Credi-Expo 2010
Jan. 28-31, Torre Geko, Real Cariari Mall, Barreal de Heredia. Info: 2235-5238, credi-expo@grupoglobalcr.com.

Disney Live
Magic and musical show with Disney characters, Jan. 28-29, 1:30 p.m., Palacio de los Deportes, Heredia, tickets at www.publitickets.com or Benetton stores (Multiplaza Escazú, Plaza del Sol, Plaza Mayor), Hooligans (Paseo de las Flores, Heredia). 

Flor Urbina in concert
Trova and ballads, Jan. 28, 7 p.m., Amus, Zapote, 2234-0556.

OROTINA, Costa Rica – The Costa Rican government inaugurated the 77 kilometer highway from San José to the central Pacific town of Caldera on Wednesday afternoon, 34 years after planning for the project began.

The roadway stretches across bridges built hundreds of feet above rivers in places and paved lanes rise and descend gently around gradual mountain curves. The new thoroughfare cuts the time of the old San José-Caldera trip in half – from approximately 90 minutes to roughly 45 minutes – and a one-way trip costs four wheel vehicles ₡ 1,930 ($3.47).

Not so gradual and gentle, however, are some of the sharp, 90 degree rock walls that line the route where Autopistas del Sol, the Spanish company contracted to build the road, had to slice through mountains to construct the new toll way. While some steep cliffs have been reinforced with concrete to prevent landslides, others had already begun to crumble. Strong winds that whip around bends just east of Orotina blew jagged rocks, several larger than a softball, onto the freshly asphalted expressway.

The road opens up from two lanes to four near major towns along the way, such as Orotina and La Guácima, and then narrows to three in spots and back down to two before it ends in Caldera. Police, ambulance and tow truck hubs are stationed en route, but the shoulder lanes where emergency vehicles would expectedly travel are the half the width a sedan-size car.

And as is the case with most Costa Rican infrastructure projects, its christening didn't come without controversy.

Close to 100 protesters blocked the entire highway near Santa Ana and Ciudad Col ón, southwest of San José, holding banners, shouting and refusing to let cars pass. They claimed the project did not consider neighboring communities' needs, such as stop lights and pedestrian bridges. The residents also were upset about having to pay a toll to enter the expressway.

Another family near Atenas claimed that the government cut off access to the aquifer that supplied them with clean drinking water and slashed their electricity lines to allow for construction of the road through their family farm. They say they have been without both utilities for 10 months.

But for the majority of those who plan to make use of the new vehicular artery, the completion and inauguration of the San José-Caldera highway comes as long-awaited good news.

“It's beautiful,” said 67-year-old Raúl González of Orotina, as he sat in the shade of his garage and watched from afar Costa Rican President Oscar Arias cut the ribbon. “This will open up great opportunities for Costa Ricans.”

See the Jan. 29 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left Honduras after 129 days holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa and Porforio Lobo was sworn as the country's new president while vowing to help the country reconcile divisions cut open by last June's coup.

Farewell, presidente : Followers of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya watch as his plane leaves for exile in the Dominican Republic, after months of being holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. “We will be back,” Zelaya told reporters before boarding the plane.

Roberto Escobar | EFE

Lobo named opposition leaders to his cabinet and asked countries that don't recognize his government to restore ties. Though Lobo has U.S. backing, most Latin American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, have said they don't recognize Lobo because he was elected in a vote held by the coup-installed government of Roberto Micheletti.

In his first act as president, Lobo, a former conservative National Party lawmaker and cattle rancher, signed a decree that grants amnesty for political and related crimes to those involved in the coup.

Lobo and Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández then escorted Zelaya in a heavily protected motorcade to the airport, where the deposed Honduran leader boarded a private flight to the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo.

As he boarded the plane, Zelaya laconically told Radio Globo “We'll be back.”

Thousands of Zelaya supporters waved flags featuring Zelaya with his signature Stetson hat and wielded stating their refusal to recognize Lobo's government while they marched to the airport to see off their deposed leader. Hundreds of soldiers surrounded them.

“We'll just wait for him to return,” said Belinda Orellana, a Zelaya supporter donning a T-shirt featuring the mustachioed exile.

