'12 Angry Men'
By the Little Theatre Group, in English, through June 1, Fri.-Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sun. 2:30 p.m., Laurence Olivier Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 28, next to Sala Garbo, tickets at 8355-1623, www.littletheatregroup.org.

Spanish film: 'Hable Con Ella'
Pedro Almodóvar's “Talk to Her” at 6 p.m., Centro Cultural Paraiseño, Paraíso, Cartago.

French film: 'On connaît la chanson'
Alain Resnais' “Same Old Song,” 6 p.m. at Alliance Française, Barrio Amón.

Youth rights convention
Official act, 10 a.m., Melico Salazar Theater; rock concerts at 4 p.m., National Gym, north-east Sabana Park.

Expo-Cocina 2008
Food tasting, kitchen tools, furniture, and more, Friday through Sunday, Convention Center, Hotel Ramada Plaza Herradura, Ciudad Cariari, Heredia, www.cocinaysabores.com.

Marian Baker remembrance ceremony
3:15 p.m., Marian Baker School Library, San Ramón de Tres Ríos.

7th International Poetry Festival
International Poetry Festival: 7 a.m. readings by Eliseo Valverde Monge, Ronald Bonilla, Miguel Barnet and more at Hospital México in La Uruca; 7 p.m. readings by Julieta Dobles Mauricio Molina and more at Instituto México in Los Yoses, San Pedro.

Dance show
By Danza Danz Studio, 7 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum.

Camerata Octato de Maderas in concert
5 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum.

Amar El Arab in concert
Middle-Eastern music, belly-dancing, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro. http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Blues Devils in concert
10 p.m. Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Origami workshop
May 24 and 31, 9 a.m.-noon, CCCN.

7th International Poetry Festival
Through Monday, workshop at Laguna Lodge Hotel, Tortuguero; May 26, 10 a.m., Music Conservatorio, Guápiles; Poetry reading, May 26, 7 a.m., Mexico Hospital.

Play: 'Caminito del Mar'
Sundays through June 15, 2 p.m., Teatro Variedades, 2225-7280, 8335-8703.

Historias de Papel
Play for kids, Sundays, 10 a.m., Spanish Cultural Center.

Book exchange
10 a.m.-3 p.m., Teatro 1887, CENAC.

Costa Rica's government yesterday declared a national emergency to assist ranchers in the country's Northern Zone who have lost at least 257 cattle in the course of a months-old dry spell.

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias and Agriculture Minister Javier Flores signed a decree that frees up $300,000 and opens the door for more than $1 million more in the coming days.

The cattle deaths have been spread across 54 ranches in the canton of Los Chiles, which borders Nicaragua in north-central Costa Rica.

Officials in the region are looking into further options in case light rains this week do not continue. By press time it was unclear exactly how the emergency funds would be spent, but a brief statement from President Oscar Arias' office said the $1 million could go toward “the recovery, reconstruction and repositioning of the agricultural areas and damaged public services.”

Eliud Herrera, the regional director of the Production Ministry's National Animal Health Department (SENASA), told The Tico Times earlier in the week that officials are looking into supplying local farmers with alternate feed for their cattle to make up for the decimated pastures, and digging new wells to find water.

“We are looking for the central government's help to get the resources to the farmers to buy their feed,” Herrera said.

EFE reported that 74 percent of Los Chiles' bean fields have been affected by the drought, and losses have soared to more than $2 million. And according to Javier Avila, the Production Ministry's Northern Zone regional director, some 8,000 hectares (about 19,800 acres) of citrus crops and 2,000 hectares of sugarcane planted in the region are already feeling the drought.

Costa Rican exports hit $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2008, marking a 10.5 percent increase over the same period last year.

The boost was in large part due to a 400 percent growth in sales of medical implants, which totaled $80 million, according to the Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX).

Costa Rica is now considered the second largest provider of such devices to the United States, behind Ireland.

Total exports to the United States, however, dropped slightly, less than 1 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2007.

“It's apparent that the economic slowdown in the U.S. and the delay in Costa Rica's implementation of CAFTA (the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States) continue to affect our exports to that market,” said COMEX Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz.

Exports to the European Union, meanwhile, grew 19.4 percent.

Besides medical products, other sectors that saw export growth were seafood, 11 percent; agriculture, 11 percent; food, 7.7 percent; and manufacturing, 10.6 percent.

Today Costa Rica will celebrate an international convention that establishes young peoples' rights to education, decent work, health, and information.

The treaty entered into effect March 1 for Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Spain and the Dominican Republic. Uruguay has since signed on.

Eugenio Ravinet, general secretary for the Ibo-American Youth Organization, will celebrate at 10 a.m. with Vice President Laura Chinchilla at the Melico Salazar Theater in downtown San José.

Government ministers, United Nations officials and young people from across Latin America are also invited.

At 4 p.m., popular Costa Rican music groups will put on a concert at the National Gymnasium in San José.