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7th International Writers Conference
In honor of poet Isaac Felipe Azofeifa, through March 17, San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Ciudad Quesada, Turrialba, San Ramón, Puntarenas, San Isidro de El General and Buenos Aires de Osa. Info: 2257-0470, ccamon@gmail.com.

Francophone Festival
March 17, roundtable “The Challenge of Teaching French in Costa Rica,” 6 p.m., Sala ANDE, San José ; opera performance by Olga Machonova Pavlu and pianist Francisco Piedra Vegas, 7 p.m., National Theater.  

Saint Patrick's Day Special
Irish dinner and lodging package, March 17-19, reserve by March 10, Iguana Azul Hotel, Junquillal, Guanacaste. Info: 2658-8123, 2658-8124.

Saint Patrick's Day Celebration
Magic show, DJ playing Irish music, corned beef sandwiches, March 17, 8 p.m., Papis Sports Bar and Grill, 100 m west of Hotel Del Rey, San José. Info: 2258-1844.

Saint Patrick's Day Festival
Irish food, green beer and black and tans, with live music by Boys of Summer, March 17 and 20, Stan's Irish Pub, 150 m west of Casa Presidencial, Zapote. Info: 2253-4360

With six new appointments to head pivotal ministries, the government of president-elect Laura Chinchilla is taking shape.

On Tuesday, Chinchilla named new candidates to fill the top posts in the finance, commerce, foreign trade, tourism, public works and agriculture ministries, complementing her previous appointments to the security and presidency ministries made last week.

Most of the appointees were already serving in the current administration of Oscar Arias, and were shuffled around to fill new roles.

“I think Laura's living up to her promise in that she is going to continue the government of Oscar Arias,” said Carlos Denton, co-founder of the San José-based polling firm CID-Gallup. “All of these people are good people. They are stalwarts of the Liberation Party. But I would expect four years of the same of what we have now.”

The current Communications Minister Mayi Antillón, who once directed the Chamber of Industries, will be the economy minister. A key negotiator in the free trade agreement with the United States, Anabel González, who served as vice minister of foreign trade under former president Abel Pecheco, will serve as foreign trade minister.

A current advisor to the agriculture ministry, Gloria Abrahams, has been tapped to head that ministry, and Carlos Ricardo Benavides, who served as tourism minister until he renounced his post to campaign for Chinchilla, will get his former job back.

The finance minister will be Fernando Herrero, who held the same position under former president José María Figueres between 1994 and 1996. Atlantic Port Authority (JAPDEVA) head Francisco Jiménez will preside over the Public Works and Transportation Ministry.

For more analysis of Chinchilla's new government, see the March 19 print or digital versions of The Tico Times.

Costa Rica's exchange rate continued its pattern of erratic behavior on Tuesday, as the value of the colón appreciated over 13 colons against the U.S. dollar. On Tuesday the buy value of the exchange rate was ₡ 523.05 per $1, down from the ₡ 536.72 per $1 buy value on Monday. The 13-colón fall in the exchange rate was the largest single-day movement since Nov. 23, 2007, when the colón appreciated ₡ 20.

In the first two and a half months of 2010, the exchange rate has fallen from a buy value of ₡ 558 per $1 in January to Tuesday's buy value of ₡ 523 per $1, the lowest figure registered since July 15, 2008. Since August 2009, the colón has appreciated over ₡ 60 against the U.S. dollar.

In an interview with The Tico Times last week, the President of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Francisco de Paula Gútierrez, explained the recent fluctuations in the exchange rate and appreciation of the colón.

“There is more supply than demand,” he said. “In the buy and sell bands system, the supply side is driven by exports, by tourism and by the movement of capital. The demand side is driven by the level of imports and the payment of debts and taxes. During the latter part of last year and the early part of this year, the country is experiencing a little more supply than demand and that is what is causing the current situation in the bands and the exchange rate.”

