Videoteca del Sur Film Festival
“Buena Jugada ” (Dominican Republic), “Los Angeles Negros” (Chile), 7 p.m., Sala Calle 15, Avenida 2, opposite Plaza de la Democracia.

Luis Nubiola in concert
Jazz saxophone, 9 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú. Info: 2228-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Flamenco show
Venezuelan dancer Daniela Tugues, David Solano, percussion, Alejandro Díaz and Felipe Carvajal, guitar, and the group Alma Gitana, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Hailing a red taxi Wednesday morning in San José could be trickier than normal.

The Costa Rican capital's taxistas have planned a strike starting 6 a.m. to steer the government into taking a tougher stance against individuals and companies setting up their car service without a flota roja (red fleet) permit.

Taxi driver Sergio Castillo told The Tico Times he might participate, “at least for a while,” he said. “It's so (the government) gets rid of unauthorized taxis… they're not real taxis,” he said.

The government Tuesday called a meeting with representatives from the sector and transport authorities at 11 a.m. Wednesday to resolve the problem, and in the hopes of curbing the strike.

“The Executive Branch has made a respectful but ardent call to members of these sectors (of transport) to participate in dialogue so that the announced mobilization called for tomorrow (Wednesday) doesn't affect the thousands of citizens who, day to day, need to commute to their place of work, education or other destination,” the government said in a statement.

The government forced Ennio Rodríguez to step down Thursday from his post as director of the state National Housing Mortgage Bank (BANHVI) after learning Rodríguez used bank funds to pay for a ¢660,000 ($1,140) lunch.

The whopping bill was paid Nov. 11 at an exclusive western San José restaurant during a “work meeting” of 12 people, Rodríguez told reporters.

However, Rodríguez had told the bank the meeting consisted of only six people.

Housing Minister Clara Zomer confirmed her attendance, adding before the Legislative Assembly that none of the invitees took part in “the decision to choose the place in which the meeting would be carried out and, much less, how (the food) would be paid for.”

Rodríguez, in his defense, told local radio station Monumental it wasn't merely one lunch, but a “work session; a whole afternoon” that required “several meals.”

Rodríguez said he decided to cover the expense personally, “that way it won't cost the institution one cinco (a five colones coin).”

Opposition lawmaker Carlos Gutiérrez, of the Libertarian Movement, took the opportunity to take a jab. “It's worse when you think of the families that are hungry and in need of a decent roof,” Gutiérrez said, alluding to BANHVI's task of helping finance housing for the country's poorest people.

In a separate interview on Monumental, Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias said “it seems bad to me,” adding that the government has tried to rein in such expenses.

“If there's a way for the government to reduce its expenditures, we'll do it,” Arias said.

Nicaragua's tourism sector is celebrating the recent announcement that the government of President Daniel Ortega is going to lift all visa requirements for foreign travelers as an incentive to boost tourism here.

The announcement was made several days ago by Tourism Minister Mario Salinas during the FITUR international tourism trade fair in Spain. President Ortega is expected to sign the measure this week, according to sources at the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (INTUR).

Once the measure is signed, all tourists – regardless of nationality – will be able to visit Nicaragua without a visa. Industry sources expect the number of Costa Rican tourists alone could double as a result of the measure.

“This is a very important accomplishment,” said Lucy Valenti, president of the Nicaraguan Tourism Chamber. She noted that when former President Arnoldo Alemán temporarily lifted tourist visa requirements for Costa Ricans in the mid 1990s, the number of Tico tourists coming to Nicaragua immediately increased by 40-50 percent.

Those numbers fell off once the visa requirement was reinstated several years later.

In addition to luring more tourists from Costa Rica, the visa suspension will also help facilitate the arrival of more tourists from Asia, several countries in South America, such as Colombia, and emerging European markets, such as Russia, Valenti said.

More established tourism markets, such as the United States, Canada, the European Union, and other CA-4 countries ( Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador ) won't be affected by the measure, since they didn't have tourism visa requirements in the first place.

The suspension of tourism visas will also not affect the $5 tourist card that all tourists must purchase upon entering the country.