Soldiers roused Zelaya at gunpoint last June and sent him to Costa Rica on an airplane in his pajamas. He sneaked back from exile in September and took shelter in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, which he used as a base to pressure for his restoration to the presidency.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court President Jorge Rivera found the country's six top military commanders not guilty of abuse of authority for sending Zelaya into exile, court spokesman Danilo Izaguirre said on Tuesday. The ruling said there was no malice involved in the ouster, which generals ordered to avoid the possibility of violent protests if the president were jailed.

“We completed a mission to try to protect Honduran people at all moments. Only God knows what was in our hearts,” Gen. Romeo Vasquez, head of the country's armed forces, told Radio America after the ruling.

The amnesty, approved by congress, will protect Zelaya from charges including treason and abuse of authority for having tried to change the 1982 constitution before his ouster, legislator Marvin Ponce said. The amnesty does not clear Zelaya of pending fraud charges.

“We just came out of the worst political crisis in the history of our democracy and we've been able to avoid all the major threats to our nation,” Lobo, 62, said during his inaugural address.

The top U.S. diplomat to Latin America, Arturo Valenzuela, said Lobo has moved toward implementing a U.S.-brokered accord aimed at ending the country's crisis by appointing opposition members to his cabinet. Lobo should form a truth commission to investigate the coup the final requisite for completion of the accord, before U.S. aid can be restored and relations normalized, Valenzuela said from the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa.

The outgoing Micheletti government and Supreme Court “systematically" denied human rights abuses after the coup, which included deaths, mass arrests of protesters and cruel treatment of detainees, according to a Jan. 20 report by human rights investigators from the Organization of American States.

A new year, a new coach and new crop of players didn't merit new results for the Costa Rican national soccer team on Tuesday night, as the Ticos fell 3-2 against Argentina in an international friendly match in San Juan, Argentina. Despite the result, La Sele, the nickname of the Costa Rican team, can extract some positives from the first match of the year, which will undoubtedly be considered a “rebuilding” year for the team in the wake of the failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2009.

Fielding a team comprised of younger players, several of whom have never played for the national team, the new look Ticos allowed a 79th minute goal to Argentine forward Franco Jara to give Argentina the 3-2 win. Costa Rica had tied the game in the 76th minute on a goal by 20-year old forward Diego Madrigal, and, after falling behind in the 79th minute, failed to take advantage of several opportunities in the final 10 minutes to tie the game.

Argentina entered the game ranked as 8th best team in the world by the FIFA international soccer rankings.

“We demonstrated to our country that there is quality here,” said forward Diego Estrada. “We played … without fear. That is the idea of this team, which is the one coach González has instilled in us. Towards the end we controlled them on their home field and were unlucky not to get the tie.”

This loss for La Sele, unlike some of the crucial defeats of 2009, carries little significance for the team. During the next few months, the Ticos will play several “international friendly” matches that will serve as tune-up games for teams participating in the 2010 World Cup, such as Argentina. Though Costa Rica won't be vying for a World Cup slot, the upcoming games against Chile, France and Switzerland (all World Cup qualifying teams) will help forge the next crop of Tico national team players.

González, who was the former coach of the under-20 national team, will most likely experiment with a mix of young players and veterans, as he did Tuesday night, to try to find a formula that will lead Costa Rica into a new era.

“The personality of this team fills me with hope,” said Ronald González, who took over as interim head coach in November of last year. “What interests me the most is the competitive growth of some of the younger guys. Starting now, the next stage of Costa Rican soccer has a bright future.”

Aside from the handful of international friendly matches in the upcoming months, the next round of games for La Sele and González will arrive in 2011, when Costa Rica will play qualifying games for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The women's side

On Thursday, the women's under-20 team will play in the semifinals of the North and Central American (CONCACAF) championships, being played in Guatemala. The Ticas will play the U.S. women's U-20 team at 1:30 p.m. (Central/Costa Rican time). The other semifinal game will pair Canada against Mexico at 4:30 p.m.

The two winners will play in the finals on Saturday, and will also earn a spot in the 2010 U-20 Women's World Cup, to be held in Germany in November. The two losing teams will compete in the third place game on Saturday. The winner of the third place game will also earn a spot in Germany 2010.