Over the course of the final three hours of the work day, from 2p.m. to 5p.m., the Central Bank observes the market activity and financial movements of each day. The supply and demand of dollars and colones ultimately determines the exchange rate for the following day.

For more of the interview with the Central Bank President Francisco de Paula Gútierrez, see the March 19 print or digital edition of The Tico Times.

A review committee has found mistakes and constitutional violations in the Transit Law reforms passed last week that once again could stall Costa Rica's new get-tough measures against bad drivers, according to a report released Tuesday by the legislature's Technical Services Department.

One problem, according to Llihanny Linkimer, one of the report's coauthors, is in the numbering of articles, which appears to have become jumbled when legislators were voting on the more than 200 proposed modifications.

"When motions are presented on the floor they almost always say to introduce new articles and move over the numbers," Linkimer said. "It's difficult to monitor the change in numbering."

The review team found that some sections of the law referred to other sections that either no longer exist – because lawmakers had voted to remove them – or that had changed their place in the law. For example, while lawmakers had agreed to eliminate the drivers' points system, certain articles still refer to the number of points a motorist could lose should he or she break the law.

"I think this exercise of handing in (the text) to be reviewed for corrections is a good exercise that there wasn't time for the last time, when everybody threw motions in and voted in a big whirlwind," Linkimer said, referring to a 2008 Transit Law bill that was suspended after inconsistencies became apparent.

To confuse matters further, the stricter, original version of the law came back into effect this month, only to be bombarded again by as many as 213 motions proposed by legislators of different parties. Most of the motions sought to soften penalties and lower fines. After whittling away at the original law, lawmakers turned the newly modified text over for close scrutiny by the Technical Services Department last week, hoping for a green light to begin the two votes needed to pass the document into law.

But disorder isn't the only problem the team found in the reforms. The new text contains sections "that could be unconstitutional," said Linkimer. For one, the draft obligates universities and other independent institutions to offer driving instruction. According to the legal expert, lawmakers must consult these institutions first. Universities, she said, "are practically like little governments within the state. Only they can determine which courses they should offer and what budget should be allotted. A law cannot obligate them to give a course."

When asked if she believes the legislators will make the fixes in time to approve the new law before the change of government – and lawmakers – on May 8, Linkimer said, "it depends on their political will."

The teenage girls who stepped onto the field at Alajuela's Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium on Wednesday for the World Cup Qualifiers were the first Haitians to compete internationally since a 7.0 earthquake rattled their country two months earlier.

Fighting through tears and the knowledge they were going home to a broken country, they battled countries many time their size. Their opening game was against the United States' powerhouse – a team that ended the tournament with 32 goals in their favor and zero against.

“It was very difficult, with most of the players having lost parents, family and friends,” Haitian coach James Morisset said. “During the game and practices, they've been crying and they'll do their best to give Haiti a smile in this tournament.”

Subsequent games saw them lose 0-2 against host-team Costa Rica and 1-0 against the Cayman Islands. But for many of the participants in the ten-day tournament held in Alajuela, their very presence was something to be proud of.

It's the first time Haiti has qualified for a women's youth event since the 2002 U-19 tournament, and despite the devastation that left every team member homeless, they played with heart, according to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football Associations (CONCACAF), which serves as the governing international soccer body in the region.

The U-17 World Cup Final Round saw the participation of eight teams, including Panama, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Mexico, the United States and Canada. After 12 preliminary games, the top four were scheduled to face off in a semi-final round on Thursday. The United States, which has no goals against, will face Canada and Costa Rica will compete against Mexico.

Costa Rica comes into the semi finals as an underdog, after the United States bested the little country 10-0 on Sunday night. Fifty minutes and eight goals into that night's game, a television announcer shouted, “stop the massacre!” as the United States players were hammering away at the net.

The only other semi-final team with a loss against them is Canada, which fell one point behind Mexico in the 43rd minute of play on Monday.

The winners from Thursday night will go on to the finals in Trinidad and Tobago in September.