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9th International Poetry Festival
Workshops, talks, poetry readings, with poets from Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, through May 3, national inauguration, April 26, 7:30 p.m., Variedades Theater, San José. Info with Déborah Wizel, 2232-5620, debwizel@yahoo.com. 

Latin American Global Medicine and Wellness Congress
Medical tourism conference, April 26-28, Hotel Ramada Herradura Convention Center, Cariari. Info: www.globalmedicinecongress.com.

Activities at the UCR's Planetarium
Show “El astrónomo viajero,” Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. Show “The Celestial Zoo,” Thursdays 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. Show “Ghosts of the Solar System,” Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. Show “Zodia Constellations,” Tuesdays and Fridays, 8:30 a.m. Show “The Sun and the Planets,” Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:30 a.m. Show “Stars: Myths and Leyends,” Thursdays 10:30 a.m. Show “Celestial Jewels,” Tuesdays and Thrusdays, 7:30 p.m. Reservation at 2511-6302.

An overall strong showing by the Costa Rican economy during the first quarter of 2010 was underscored by figures showing significant growth in the export and tourism sectors. Furthermore, a representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated during a visit to the country that “economic recovery in Costa Rica is firmly underway”.

Marco Piñon, the IMF mission chief for Costa Rica, visited the country during the second week of April to conduct the third and final review of the IMF's $ 735 million Stand-By Arrangement with the Costa Rican government, a line of credit approved by the agency in April 2009 to “support the country's strategy to cope with the adverse global economic environment.” During his weeklong visit, Piñon said that thanks to strong financial and business resurgence in the first few months of the year, the Costa Rican economy stands in good shape for 2010.

“Economic growth rose in the second half of 2009 and remained strong in the first quarter of 2010,” Piñon said. “Consumer and business sentiment have firmed up and financial conditions have continued to improve. … The government's strategy to shield the economy from external shocks with (IMF) funds, which in the event were not used, helped preserve confidence, maintain stability, and protect the most vulnerable groups. A supportive fiscal policy has provided a boost to the recovery and a cautious monetary policy has allowed inflation to move to low levels.”

On Wednesday, the positive outlook was reinforced by an announcement by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) that 65,800 more tourists visited the country during the first three months of 2010 than during the same period in 2009, an 11.5 percent improvement over last year. The ICT estimates that over 636,000 tourists visited the country in the first three months of 2010.

Further evidence of the recovery was provided by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER), which reported on Wednesday that national exports during the first three months of 2010 increased 16.8 % in comparison with the first quarter of 2009. Through the first three months of the year, the country raked in over $2.4 billion in exports, $352 million more than during the first quarter of 2009. A 463 percent improvement in sugar sales was the biggest highlight of the export sector. Sugar exports accounted for $29 million more during the first three months of 2010 than during the same period last year.

Costa Rican President-elect Laura Chinchilla is expected to continue her Latin American tour this week in Mexico and Colombia, pursuing the crime-fighting theme that has topped her tour's agenda so far.

Chinchilla's itinerary has already included stops in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, visits that were likely to shore up the former vice president's diplomatic credentials ahead of her May 8 inauguration.

Last Wednesday in Panama, Chinchilla said she and Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli plan to combat organized crime head-on.

“We're about to initiate a series of security operations to stem drug trafficking and money laundering,” Chinchilla said. “This is an opportune moment to coordinate with our Panamanian counterparts, because this fight can only be won if we do it together.”

A U.S. State Department report released in March said drug runners have shifted their operations to smuggling corridors in Central America. Recent police operations in Costa Rica suggest this country increasingly has become a storage and finance destination for regional drug traffickers.

Narcotics officials here claim that the region's swelling drug problem has grown in part from hard crackdowns in countries such as Mexico and Colombia.

Chinchilla's visits also have touched on another prickly regional issue: Honduras. Chinchilla is lobbying for a swift re-entry of the Central American country into the Organization of American States, after that body suspended Honduras following the June coup. Chinchilla met April 12 with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, who took office in January after a controversial November election.

European Union (EU) and Central American diplomats are pressing forward with the negotiation in Brussels of the association agreement between the two regions, hoping to finish talks in the coming days.

Still left to be defined are quotas regarding high priority products for Central America including rice, beef, sugar, rum and textiles, according to the Costa Rican daily La Nación.

The aim is to complete the talks in time for the May 18 summit between the two regions, which is seen as the last chance to finish the agreement before the terms of many key officeholders come to an end.

“The negotiation has progressed,” said Roberto Echandi, chief negotiator for Costa Rica, in a recent press statement. “Few issues remain and it is critical that we reach the balance this country needs.”

However, the trade talks have dragged on for years, slowed by a dispute over banana tariffs and conflicts within the Central American region. The European Union placed a condition on negotiations that required the Central American countries to improve regional integration and emergency preparedness before negotiations could progress.

If Europe and Central America are successful in the pending agreement, it will be the first of its kind negotiated between the European Union and a similar regional bloc, according to Echandi.