Concert by Malpaís
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café San Pedro.

“La Rosa de Dos Aromas”
Drama, Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m., Teatro Vargas Calvo, behind National Theater. Info: 2257-1612.

For the next few months, add an extra hour to any travel plans that include Puerto Jiménez and Nosara in the Southern Zone.

Airports at both locations closed this week to begin remodeling and widening the landing strips. Travelers headed to that vicinity are being redirected to Golfito and Carrillo airports in the interim.

Nature Air and Sansa Regional Airlines are the sole carriers that serve those locations.

The Puerto Jiménez airport closed on Monday and will reopen on Nov. 21, according to Gabriella Mejilla, director of Nature Air at the Osa Peninsula location.

Nature Air's three daily flights to Puerto Jiménez now arrive in Golfito, Mejilla said. Passengers are then taken to a nearby dock where they catch a boat to Puerto Jiménez for ¢2,500 ($4.63) a piece.

The trip takes about 40 minutes all told, Mejilla estimated.

Passengers on Sansa's four daily flights follow a similar routine, according to Zulena Cortés, a Sansa airlines assistant general manager.

Cortés estimated the entire trip takes just under an hour.

The airport's remodeling is digging into Sansa's pockets, as the company pays $8 for each trip the boat makes from Golfito to Puerto Jiménez.

Meanwhile, the Nosara airport closed on Tuesday and will reopen at the end of October, according to Sansa representatives. Both airlines are rerouting passengers through the Carrillo airport.

Sansa Airlines schedules three to four daily flights to Nosara, while Nature Air lands at the Nicoya Peninsula location one to two times daily.

Traveling from Nosara to Carrillo takes about an hour and a half by land, Mejilla estimated.

Nicaragua's top electoral observation group fears it won't receive credential from the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) to observe upcoming municipal elections.

Ethics and Transparency's President Alta Hooker has now sent two letters to the CSE requesting that the council accredit the organization, without a response.

Hooker fears the CSE will retaliate against Ethics and Transparency for speaking out against the CSE's recent decision to disqualify minority parties from the November municipal elections.

The organization's executive director, Roberto Courtney, denied allegations that Ethics and Transparency recently participated in protests against the CSE's decision.

“We've been clear that neutrality and independence are our biggest advantages,” Courtney said.

He said accreditation allows the organization to observe the calculation of votes, though he said observers can still participate in the elections as observers on the streets. He said if the government denies the organization accreditation, it will only cause a backlash and give the losers ammunition to challenge the validity of the elections.

“It's possible that the losers say the CSE has no credibility,” Courtney said.

Courtney also spoke out against a spat of violence between Sandinistas and liberals that occurred earlier this week in Managua during the voter registration process.

“We're demanding that the elections happen in peace,” Courtney said.

The Supreme Electoral Council's press office did respond to requests for comment by press time yesterday.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva yesterday signed 10 cooperation agreements between both countries including one on bio-fuels, according to a statement by Casa Presidencial.

Arias met with Lula for fifty minutes at the presidential palace in the capital city of Brasilia. Arias described the meeting as “friendly” and personally invited Lula to visit Costa Rica.

“We coincide on several fronts,” Arias said. “We are united, above all, by being Latinos. We are united by our vocation for happiness and fun, for soccer and dance, for music and song. We are united by the Latin American challenge, the challenge to achieve greater development for our inhabitants, a worthier life under the sun.”

The biofuels initiative calls and increase in the amount of land used to grow cassava and genip ( mamón ), both of which are considered good for bio-fuels. Said agreement will be implemented by the Brazilian Agricultural Production Enterprise (EMPRAPA) and Costa Rica's National Agricultural Innovation and Technology Transfer Institute (INTA). Brazilian officials will provide their Costa Rican counterparts with technical assistance on how to plant the crops and transform them into fuels.

The presidents discussed the possibility of fostering closer trade ties between the Central American Economic Integration System (SICA) countries, of which Costa Rica is one, and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), of which Brazil is a member.

The two presidents agreed to hold a technical meeting on how to promote bilateral trade between Costa Rica and Brazil in September.

Costa Rica imports substantially more from Brazil than it exports there. Last year, it imported $419.5 million in goods from Brazil and exported just $24.7 million.

Both presidents expressed their disappointment at the collapse of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations earlier in the week. “It is said that developed countries did not assume the commitment to open their markets in agriculture,” Arias said.

Arias's visit to Brazil continues today in Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial and industrial center. There he will meet with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1994-1998) and with the Brazilian Industrial Confederation.