Photo exhibit
Nayarit Bustos, Alliance Française, Barrio Amón, Avenida 7, Calle 5, 2257-2327. 

Dan Robinson and Electro Band in concert
9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Jazz jam session
Jazz Café Trio, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, San José, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Epsy Campbell, an economist-turned-activist of Afro-Caribbean descent, said Monday she would seek her party's nomination to run in the 2010 presidential elections.

Running on a platform of change, she will challenge Citizen Action Party (PAC) founder Ottón Solís, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2002 and 2006 and intends to run again.

“It is time to inspire people, to tap into the en ergy that will generate change in this country, ” Campbell said.

If elected, Campbell said she would work to increase taxes, strengthen state services, address inequalities in wealth, and conserve the environment. Her campaign aims to attract young people and will rely heavily on the Internet. She will give a live chat at 11 a.m. today on www.epsy.cr.

PAC is now divided over whether to hold a nationwide primary, open to all Ticos, or a closed primary in which only the 80 National Assembly members vote. While the assembly overwhelmingly favors Solís, a nationwide race would be tight, according to recent polls.

Campbell said PAC can win in 2010 only if it holds an open primary, which she said would attract new people to the party.

“I am propos ing an open party, a party that will attract tens of thousands of adherents, ” she said. “That is the PAC I dream about, and that is the PAC I am working for. ”

A forest fire in the Barra Honda National Park, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, has burned at least 65 hectares since Sunday, the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) said Monday.

A second fire also sprung up in Santa Rosa National Park, further north in Guanacaste, however fire fighters had it under control by Monday, according to a statement from MINAET. High winds spread the fire quickly across more than 250 hectares of grassland and isolated trees, the statement said.

In the first six weeks of the year, eight fires burned a total of 450 hectares of protected state land, such as national parks, mostly in the western part of the country.

China recently bought $150 million in Costa Rican bonds, making good on a promise that enticed Costa Rica to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2007.

In exchange for diplomatic recognition, China pledged to buy $300 million in Costa Rican bonds, to be repaid over 12 years at 2 percent interest. China purchased the first $150 million in January 2008. By borrowing at such a low interest rate, Costa Rica saves ¢50 billion ($90.9 million) over 12 years, according to Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga.

Last year, when the Supreme Court forced Zúñiga to make the bonds purchase public against China's wishes, Zúñiga suggested that China might not make the second purchase.