Jazz concert
By Cartago's Jazz Band, 7 p.m., Fine Arts Theater, Fine Arts School, UCR.

Talking water
Water resource conference, led by Guillermo Arce, deputy manager of AyA, Carlos Quesada, ex-vicerector of research at UCR, Freddy Pacheco, professor at Nacional University, Alonso Ramírez, Institute of Social Research and Monserrat Sagot, moderator, 7 p.m., Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas, Ca. 21, Av. 2/6. Info: 2207-5486.

Art show: 'Alquimia'
Tico artist Cali Rivera showcases at Galería Kandinsky, Centro Comercial Calle Real, San Pedro.

Costa Rica came back Saturday from two down to tie 2-2 against Grenada in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup.

Armando Alonso scored three minutes before halftime and Víctor Nuñez marked another goal in the 75th minute after the Caribbean hosts had been reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Ricky Charles after the break, Reuters reported.

It was a rocky first leg of a CONCACAF second preliminary for the Ticos, who have reached three of the last five World Cups.

The daily Al Día called the end result “a draw that left the taste of defeat.”

Costa Rican press is increasingly calling for a change in management as head coach Hernán Medford continues at the helm during the team's historic no-winning streak. “ Medford is on thin ice,” said the daily La Nación, which yesterday ran a large front-page photo of the coach throwing his hands up in disappointment.

The teams are set for a rematch Saturday, this time on Tico turf at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in the northern San José district of Tibás.

Lawmaker Andrea Morales has left the Citizen Action Party (PAC), calling her colleagues intolerant, inflexible and dogmatic.

Party members pressured Morales to leave because she refused to filibuster bills required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

“It's clear that I'm not welcome in this party,” Morales said at a press conference Friday announcing her decision. “You can't breathe in this party…There is no space to disagree.”

While Morales opposes CAFTA, she said the party must respect the majority of voters who approved the pact in an October referendum. Morales, president of the assembly's Legal Affairs Committee, recently convened extra sessions to discuss an intellectual property bill intended to put Costa Rica in compliance with CAFTA.

Other party members have criticized her harshly in the press and in private, said Morales, who will remain in the assembly as an independent lawmaker. 

“Andrea was straying from our political line,” said Citizen Action faction head Francisco Molina. “All parties ask their lawmakers to follow a certain course. That's normal in politics.”

Morales, along with the 16 other Citizen Action lawmakers, signed a pledge in 2006 to leave the Legislative Assembly if she left her party. Molina insisted that she make good on this promise.

But Morales refuses to leave. She said she has adhered closely to the party's ethical code and its campaign promises, including a pledge not to obstruct majority will.

U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) announced it is constructing a health clinic in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica, near the Panama border.

A 345-square-meter clinic in Limón province will be built in the community of El Bambú, according to a U.S. Embassy press release. Construction is scheduled to start this month.

In recent months, Southcom has become increasingly active in Costa Rica. In February, the agency announced plans to double counter-narcotics funding to Costa Rica to $2 million.

In April, they announced a $250,000 contribution to the construction a new Coast Guard base in Puntarenas. Also that month, the U.S. Navy reactivated its Fourth Fleet, dormant since the 1950s, and placed it under Southcom's command to patrol waters off of Central and South America.

Southcom is a military office that coordinates the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard under the leadership of a four-star general. It is responsible for “contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for Central and South America, the Caribbean, Cuba, the Bahamas and their territorial waters,” according to its Web site.