Theater at Noon
Features s inger María Marta López, Feb. 9, noon, National Theater.

“Migraciones: Mirando al Sur” Short Film Festival
“De sol a sol” (C.R., 2005, 23 min.), “Desilusión” (Honduras, 2008, 4 min.), “Bajo el Tacaná” (Mexico, 2007, 26 min.) and “Mujeres cruzando fronteras” (C.R., 2006, 20 min.), Feb. 9, at 6 p.m., Contemporary Art and Design Museum, CENAC, Av. 3, Ca. 15/17, 2257-9370, www.madc.ac.cr.

Reggae Concert
By Ojo de Buey, Feb. 9, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú. Info: 2288-4740.

Chunches de Mar
Trash-turned-artwork on display at Children's Museum, north end of Ca. 4, 2258-4929, www.museocr.com.

The Chinese Vice Minister of Trade Yi Xioazhun said he has a special wish for the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated Saturday, Feb. 14.

“I think the signing of a Free-Trade Agreement with Costa Rica would be the best New Year's gift for all of us.”

If negotiations go according to plan this week, Xioazhun should get his wish, as trade officials from China and Costa Rica sat down on Monday morning at the Palacio San José hotel in La Uruca, northwest of San José, to iron out the final details in the pending free-trade agreement between the two countries. Each side is hopeful they will complete the sixth and final round of talks on Wednesday.

“We are convinced that free-trade agreements are key for achieving better well-being and further development of the country,” said Marco Vinicio Ruiz, the Costa Rican foreign trade minister. “We hope that during these three days, we will be able to accomplish the necessary advances through open dialogue in order to complete this agreement by Wednesday.”

Ruiz explained that trade talks this week will focus on amount of access and lowered tariffs each country will offer for specific products. He said representatives of the two countries will work to reach an agreement that achieves the “largest possible percentage” of products included in the agreement and made available for trade.

Talks will also aim to finalize sanitary regulations for products traded between the two countries, standards on intellectual property rights and specific rules of origin attached to each product.

If the free-trade agreement is finalized on Wednesday, the bill to pass the accord will be sent on to the Legislative Assembly for ratification in the upcoming months. The China free-trade agreement would be the second accord inked in 2010, as a free-trade agreement was finalized with Singapore in January.

See the Feb. 12 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Laura Chinchilla may have enjoyed a wide margin in Sunday's election, but she faces a divided Legislative Assembly when she steps into office on May 8.

Her party, the National Liberation Party (PLN) claimed 23 of the legislature's 57 seats – as of Monday's count – down a seat from the incumbent party's current 24. Analysts expect the process of divvying seats could go on for a couple of days this week, following Sunday's election.

Twenty-three seats is an unquestionable accomplishment but not quite the 29 needed to move bills through the assembly by the PLN's effort alone.

The rest of the seats went to the Citizen Action Party (11), the Liberation Movement (10), the Accessibility Without Exclusion Party (four) and the Social Christian Unity Party (six), while the Broad Front Party, the Costa Rican Renovation Party and the National Restoration Party each received one.

Reluctant to comment on the congressional results after the polls closed Sunday, Chinchilla did say her government would be one of collaboration.

“Independently of how the Legislative Assembly will be configured, our effort will be to establish a permanent dialogue with the political parties and social sectors of the country,” she told reporters.

Costa Rica replaces its Legislative Assembly with new members every four years. Candidates are not directly elected, but are appointed from a pool of party members after voters indicate their party preference in the polls. Based on the percentage of votes each party receives in each province, a specified number of their candidates enter into the assembly. Because of the complexity of the process, the final legislative makeup is often unknown for days after the polls close.

See the Feb. 12 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Costa Rica's National Concessions Council (CNC) could modify the toll system on the new San José-Caldera highway, but said they will need one month to study the route's traffic.

Due to opening weekend excitement and last minute beach trips before school starts, tens of thousands of cars have traveled the new road in the past two weeks, causing long back-ups at toll booths. The CNC has decided to wait until the thrill calms to measure how many cars will actually use the toll way under normal conditions.

To relieve congestion, the CNC suggested that Autopistas del Sol, the Spanish company contracted to build and operate the highway, raise tolls during rush hour to discourage transit at peak times in the morning and the evening.

The government institution also requested that Autopistas del Sol devise a plan to expedite toll payments and prevent bottleneck clogs during high-traffic times such as Semana Santa (Easter holy week) and national holidays. Drivers have also complained about the amount of time that it takes toll booth operators to return change.

From Thursday, Jan. 28 through Jan. 31 – the road's first four day's in operation – an average of 22,897 vehicles traveled the route per day, well above the projected 2,000. During the four day period, drivers reported waiting for hours at toll booths.

The CNC expects Autopistas del Sol to submit new plans by the first week of March, which the concessions council will then evaluate for approval. If rejected, Autopistas del Sol will have five days to revise its plan provided the scheme does not require new construction. If the company decides to build more toll booths, it will have three months to build them.

If congestion persists, the CNC will grant drivers free reign of the road and Autopistas del Sol will be fined $5,000 per day for not complying with modifications and deadlines.

Drivers will be notified 15 days before any changes take place.