Manuel Ortuño art exhibit
“Caminos imaginarios” (Imaginary Paths), Galería Amón, Barrio Amón, San José, info: 2223-9725.

Film presentation: ‘Meso-American Social Movements II'
7 p.m., at National University (UNA), Heredia.

María Clara Cullell International Piano Contest
Forty-six young pianists from all over Latin America, today through Saturday, UCR School of Music, Room 107, San Pedro; awards ceremony and gala concert, Saturday, 7 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum, (See www.ticotimes.net/culture.htm).

Parque en el Espacio in concert
Rock, part of the Mundoloco concert series, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

A high court gave China a green light Friday to construct a new national stadium in La Sabana Park on San José's western edge.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) rejected arguments by former Culture Minister Guido Sáenz that the stadium would cause insufferable traffic jams and turn the park into a noisy, dirty and crime-ridden place.

The $73 million stadium, capacity 35,000 people, is a gift from the Chinese government, meant to be a symbol of friendship between the two nations, who established diplomatic relations in June 2007. 

“It's marvelous,” President Oscar Arias said in a statement. “We can finally construct the stadium that all Costa Ricans, and especially our youth, deserve.”

The Sala IV stopped work on the stadium Oct. 6 while judges evaluated Sáenz's claims. The final ruling took just 11 days, far shorter than the average deliberation period of two months. 

A Chinese company is expected to begin construction on the stadium in November or December and finish by May 2010, when Arias' term ends. 

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) late last week rescinded two articles of Costa Rica's Law to Penalize Violence Against Women, ruling them unconstitutional, citing vagueness in the wording of both.

More than 100 men were released from prison late Thursday following the court's decision.

The much-contested articles 22 and 25 address criminalization of “maltreatment” and “emotional violence.”

Article 22 punishes perpetrators of physical violence against a woman by anyone “with whom she maintains a marital relationship, whether a declared union or not,” a crime punishable by six to 24 months in prison.

Article 25 criminalizes “anyone who repeatedly, publicly or privately, insults, devalues, ridicules, shames or terrorizes a woman with whom she maintains a marital relationship, whether a declared union or not,” and is also punishable by six to 24 months.

The law has been criticized for punishing male abusers differently from female ones, and conversely for protecting female victims differently than male ones.

The case was filed by public defender Marco Feoli Villalobos.

Just over 70 percent of men imprisoned under the law since it was passed in May 2007 have been convicted for crimes specified in those two articles, according to the National Institute for Women ( INAMU).

After eight years in the legislative process, the law passed, with 45 of the assembly's 46 members voting in favor. Several male lawmakers, however, stated after the vote that, despite perceived problems of unconstitutionality, they were afraid to vote against the bill for fear of being labeled machista, or male chauvinist.

INAMU called the court's ruling a “serious step backward,” and its president, Jeanette Carrillo, called on various government agencies “to fulfill their promise to safeguard the physical integrity of women in situations where there is a threat of violence from their partners.”

Many lawmakers, including former Vice President Laura Chinchilla, who lobbied for the law while a legislator, were mum on the court's ruling.

In 2004, a series of events highlighted the lack of adequate domestic violence prosecution laws, including one case in which a Costa Rican woman was granted asylum in the United States after demonstrating that she was unable to be sufficiently protected here against her partner, who allegedly violated a restraining order on him over a dozen times.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The mayor of the northwestern Nicaraguan city of Posoltega has died in a traffic accident, the National Police and emergency officials said yesterday.

Carlos Alonso Tercero died Saturday night when the vehicle he was driving went off the road and into a ravine more than 15 meters deep, police in the town of Telica said.

Telica police investigator Marcos García told reporters that the mayor was driving west and, after crossing a bridge, he lost control of his vehicle.

The 54-year-old mayor was taken to León's Oscar Danilo Rosales Training Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, García said.

Tercero, of the ruling National Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN) party, became Posoltega's mayor in January 2005.

He was driving from Telica to León, 90 kilometers northwest of Managua.

According to a fire department report on the crash, the mayor suffered severe head injuries.