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Embrujarte Art and Culture Fair
More than 110 national and international artists showing and selling their works, through April 25, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Avenida Escazú, east side of CIMA Hospital, Escazú.

London Festival Orchestra in Concert
April 28, 8 p.m., National Theater.

Choque Urbano
Concerts and dance, through April 28, Former Aduana Building, Ca. 23, tickets www.todoticketcr.com.

Outgoing President Oscar Arias replaced all three of the embassies he closed midway through his term with new ones in countries he says are more aligned with Costa Rica's strategic economic interests.

Last Tuesday, he announced the opening of an embassy in New Delhi, in the heart of one of the world's most important emerging markets. The new embassy also offers Costa Rica a foothold in Asia.

“I have said this often: This is the century of the Asian countries,” Arias said yesterday at an interview in his home in Rohrmoser. “Regrettably, the 21 st century is not the century for Latin America, through our own fault.”

Arias made the decision to open an office in New Delhi in December of 2009 to further tap into Asiatic markets, and with the hope of bringing more cooperation and investment to Costa Rica.

We are establishing diplomatic relations with China “because it's an economically powerful country,” Arias said. “We also need to (forge relations) with India because it's another country that is very powerful and important.”

Arias said yesterday that he is leaving the naming of an ambassador to India to incoming President Laura Chinchilla, but former Singapore Ambassador Javier Escalante – who Arias described as “young, but very qualified” – will be the ambassador in the new embassy in Doha, Qatar.

In January 2008, Arias closed embassies in Bolivia, Paraguay and the Czech Republic, as well as consulates in Puerto Rico and Chicago, for financial reasons. He opened an embassy in Beijing, China in November 2007.

The New Delhi Embassy
Address: C-25 Anand Niketan 3rd Floor. New Delhi, India
Phone: +91 9953608810.
E-mail: embajadacostarica.india@gmail.com
Office hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday
Administrative assistant: Sangita Majumdar

Although gas eruptions at the Poás volcano northwest of San José soared on Monday morning, the park will remain open for now.

According to a bulletin from the National University's Vulcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI), a cloud of sulfur sailed out of the crater, reaching a height of 500 meters and moving east.

Park guards described the sulfur smell as “very strong,” but said they did not see any falling solid sediment, such as ash or rock. They added that there were no signs of strong seismic shakes with the eruption.

Scientists with the OVSICORI said that these conditions are normal and that gas columns “will be common” at Poás. The increased temperature within the volcanic dome in the past few weeks – between 600 and 800 degrees Celsius – means more frequent gas eruptions, the OVSICORI said.

On Tuesday morning, winds carried the gases south toward tourist overlooks at Poás, but park rangers said the gas does not pose any threat to visitors and that the park will remain open.

Park guards and scientists will continue to monitor the volcano's activity and could temporarily close the park if conditions become dangerous for visitors.

Costa Rica has big plans for 2021, the bicentennial celebration of the nation's independence. On Tuesday, the Planning Ministry (MIDEPLAN) presented a report titled “Bicentennial Project: 2021 Development Objectives, Goals and Indicators” that identified eight central focal points for ensuring the country's continued development.

The report, which MIDEPLAN considers an “analytical tool for the future,” outlined economic, financial, environmental and social plans to be incorporated over the next decade. The goal of the report is to establish short and long term goals and benchmarks that will help Costa Rica become a “developed country” – an often-mentioned objective of President-elect Laura Chinchilla.

The eight areas covered by the Bicentennial Project include economics, public finances, infrastructure, society and culture, inequality, strengthening of democracy, multi-year budgeting and environment. Within the eight topic areas, there were a total of 29 different objectives considered integral to development.

Although most of the objectives included in the report lacked details on how they might be achieved, the report did emphasize necessary investment in infrastructure, which has “lagged behind for two decades,” as well as the importance of educating citizens regarding threats to the country's environment.

The MIDEPLAN report was created in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program.