Son de Tikizia in concert
Salsa, Jan. 29, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Dance Workshop
By dancer Emilsen Rincón, Jan. 29, 9:30 a.m., Asociación Cultural Signos Teatro Danza, San Pedro, in front of Dante Alighieri School. Info: 2255-5584, 8876-0541.

Disney Live
Magic and musical show with Disney characters, Jan. 29, 1:30 p.m.; Jan. 30-31, 1:30 and 4:45 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).

“12 Angry Women”
Dramatic reading in English, presented by the Little Theatre Group, directed by Noel Montagano, one performance only, Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m., Laurence Olivier Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 28, next to Sala Garbo, 8858-1446, www.littletheatregroup.org.

Sixth Coastal Challenge
250 km., from the Pacific Ocean to Talamanca, finishing at the border with Panama, through jungle, trails, asphalt, beaches, and more, Jan. 30-Feb. 6, http://www.thecoastalchallenge.com/index2.html.

10th Chunches de Mar Art-Camp Festival
National and international artists create art from items found on beach; art exhibit, concert, dance, Jan. 30, 11 a.m., Romelia Wildlife Refuge, Playa Grande, Montezuma, Puntarenas, www.chunchesdemar.com.

Puerto Viejo Open Surf Competition
Jan. 30, Playa Cocles, Limón, betolocks@hotmail.com.

Trova concert
By Miguel Cabrera, Jan. 31, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

Party at Children's Museum
Parade with museum mascots, contests, games, carnival, Jan. 31, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Children's Museum.

Benefit Concert
For the Playa Cocles lifeguard program, Jan. 31, 8:30 p.m., Chile Rojo restaurant, Puerto Viejo, Limón.

Costa Rica ranked number three out of 163 nations in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a biannual ranking system that is produced by Yale University and Columbia University. The index, released Thursday, gauges a country's “environmental health” and “ecosystem viability,” and scored nations in 10 policy categories that are divided into 25 environmental indicators.

The aggregate categories include analysis of each nation's performance in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, water management, forestry and biodiversity, to name a few, and build on information gathered before 2009 from international organizations, universities and the United Nations.

Costa Rica scored 86.4 percent overall and ranked behind Switzerland, at 89.1 percent, and Iceland, at 93.5 percent.

In a press release, analysts indicated that the 2010 rankings suggest that income is a major determinant of environmental success.

“Chile, where substantial investments in environmental protection have been made, ranks 16th while its neighbor, Argentina, which has done much less to improve its pollution control and natural resource management, lags in 70th place,” the release states.

By comparison, Nicaragua and Panama, Costa Rica's two neighboring nations, ranked 93rd and 24th, respectively. The United States came in 61st place.

Experts acknowledged, however, that data gaps existed in the information they used for the index. Many of the statistics came from questionable government reporting, which in some cases “are not subject to any external review.”

“High quality data combined with appropriate statistical analysis can certainly help policymakers identify problems and trends,” said Jay Emerson, a statistics professor at Yale. “Conclusions that emerge are only as good as the underlying data.”

Costa Rica climbed from number five in 2008 and number 15 in 2006, the first year the indicator was published.

After watching guards come for her bunkmate Christine Wenger-Bartee without prior notice, Ellen Stubenhaus lives in fear that one day they'll come for her too.

Her lawyer, Arcelio Hernández, has been holding off extradition to the United States by filing multiple petitions of habeas corpus, but that strategy didn't stop them from taking Christine and her husband Linn Morris Bartee in early January.

Though Stubenhaus' only home right now is a women's prison on the southern fringes of San José, she'd rather be here than back in the U.S.

“I don't want to go back,” said the former Florida resident, who moved to Costa Rica in 2005. “I know I won't get a fair trail.”

She's holding out hope that Costa Rica will grant her refugee status so she won't have to return.

Stubenhaus was arrested in July for her connection with the self-help group Pinnacle Quest International. The Florida-based business, which boasted 830 salespeople and 11,500 customers at its peak, is facing charges of conspiracy against the U.S. government for profiting from the sale of material promoting tax evasion. Sixteen of the organization's board members are scheduled to go to trial on March 1st, according to Jeffrey Dickstein, a Wisconsin lawyer who is acting as defense attorney.

Stubenhaus, 50, originally got involved in the group because of her interest in alternative medicine, she said. The former chiropractor and nutritionist was fascinated with the healing practices they advertised, many of which were outside mainstream medicine.

Because of her success in marketing PQI and various seminars, she was invited on to the board.

“I wanted people to educate themselves about health issues,” she said. “I didn't get involved in taxes. I told people that it's better to leave a sleeping giant alone. Listen to it. Learn about it, but don't market it.”

She left PQI in 2005 and moved to Costa Rica with her partner, losing all contact with former colleagues until guards showed up on her doorstep to arrest her.

She's resisted extradition as she's convinced that any argument is futile when facing the Department of Justice powerhouse. Dickstein has similar reservations.

“These are always extremely hard cases to win,” he told The Tico Times in a phone interview. “The government can be hostile. (The outcome) can depend on the jurors.”

Dickstein's defense is based on the first amendment to the U.S. constitution, arguing that PQI had the right to disseminate information.

“We are supposed to have the first amendment in the United States,” Dickstein said. “The government is not supposed to pass any laws to stop that.”

Since the day she was taken into custody, Stubenhaus has been held at the Buen Pastor women's prison. She lives off a diet of rice and beans and bunks with women accused of murder, assault and theft.

She said the only way she's survived is because of the other women. She said, “In between attempts to rob you, there are moments of extreme kindness.”

The U.S. Department of Justice press office did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

The process of forging a formal relationship between Central America and the European Union (EU) has dragged on for years, stalled mainly due to political crises in this region and disagreements over bananas.

But negotiations made a notable leap forward last week when European Trade Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner announced a target completion date of May 18 for an Association Agreement.

The push to finish discussions shows Europe's commitment to a relationship with Central America, according to Roberto Echandi, Costa Rica's chief negotiator in talks with the EU.

Echandi said that the EU needs this agreement because no region-to-region trade talks to date have been successful.

In addition, leadership in both regions will soon change, making it challenging for new leaders to recreate existing dialogue. In addition, the next summit between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean (after the May 18 summit in Madrid ) is not scheduled for another few years.

Before returning to his home in Brussels, Echandi spoke to The Tico Times about landmarks that already have been reached in the negotiations, future hurdles and how the agreement would benefit Costa Rica.

“It's not only a free trade agreement. It's also an Association Agreement, which is different. What's the difference? Well (the Association Agreement) is more comprehensive and it includes three different pillars: political dialogue, cooperation and the establishment of a free trade agreement,” Echandi explained.

See the Jan. 29 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more the full interview.