Art depicting the Dead Sea
The Embassy of Israel and the University of Costa Rica invite you to an exhibition showcasing 22 pieces of art depicting the Dead Sea , 4 p.m., UCR Fine Arts Building Gallery, 2221-6444, ext.512. 

Face-Painting course for parents and teachers
6 p.m., Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center, sign up at 8305-6074, 2207-7519.

“The Secret of The Jaguar-King's Stone Spheres Of Costa Rica”
Speaker's forum led by Lawrence Poole, 7 p.m., Big Mike's Place, Escazú. Info: 2289-6333, 8821-4708.

Stop, take a deep breath, and pump. Drivers awoke this morning to see the price of fuel increase across the board nationwide, with diesel leapfrogging regular for the first time.

Diesel will increase by ¢88 ($0.17) a liter, moving from ¢622 ($1.19) to ¢710 ($1.36) at the pump. Super and regular gas will increase by ¢60 ($0.12) a liter, from ¢656 ($1.26) to ¢716 ($1.37) and from ¢644 ($1.24) to ¢704 ($1.35).

The National Refinery (RECOPE) requested the increase, the seventh recorded this year, due to the rising price of petroleum and decreasing value of the colón.

In recent days, the price of a barrel of oil has been flirting with $150, closing yesterday at just over $145.

Prices at the pump could increase yet again, should the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) approve another hike requested by RECOPE last Friday.

Super would then increase to ¢731 ($1.40), diesel to ¢726 ($1.39) and regular to ¢721 ($1.38).

Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Legislative Assembly are debating a bill introduced by President Oscar Arias' administration that would transfer the diesel tax to regular and super gasoline.

Legislators rejected the initiative last week, saying they supported deferring the diesel tax, but disagreed with transferring higher prices to gasoline consumers.

Instead, lawmakers proposed raising the departure tax at Juan Santamaría International Airport by $5 or increasing the sales tax on alcohol and cigarettes as alternatives to increasing the price of regular and super gas.

Fernando Herrero, ARESEP's general regulator, said the authority was obliged by current standards to approve the most recent increase in the price of diesel.

However, “as soon as the Legislative Assembly approves the diesel subsidy and the Treasury Ministry sends the money to RECOPE, a process to reduce the price (of diesel) will begin,” Herrero said in a press release in early July.

During the first six months of the year, 1.03 million foreign tourists visited Costa Rica, an increase of 12.5 percent (89,178 tourists) over the same period last year, according to estimates by the National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR).

In addition, 86 percent of tourism operators said the first half of 2008 was as good or as better for them than the same period in 2007.

Estimates on the number of visits to the country were generated using arrival data from the country's two main international airports, Juan Santamaría west of San José and Daniel Oduber, in Liberia, the northwestern capital of Guanacaste province. Juan Santamaría reported an increase in traffic of 13.1 percent to 673,701 passengers. Traffic to Daniel Oduber grew by slightly less, 9.7 percent to 129,623 passengers. An estimate of arrivals through cruise ships was then added to this number.

“The estimates and projections reveal very positive data for Costa Rican tourism, despite difficult economic conditions abroad and at home,” explained Gonzálo Vargas, president of CANATUR. “We can assert based on the first semester that Costa Rica continues to be regarded by foreigners as an ideal place where to enjoy their vacations.”

CANATUR also conducted a survey of 50 of its members located throughout the country. Of these, 46 percent described the first semester of this year as very similar to the same period last year. Some 40 percent of those surveyed said the first six months of this year represented an improvement over the same period last year. The remaining 14 percent considered the first half of this year to be worse than the same period last year.

Costa Rica is edging ever closer to becoming the 18th member of Petrocaribe, a Venezuela-led initiative that provides Latin American and Caribbean countries with favorable financing on oil imports, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The high-level Costa Rican government delegation that visited Venezuela this weekend to take part in the fifth Petrocaribe meeting concluded that “conditions are favorable” for Costa Rica to join the group.

Petrocaribe as launched in 2005 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the presidents of several Caribbean island states.

Despite recent animosity between the current Costa Rican administration and the regime of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, record-high oil prices have prompted the Costa Rican government to explore the possibility of joining Petrocaribe to benefit from the short- and long-term financing and deferred payment options the initiative offers.

Petrocaribe allows its members to pay 60 percent the price of the oil they buy from Venezuela within 90 days of the purchase and the remainder within 25 years at an interest rate of 1 percent a year if the barrel of oil is priced at above $100 a barrel.

The delegation was headed by Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles, Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno and José León Desanti, executive president of the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (RECOPE).
 
“We felt a very positive, very receptive climate,” Stagno said yesterday morning from the Venezuelan Caribbean city of Maracaibo. “During the ministers' meeting Costa Rica was issues an open invitation to join as a full member.”
 
Ministers Dobles and Stagno met with Petrocaribe officials as well as with representatives of the state-owned Venezuelan oil company PDVSA, a major suppler to RECOPE.