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Francophone Festival
March 8, film, “Ma vieen cinémascope” (Canada), 6:30 p.m., Central Bank Museums; Karaoke Night, 7 p.m., Alliance Française, Heredia.

Costa Rica Comedy Fest
U.S. comedians Mike Ennis, Josh Filipowski and Gabe Pacheco bring stand-up to C.R., featuring collaborations with local artists Guillermo Ramos and Alex Costa, March 8, 8 p.m., Variedades Theater, San José. Info: 8354-5159, info@like2laugh.com.

At the top of President-elect Laura Chinchilla's agenda for her meeting with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on last Thursday was convincing her that Costa Rica should be a part of international space programs.

Costa Rica's own Franklin Chang, a retired NASA physicist and astronaut, is developing new plasma engines for space travel from a plant in Liberia, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, and Chinchilla wants to ensure that his products are incorporated into worldwide projects.

“We want recognition for Costa Rica, so the country can enter this special industry,” Chinchilla said, seeing in the space industry an opportunity to stimulate more high-paying jobs and international prestige for the Central American country. “We hope that Costa Rica is the first Latin American country (to enter the space industry.)”

She said she will push the new Legislative Assembly to quickly ratify the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, which is a requirement for Costa Rica to collaborate in space technology.

Chang's Ad Astra company in Liberia and six small businesses that comprise the Costa Rican Aerospace Alliance (CORAAL) are working towards making space travel less expensive and faster.

During her meeting with Clinton, Chinchilla also requested more help from the United States in curtailing the drug trade and in reaching benchmarks in environmental sustainability.

Of Chinchilla's election, Clinton told reporters earlier that day: “I am delighted that Costa Rica has elected a woman president; a highly-qualified woman at that … It won't surprise you to hear that I think that two of the best words in any language are Madame President so I am very excited for the choice that Costa Rica has made.”

The Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) announced on Thursday that the government will spend $26,000 on a campaign to help prevent illegal trafficking of Costa Rica's animals and plants.

The money, which was provided by The Central American Environmental Development Commission (CCAD), will be used to buy photographic gear and Global Positioning Systems, which will help identify the locations and quantities of different species in the country, as well as spot their illegal removal.

The environment ministry will also use a portion of the funds to launch a campaign of public announcements and post banners in National Parks and at airports and border crossings to increase awareness and warn against illegal trafficking of flora and fauna.

Approximately five percent of the world's species are found in Costa Rican habitats. According to MINAET, the illicit removal of these species has contributed to population decreases in recent years, as plant and animal products make their way abroad, mostly to the United States and Europe.

MINAET estimates that hundreds of thousands of plants or animals are illegally sent from Latin America for sale in countries around the world. The trafficking of endangered species, according to MINAET, is the third largest illegal business in the world.

Officials said they believe their new campaign will help prevent the smuggling of these species from Latin America.

The funds from the CCAD come as part of an agreement with the United States Department of the Interior to offer financial aid to signatory countries of the Domincan Republic – Central American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. (DR-CAFTA). The treaty went into effect in January of 2009.

Chapter 17 of DR-CAFTA promises cooperation for the protection of the region's natural resources.

A Costa Rican court on Friday handed six months of preventive prison to three Costa Ricans believed to have links to a powerful international drug trafficking ring, the justice ministry said.

The ruling came after a money laundering investigation led the Costa Rican Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) and Drug Police to raid eight locales, including an Internet café, a law firm and private beach home, in San José, Heredia and Puntarenas, respectively.

Among the detainees was Costa Rican with the last name Corrales, who is believed to have organized all the logistics for the ring led by Silvio Montaño, an important drug runner, according to the ministry. Police said they seized up to 9 tons of the Montaño ring's cocaine en route through Costa Rica in a span of three months. A Colombian with Costa Rican citizenship, Montaño was arrested early in January in the Colombian city of Cali.

Corrales allegedly handled house purchases or rentals as well as transportation, storage, satellite communications and arranging deals with prostitutes, according to information gathered by the Drug Police.

Another detainee, a lawyer with the last name Bustamante, allegedly arranged false marriages between Costa Ricans and Colombian drug runners. Another man with the last name Fernández helped create private companies to act as fronts for the organization.

Corrales' daughter, with the last names Corrales Alvarez, was also arrested and handed preventive measures by the court. These prohibit her from leaving the country.

The latest crackdown, which authorities said has broken up a Costa Rica-based financial ring for drug runners, could serve a serious blow to drug traffickers that increasingly use Costa Rica as a stop off on the way to Mexico or the United States, narcotics experts said.

“Let's be clear, this is what really hits these organized crime groups,” Mauricio Boraschi, director of the Costa Rica Drug Institute, told The Tico Times after the court decision on Friday. “If you manage to hit them in the finances, you're getting them where it hurts, right on the money,”