Film Festival
“Morvern Callar” (Spain), Dec. 9; “La mujer sin cabeza” (Argentina), Dec. 16; both at 6 p.m., Contemporary Art and Design Museum, Avenida 3, Calle 15/17, tel. 2257 7202, http://www.madc.ac.cr.

Flamenco Show
Dec. 9-10, 8 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, CCCN.

Academia de Música Moderna in concert
Dec. 9, 8 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum. 

Perrozompopo and Los Bandoleros in concert
Dec. 9-11, 9 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo launched his campaign for international recognition as the Honduran president-elect, touching down in Costa Rica on Tuesday.

After campaigning in his home country for well over a year, he's initiating a new movement for votes on the international front.

Dozens of international players and heads of states have yet to recognize his victory in the Nov. 29 elections, saying that certain protocol must be met before Lobo's election is valid. Many continue to call for the restoration of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, despite Honduran Congress' rejection of his reinstatement in a vote last Wednesday.

During Lobo's visit to San José on Tuesday, Costa Rica President Oscar Arias said he was proud to be the first head of state to officially accept Lobo as president-elect.

“The Honduran people have been punished enough. They have suffered much,” said Arias, who acted as mediator during the initial months of the Honduran crisis. “They can't be punished more.”

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was also present on Tuesday to offer Lobo congratulations and his assistance.

Arias expects other heads of states to follow their lead: “It's still early for them to change their opinion,” he said. “But I think their position will change (in time).”

Meanwhile, Lobo pledged to try to implement much of the Tegucigalpa-San José Agreement – an accord drafted as an exit to the crisis – before he steps into office, to ensure the transition is “fluid.” Yet, he dodged the question of whether Zelaya would be granted amnesty.

Political amnesty? Yes, he said. But amnesty in the courts would be left to congress.

“I hope everything is normalized well before Jan. 27,” he said, “and that all parts of the San José Agreement are put in place. I hope (at that time) that Honduras is in agreement with the international community.”

Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on world leaders to take serious action against climate change at the United Nations negotiations in Copenhagen this week and next. Inaction, the foreign relations officials claimed, could have negative consequences for small coastal countries like this one.

In a statement released via e-mail, the ministry said “the potential risks of unmitigated climate change are enormous” and that the phenomenon will have the “most severe impact on countries with scant natural resources and limited capacity to adapt to climate challenges.”

According to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, small nations contribute the least to global warming but suffer the most consequences from a warmer planet – rises in sea levels could shrink coastal land and stronger storms wipe out vital national agriculture sectors, the convention states.

The foreign relations authorities said they consider “a successful agreement of vital importance.”

The statement cited reliance on renewable energy sources and a 2021 carbon neutrality goal as evidence of Costa Rica's commitment to slow emissions. Dependence on imported oil for to generate energy has increased in recent years, however, and the possibility of reaching zero net emissions in just over a decade has drawn doubts as of late.

The climate change negotiations in northern Europe are not expected to yield a binding legal treaty, but officials hope that delegates will reach general consensus on capping global emissions and providing financial aid to developing countries, such as Costa Rica, to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Foreign ministries from Cape Verde, Iceland, Singapore, Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates, all small coastal nations, released similar statements on Tuesday.

The proclamation comes on the same day that the World Meteorological Organization projected that 2009 will be the fifth warmest year on record and that the first 10 years of this century mark the hottest decade on the books.

The El Pasito aqueduct, which supplies water to various communities in Alajuela, northwest of San José, is experiencing a 20 percent reduction in flow, resulting in disconnections in neighborhood water service.

The Costa Rican water and Sewer Institute (AyA) reported on Tuesday that homes and buildings in the following Alajuela localities will experience water service cuts effective immediately: Barrio San José, Calle Santa Lucía, Lotes Vargas, Monserrat, San Antonio de Tejar, Calle Toedulo, Santiago Oeste, and Calle La Cañada.

AyA will circulate a cistern truck through the town centers of these communities from which residents can fill buckets of water for their daily needs. The water agency did not specify how long the cutoffs will last.

The water officials said they are working to install new water well and pump systems in the area that will provide the extra water that the communities require. Thus far, officials have completed the site studies for the new system and determined that the well must be 160 meters deep.