Live Music
Ben Jammin'& the Howlers, Feb. 25, 8:30 a.m., Río Lindo Resort, Dominical, www.riolindoresortcostarica.com.

2010 Monteverde Music Fest
Johnny Dread, Feb. 25, 7 p.m., Monteverde Amphitheater, Bromelias Café, across from CASEM, Monteverde, 2645-6272, www.bromelias-cafe.com.

Fernando Delgadillo in concert
Feb. 25, 8 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum, end Ca. 4. Info: 2258-4929.

“Canto de ballenas”
Play by María Silva, Feb. 25-26, 7 p.m., Complejo Cultural, Pérez Zeledón, Southern Zone; March 6-7, 7 p.m., PIMA building, Quepos.

“Demonios y otras expectativas”
Feb. 25, 7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Av.13, Ca. 31. Info: 2257-2919.

Hillary Clinton, the United States secretary of state, will be in Costa Rica next week as part of a Latin America tour that also will include Brazil, Chile, Guatemala and Uruguay, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

Clinton will visit this Central American country, a close U.S. ally, on March 3, where she will be the keynote speaker at the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas Ministerial Meeting. Clinton has said she believes the Pathways initiative, a 14 nation - network to promote the benefits of free trade, will help improve the distribution of economic benefits to women, rural farmers and small businesses, as well as to indigenous and Afro-descendents who have been left on the sidelines of the open market.

The event will take place at the Hotel Intercontinental in the western San José suburb of Escazú.

In addition to her speech, the secretary of state is planning to meet with President Oscar Arias. Her visit also will be a chance for President-elect Laura Chinchilla to meet the once-aspiring candidate to become the United States' first female president.

Clinton's visit comes on the heels of a brief stopover here last week by U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and Sen. Bob Corker.

More information on the Pathways to Prosperity event can be found at the Web site: http://pathways-caminos.org.dnnmax.com.

The Heredia-San José train will make six daily trips to and from San Pedro, east of San José, beginning next week, the Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) said this week.

The train will continue east from the Estación del Atlántico – its current final stop near San José's Parque Nacional – to the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and Latina University (ULatina).

The cost from Heredia, north of San José, to San Pedro, will be ₡ 350 ($0.64), although the Public Services Regulatory Authority likely will adjust the price after service begins, according to INCOFER.

In the morning, two trains will run from Heredia to San Pedro and one from San Pedro to Heredia.

The first train will leave from ULatina at 6:15 a.m. and arrive in downtown Heredia at 7:00 a.m.

From downtown Heredia, trains will leave for ULatina at 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. and arrive at the university at 7:10 and 8:10 a.m, respectively.

In the afternoon, two trains will leave from the ULatina, bound for Heredia, at 4:15 and 6:15 p.m. These trips will last 45 minutes.

There will be one evening journey from Heredia to the ULatina, leaving at 5:30 p.m. and reaching the university at 6:10 p.m.

Next week, INCOFER will also begin train service from the Estación del Pacífico – eight blocks south of Parque Central, near the Women's Hospital –to the Estación Atlántico, which will continue to Heredia. The train will leave the Estación del Pacífico at 5:30 p.m. and arrive in Heredia at 6:30 p.m.

Service on the new routes will run from Monday through Friday. INCOFER said it will evaluate the possibility of more frequent service after a few weeks time.

The Public Security Ministry is beginning the nationwide installation of 342 surveillance cameras as a means of curtailing the crime rate.

The cameras will be strategically located in the cities of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Limón, and will be monitored 24 hours a day by 60 policemen.

According to the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE), which is partnering with the ministry on the $9 million project, the system is modelled after similar ones in Colombia and London.

“This is not new,” said Pedro Pablo Quirós, president of ICE. “We did thorough research … and believe this is an important way to fight crime.”

Quirós said it would be used as an evidence-gathering tool, lower the costs related to security personnel and help supervise critical operations.

“There will be electric eyes on different points chosen by security forces, both for roads, roundabouts, some buildings and corners of various neighborhoods,” Quirós said. “These cameras can capture images, deliver them and process them, and from there actions can be taken.”

Janina del Vecchio, public security minister, celebrated their pending installation saying, “By announcing the Citizen Protection Video Project today, the government has completed another of its promises, which … was to bring more security to citizens…. I am proud to say (the Oscar Arias administration) has been able to complete 87 percent of public security challenges.”

Del Vecchio expects the installation to begin in August.