sung tenderly by the Cuban troubadour, along with sweet, measured guitar picking. Fans will tell you he sings those lyrics in defiance of Cuba's enemies such as the United States.

During the Guatemala leg of his tour, Rodríguez said he couldn't bow out from performing without a proper farewell to his fans in Central America. “I didn't want my foray on the stage, which has carried me along for 40 years, without visiting those countries that for me are a cultural, historical and fraternal reference point,” EFE quoted him saying.

Accompanying Rodríguez will be fellow Cuban trovador Vicente Feliú, according to the daily El Nuevo Diario.

Colombia's FARC saga continued this week – but now the rebel force might be taking aim at the Panamanian government.

Front 57 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which operates in the frontier province of Choco, gave the Panamanian government until March 1 to release six rebel fighters arrested by the local police last weekend. However, Panama's justice minister questioned the authenticity of the communiqué that bears the FARC's letterhead and the signature of Comandante Bercerro.

The letter, distributed Wednesday to Panamanian media, threatens the government “to release the kidnapped comrades in perfect health.”

The message continues, “If this is not done, we have instructions to take the necessary hostages, (including) members of the National Police, local officials or politicians to force an exchange.” It noted that the FARC chief is authorized to use force if necessary.

Justice Minister Daniel Delgado yesterday said the alleged communiqué “is of doubtful origin,” adding that his office is investigating the matter.

The supposed FARC statement came just as rebels in southern Colombia were freeing four lawmakers abducted more than six years ago, according to the Bogota office of the Red Cross.

Bárbara Hintermann, Gloria Polanco de Lozada, Orlando Beltrán, Luis Eladio and Jorge Eduardo Gechem were turned over to Venezuelan Interior Minister Ramón Rodríguez, Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba and Red Cross personnel.

-EFE

Cell phone users, do not be alarmed to find that you cannot be reached in the wee hours of Saturday night – the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) will be running tests on its lines.

From Saturday midnight to 6 a.m. Sunday, ICE will be testing out its new eight-digit phone number system, according to the daily La Nación. During that time landlines cannot be used to call mobile phones, and vice versa.

Between cell phones, however, callers will be able to reach each other dialing 8 before the phone number.

The 911 emergency number will still be reachable without interruption.

The telephone company is scheduled to add an extra number – 8 to mobiles and 2 to landlines – starting March 20, La Nación quoted ICE's Manuel Córdoba saying at a press conference yesterday.

-Tico Times