Joaquín Sabina 60th b-day celebration
Guest singers Allan Aguilar, Ariel Carpio, Enrique Dodero and more, 30 Sabina songs, three hours, 10 p.m., Bar El Observatorio, Barrio La California, opposite Cine Magaly, 2223-0725.

Grupo Collet in concert
Jazz fusion, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Malpaís in concert
Tico singer-songwriters, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

The offering: World Bank's vice president for the Latin American region, Pamela Cox, announces a $500 million line of credit for Costa Rica.

Nick Coté | Tico Times

Costa Ricans could have access to $500 million dollars of standby credit during the present economic crisis.

On Wednesday, the vice president of the World Bank for Latin America, Pamela Cox, visited San José and spoke briefly about pending and current loans to Costa Rica.

The World Bank loaned Costa Rica $65 million as part of the first Catastrophic Deferred Drawdown Option (CAT DDO), aimed at providing a source of immediate financing in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Costa Rica requested the disbursement after the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred Jan. 8, killing as many as 30 people and leaving hundreds of families homeless.

The CAT DDO provides financing that may be disbursed partially or in full if the country declares a state of emergency as a result of a natural disaster.

The World Bank also approved a $72.5 million loan to revitalize the city of Limón and prepare the nearby port for modernization. The loan is awaiting approval by Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly.

“This is a very important program for the Atlantic region,” said Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga. “We hope there will be a favorable outcome within the next few days so we can continue forward.”

Cox emphasized that the financial crisis is affecting every country in the world will. She said the World Bank plans to loan $35 billion worldwide, including $3 billion to Central America alone.

“This is why we are talking to Costa Rica about a financial agreement of $500 million to give help to the government in this difficult time,” Cox said.

That money would be available as standby credit, and Zúñiga thinks it would serve as a model credit line for the rest of the world.

Cox said that despite being affected by the financial crisis, Latin America was not its cause nor at its center, as the problems originated outside the region.

Cox says that one such problem is that some countries rely on the relatives in the United States who send them funds, and that in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, these funds are dropping.

“In Guatemala, funds have dropped by 10 percent,” said Cox, “and this is a problem, specifically for the very poor.”

Thursday morning, Pamela Cox will hold a meeting to discuss global climate change and how the World Bank will contribute to solving that problem.

Firefighters worked to extinguish flames Wednesday engulfing forest and pastures of the Los Santos Forest Reserve near San Marco de Terrazú, south of San José.

The fire started Tuesday and by Wednesday morning had burned through some 35 hectares. Officials were ready to issue an alert for the canton of Santa María de Dota should the fire spread, the Environment Ministry said.

The hilly terrain and high winds made it difficult to contain the blaze despite efforts by area residents, volunteers and National Forest Fire Commission workers, the ministry said in a press release Wednesday.

National Police were set to fly over the area Wednesday afternoon to assess the damage and begin to investigate what caused the fire.

Last week's sixth round of negotiations between the European Union and Central America have both parties on “a good track” toward a final agreement, officials involved in the talks said.

The round, which ended Feb. 3 in Brussels, saw the two sides reach agreement on normative issues such as governance, dispute resolution, political dialogue and human rights. But trade -- particularly tariffs on beef, rum, sugar and bananas -- remains a sticking point, Costa Rican negotiator Fernando Ocampo told The Tico Times.

The Central American countries made an offer on beef and rum, “products of interest to the EU,” Ocampo said. The EU, meanwhile, offered to lower its own tariffs on banana and sugar, but the cuts were not deep enough to satisfy the Central American countries.

“They were still far from what we had hoped for,” Ocampo said of the EU offer. “But it is a starting point to reach an agreement.”

Read Feb. 13's Tico Times for more on this story.