Palmares Fiestas
Jan. 22, carnival, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 23, cultural show, 6 p.m. Jan. 24, concert by Los Auténticos Decadentes of Argentina, noon; bull-riding championship, 3 p.m.; Tico bull run, 7 p.m. Jan. 25, Tico bullfights, 3 and 7 p.m.; fireworks, 9 p.m., www.fiestaspalmares.com. 

In Excelsis choir in concert
Christmas Carols, cake and agua dulce (a hot beverage made of sugar cane), Jan. 22, 2 p.m., National Museum. Info: 2258-1356, 2256-4139.

Brasileando party
Brazilian music, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

National Games Finals
Different sports competitions have their final games Jan. 22-24, Sports Court Polideportivo Monserrat, Alajuela.

La Vida Loca 10th Anniversary
Live music, Jan. 22-23, 8 p.m., Bar La Vida Loca, Playas del Coco, Guanacaste. Info: 2670-0181, 2670-1463.

Pro-Haiti Concert
Benefit concerts all day long to help Haiti, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., CENAC, Av. 3/5, Ca. 15/17.

Palmares Classic Long Distance Race
13 km cross-country, Jan. 23, 3 p.m., start and finish at north side of ACP offices, Palmares, Alajuela, register by Jan. 19 at Importadora Monge, Palmares (2453- 9797); On the Road, Pavas (2220-0060); Lux Sport Center, Av. 2 (2262-8675), Decatlón, San Pedro (2524-2014); DO Sport, Cartago (2553-5858). 

“Nomad Photojournalism – A Costa Rican Lens Focused on the World”
Photography by Michelle Wong, Jan. 16-22, Galería 1887, CENAC; Jan. 23-25, Casa de la Cultura, Heredia. 

“La Calle de los Títeres” Puppet Festival
Workshops for kids, plays, circus performances, storytelling, Jan. 23, noon-6 p.m., Santo Domingo, Heredia. Info: milagros.salas@fundaskene.org.

“Unos simpáticos, soñadores y aventureros insectos”
Children's play, Jan. 23-Feb. 5, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Children's Museum.

10th Chunches de Mar Art-Camp Festival
Local and international artists create art from items found on beach; art workshops for kids, teens, weekends through Jan. 24; art exhibit, concert, dance, Jan. 30, 11 a.m., Romelia Wildlife Refuge, Playa Grande, Montezuma, Puntarenas. Info: www.chunchesdemar.com.

Hike
With Pico Tours, La Cangreja, Jan. 24. Info: 2289-6135.

The long-awaited H1N1 flu vaccines arrived in Costa Rica on Thursday, two months behind schedule.

According to the Health Ministry, the shipment of 200,000 vaccines was delayed by a strike that began on Dec. 15 at the production factory in France.

Health officials say they hope to begin distributing the vaccines as of Monday to patients that have been identified by the Social Security System (the Caja) as “at-risk.”

Those people include pregnant women in the third trimester and persons with hypertension, congenital heart disease, diabetes, serious and chronic asthma, weakened immune systems, persons dependent on oxygen for breathing and persons who are morbidly obese.

Foreigners who do not subscribe to the public health system but who exhibit signs of risk can present a doctor's note to a local EBAIS center to request a vaccine. Health Minister María Luisa Avila warned that any so-called vaccine that has been sold in Costa Rica to date does not specifically target the H1N1 flu virus, as does the medicine that entered Costa Rica on Thursday.

The Health Ministry has requested an additional 1.6 million doses from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), but it's unclear whether their request will be fulfilled in time for the anticipated second wave of the flu pandemic. Originally, medical experts predicted the H1N1 flu virus to resurface in January or February and warned it could be worse than the one experienced in July-August, in which 21 died.

In total, Costa Rica has confirmed 1,847 cases of flu and 50 deaths since the first case surfaced in May of last year.

Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who remains holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in his country's capital city of Tegucigalpa, can have safe passage to the Dominican Republic next week, thanks to an agreement reached Wednesday.

Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández agreed with Porfirio Lobo, Honduras' president-elect, to offer Zelaya a salvoconducto (safe pass) to allow the ousted leader to take residence in the Dominican Republic with “complete citizens' rights,” according to a statement from Fernández' office.

Zelaya, who has lived in the embassy since he sneaked back into Honduras in September, appeared content with the deal.

“As president-elect (Lobo) is distancing himself from the dictatorship, it's a good gesture for national reconciliation,” Zelaya told Honduras' Radio HRN.

