EasyStreet Music Fiesta
Music, art, kid's activities, to benefit Conservation International Caribbean Biodiversity Initiative, through Sunday, Puerto Viejo, Limón.

Expo Manuel Antonio
Tourism trade fair, through Sunday, Hotel Villas Lirio, Manuel Antonio, info: 2777-0000, www.expomanuelantonio.travel.

Pejibaye fair
Tico bullfights, concerts, contests, cattle and horse shows, through Oct. 31, Tucurrique, Cartago, info: 2535-0094.

Argentine film: ‘La suerte está echada'
Part of the Latin American Film Festival, 4 and 6 p.m., Variedades, Calle 5, between Avenida Central and 1, info: 2222-6108.

‘Golden Toad' show
Dance, puppet and black box show by Grupo EX-áNIMA, promoting protection of tropical forests, Friday and Saturday, 6:30 p.m., CENAC amphitheater, info: 8815-0140.

Reggae and Latin fusion concert
7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Plaza del Farolito, Barrio Escalante, info: 2257-2919.

Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy, Adrián Goizueta in concert
Trova, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, info: 8346-7881.

Bernardo Quesada in concert
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Las Tortugas in concert
Classic rock, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Democrats Abroad of Costa Rica pre-election meeting
9:30 a.m.-noon, Aurola Holiday Inn, 3rd floor, reserve at 2215-4254, cr.democratsabroad@yahoo.com.

Expo Verde
Eco-fair, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Manuel Antonio, in the parking lot outside Instituto COSI, info: 2297-3013.

ADIICA International Food Festival
Cuisine from 34 countries of Americas, international bazaar, soccer, car show, raffle, prizes including plane tickets, to raise funs for indigenous and low-income communities, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., IICA Coronado, next to Clínica del Seguro Social, Coronado, info: 8825-5516.

Calypso workshop
10 a.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Plaza del Farolito, Barrio Escalante, info: 2257-2919.

Bolivian film: ‘Cocalero'
Part of the Latin American Film Festival, 4 and 6 p.m., Variedades, Calle 5, between avenidas Central and 1, info: 2222-6108.

Tango night
8 p.m., Aya Sofya restaurant, Barrio Escalante, reserve at 2224-5050.

Harmony Roads in concert
Folk, blues, country, rock, 8:30 p.m., Bello Horizonte Country Club, Escazú, info: 2228-0924.

Cardamomo in concert
Middle Eastern music, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Robert Aguilar and The Neotics in concert
Neo soul, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Coffee Fair 2008
Barista presentations, children's activities, concerts, Plaza Occidente, San Ramón Alajuela; Nov. 2, La Aduana, San José, both 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mexican film: ‘Propiedad ajena'
Part of the Latin American Film Festival, 4 and 6 p.m., Variedades, Calle 5, between avenidas Central and 1, info: 2222-6108.

Rosario Flores and Antonio Carmona in concert
Spanish rock, pop, 8 p.m., National Theater, San José, info: 2221-9417.

Allan Guzman in concert
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Private sector employees in Costa Rica could see their wages rise 7 percent next year after the National Salary Council approved its biannual adjustment this week.

The council – made up of the country's principal business association, labor leaders and government, with three representatives from each – passed the increase in a 6-3 vote, with labor opposing.

Union leaders last week proposed a 9.08 percent increase, and added on other adjustments that amounted to a 12-to-16 percent total raise, depending on the worker's sector and skill level.

On Monday, the Union of Private Sector Chambers and Associations, which represents 42 private business chambers, made a bid for a 6 percent hike.

The Labor Ministry on Wednesday proposed 7 percent and, during negotiations that followed, drummed up support from the business camp but failed to convince the unions, according to ministry spokesman Geovanny Díaz.

The lowest wages in the private and public sectors are adjusted separately every six months, to keep pace with the rise in cost of living.

Inflation has surged 15.77 percent during the past 12 months, the highest year-over-year increase since 1998, according to the National Statistics and Census Institute.

Negotiations involving public sector salaries are expected in the coming weeks.

Jazz giants Wayne Shorter and Chucho Valdés are some of the hot tickets in the Panama Jazz Festival 2009, set for Jan. 12-17.

Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez, the festival's organizer, said he expects as many as 16,000 fans to attend, according to news agency EFE.

U.S. musician Shorter blew saxophone with such jazz greats as Art Blakey and Miles Davis, and later developed fusion with Weather Report.

Shorter is “a musical genius” and “out of this world,” said Pérez, a member of the Wayne Shorter Quartet.

The pianist Valdés, son of exiled Cuban piano star Bebo Valdés, has made a name for himself as a fast-fingered Afro-Cuban jazzman. Father and son have recently been known to perform, grand-to-grand, in powerful 10-finger duets.

“Be proud of this event,” Pérez said, according to EFE. “This time you have Shorter and Valdés. Don't ask me for more. Don't ask for God because I can't bring him.”

Jazz fans can check out the Web site, www.panamajazzfestival.com, for more information.

Newswire EFE contributed to this report.

The European Union this week joined a growing international outcry against the Nicaraguan government's targeting of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

“The European Union expresses its concern for the harassment being subjected to NGOs, and, through them, certain people from civil society,” the 27 nations-strong bloc said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Nicaragua's government took several other blows this week, with statements by the U.S. State Department and the NGOs Carter Center, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, criticizing different aspects they perceive as President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on the voice of opposition in his country.

The United States has begun to “question the credibility of municipal elections planned for Nov. 9 as an expression of the will of Nicaraguan people,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement.

Read The Nica Times print or pdf edition for more on the conditions of non-governmental organizations in Nicaragua, and an opinion piece by Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, whose brother, journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, appears to be right in the government's sights.