Free camps
For ages 18-35, organized by the Youth Council, through Sunday, La Sabana Park; Sunday through April 3, Chirripó, detailed information at http://cpj.go.cr; 2253-4131, 2280-5618.

6th International Writers Conference
Readings at ITCR Language Sciences School, Cartago, 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.; at Juan Santamaría Museum, Alajuela, 3 p.m.; Café Latino (2nd floor Lehmann bookstore), San José, 5 p.m.; Legislative Assembly Auditorium, 6 p.m.; UCR Faculty of Letters, 6 p.m. and more.

DJ Armin Van Buuren
9 p.m.,Torre Geko, Real Cariari Mall, Heredia.

La Mala Rodríguez in concert
Spanish female rapper, 10 p.m., Club Vértigo, Centro Colón, Paseo Colón.

TAMARINDO – Officials from the northwestern Costa Rican Santa Cruz Municipality have been meeting with leaders here to find a permanent home for the police following years of uncertainty.

The Santa Cruz Municipality, which controls local tax money spent here, has refused to finance this town's police station, leaving it to local residents and businesses to provide the funds necessary to keep the cops in town.

Developers and residents here are hoping to build a new station near Pasa Tiempo hotel, on the future Los Jobos road.

On Saturday, municipality officials discussed the possibility with locals but haven't announced whether they will help fund the new station. Community leaders here are optimistic.

“I think we have a good chance,” said Federico Amador, president of the Tamarindo Pro Improvements Association, a local community organization. “The Santa Cruz government is finally realizing the importance of Tamarindo.”

If the municipality agrees to help finance the new station, the money will be allotted in the 2010 budget.

Amador said the association will work with the municipality over the course of the next two weeks until an agreement is reached on funding for the project.

The station would be built on a 1,800 square meter plot a local developer donated to the community.

The police station is currently located at the entrance to the town in the privately owned Cabinas Maleko hotel.

The station does not receive tax money for its operation and must rely on private donations. A drop in donations and a failure to pay the $1,500 per month rent owed for February and March has caused concern over eviction and future location.

See the March 24 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

MANAGUA – The Nicaraguan government has signed an agreement with Vietnamese state-owned energy firm PetroVietnam for the exploration of offshore oil and natural gas reserves.

The accords were signed by Petroleos de Nicaragua CEO Francisco López and PetroVietnam President Dinh La Thang, with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega participating as witness of honor, the Nicaraguan government said in a statement Tuesday.

López said the accords with PetroVietnam cover hydrocarbon exploration and viability studies at Nicaragua's Pacific and Caribbean platforms.

PetroVietnam also pledged to provide technical assistance through the El Supremo Sueño de Bolivar refinery, to be located in Nagarote, a town 90 kilometers west of Managua, he said.

That facility will cost $3.9 billion to build, and will possess the refining capacity to churn out 150,000 barrels of crude per day, turning Nicaragua into an exporter of petroleum derivatives. The project is being constructed with financial assistance from close ally Venezuela.

López also announced that a PetroVietnam executive mission will be arriving in Nicaragua within four weeks to explore the "distinct possibility" that "there are large reserves of petroleum and natural gas" in the Central American country.

That mission will provide continuity to studies already being carried out.

The Nicaraguan government said the importance of the accord is that it will create "a big opportunity for Nicaragua to achieve energy independence, since PetroVietnam is one of the world's most important companies in the hydrocarbons sector."

PetroVietnam, Vietnam's largest state-owned company, has annual revenues of $20 billion, $8 billion of which are used to finance the national budget, López said.

The company currently has 20 commercial contracts with partners in 13 different countries.

In addition to petroleum and gas exploration, PetroVietnam also operates three gas-fired power plants in the Asian country with a combined capacity of 2,000 megawatts, López said.

President Oscar Arias begins a three-day state visit to Mexico Thursday, hoping to set the stage for a future bilateral agreement on free trade, political dialogue and cooperation.

Oh, and then there's something about a soccer game.

The visit, lasting through Saturday, is the third of Arias' current term as president. The two countries have many areas of common interest, including a 1995 free trade agreement and temporary, elected membership on the United Nations Security Council.

Arias will raise the issues of drug trafficking and organized crime, which have increasingly become a cause for concern in Mexico, Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno told the press earlier this week.

Perhaps of most interest to Ticos, however, is Saturday evening's World Cup Qualifying Match between Costa Rica and Mexico, which Arias will attend with Mexican President Jose Calderón. Arias, along with his brother, Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias, will eat breakfast with the team earlier Saturday morning.

Before the game, however, Arias will attend to official business, including a bilateral meeting with Calderón at his official residence, a discussion with Mexican legislators and a breakfast with commercial leaders.

Also accompanying Arias on the trip will be Stagno, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz and Gioconda Ubeda, Costa Rica's ambassador to Mexico.