By “dictatorship,” Zelaya was referring to the government of de facto President Roberto Micheletti, who was sworn in within hours of the June 28 military ouster of Zelaya. Micheletti's administration insists that Zelaya sought illegal constitutional reforms geared toward eliminating presidential term limits.

Ahead of Lobo's Jan. 27 inauguration, Micheletti was to give a televised address Thursday night to announce he would move out of the presidential palace to avoid public appearances.

Observers wonder if such a move would appease critics such as Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who served as mediator after Honduran troops forced Zelaya from home and onto a plane to Costa Rica. Arias' mediation laid the foundation for the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord, which was signed by both Micheletti and Zelaya but never entirely took effect.

Pending major changes in Honduras, Arias will protest by not attending the swearing in ceremony for Lobo.

“It pains me greatly that some of the most important points in the San José Agreement could not be met, such as Roberto Micheletti stepping down before the handover of power,” Arias said Jan. 15 during a meeting with Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General José Miguel Insulza.

However, Arias said Jan. 28 should mark Honduras' return to the international community. The OAS suspended the impoverished country's membership after the coup. Many countries withdrew their ambassadors and froze aid. The United States revoked visas for high-level Honduran officials. Arias said he hopes healing will begin when Lobo is sworn in.

In addition to offering a safe passage for Zelaya, Wednesday's agreement calls on “the international community to reactivate as soon as possible its current cooperation projects with the Republic of Honduras,” according to the Dominican government's communiqué.

Costa Rican foreign relations officials told The Tico Times on Thursday that Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno will not attend the inauguration, although they will watch the situation closely for changes. It remains to be seen whether Micheletti's speech – scheduled after press time – will change the dynamics of the situation.

The European Union is pinpointing May 18 as the day they want to have the Association Agreement with Central America signed.

Concluding nearly a decade of discussion and two and a half years of formal trade talks, the final signing at a May summit in Madrid, Spain would lift trade barriers between the EU and Central America and pave the way for improved integration between Central American countries.

“The European Union is firmly committed to completing these negotiations in time to bring an agreement to the European Union- Latin American and Caribbean Summit in May,” said European Trade Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who said the negotiations process will require two more rounds in addition to a number of informal meetings. “I am sure that we will have success working together.”

Ferrero-Waldner indicated that the negotiations will proceed with or without all the countries' participation. Talks froze last year for different reasons involving Nicaragua and Honduras.

“One country alone will not be able to block this agreement. This I want to make clear,” she said at a press conference at the Foreign Trade Ministry on Thursday morning.

The push to come to agreement before May 18 resulted in part from the clearing of two diplomatic obstacles. A 16-year disagreement over banana tariffs was settled in December when the EU agreed to reduce tariffs on Latin American bananas from € 176 ($248) per ton to €114 ($160). The Honduran crisis, which also stalled negotiation, appears to be calming down as a new president prepares to take office on Jan. 27 (see separate story).

If every cloud carries a silver lining, then the one on the dark cloud hanging over the Costa Rican economy may be foreign direct investment (FDI).

On Wednesday, the private Costa Rican Investment Promotion Board (CINDE) announced some encouraging figures for 2009, which was one of the toughest economic years for the country in decades.

Twenty-nine new foreign investment projects worth $304.6 million came to Costa Rica last year, generating 5,730 jobs, according to CINDE. Of those new projects, 21 are new companies that will initiate operations in the country, while eight are foreign companies that entered into contracts with companies already in Costa Rica.

For the fifth consecutive year, the service sector experienced the most significant growth, in both the number of new companies operating and jobs created. The service sector accounted for 17 of the new ventures and for 4,586 new jobs, which is about 80 percent of new FDI-born employment.

“The services sector has become consolidated as one of the largest employers in our country,” said Gabriela Llobet, director general of CINDE. “As a result of the growth and the good results achieved during the last decade by the companies already established …Costa Rica is placed on the world map as an extremely competitive destination for this industry. ”

Some of the new entrants into the service sector in 2009 include United States companies Concentrix, McKinsey, Motif, Amway and Startek, all of which set up contact centers or locations for “shared services.”

The medical services sector accounted for six new projects in Costa Rica, including Establishment Biotech, Bentec and Merrill's Packaging.

Though positive signs of foreign direct investment continued in the down economic year, overall capital in the sector fell 30 percent, according to CINDE, and the Central Bank of Costa Rica reported that overall finances generated by FDI fell by 33 percent.

For 2010, CINDE forecasts similar number of new jobs and FDI inflows as last year's figures.