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Play “Los Locos de Valencia”
Writen by Lope de Vega, May 7-8, 8 p.m.; May 9, 5 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center.

Concert by Rodolfo Zuniga Quintet
Jazz, May 7-8, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

35 Anniversary of UCR Campus in Limón
Including talks, cultural shows, exhibits, and sports, May 7, 3 p.m., UCR Campus in Limón.

“Anamnesis”
Dance show performed by Compañía de Cámara Danza UNA, May 7-8, 8 p.m.; May 9, 5 p.m., Teatro de la Danza, CENAC.

Inauguration Day
Including Costa Rican typical dances, music, speeches, especial guests, May 8, 8 a.m.-noon, Sabana Park.

Play “Miss Chepa Top Model”
Sound theater, for regular audience and for the blind, May 7,7 p.m., Salón Parroquial, San Joaquín de Flores, Heredia; May 8, 5 p.m., CENAREC, Guadalupe; May 9, 5 p.m., Museum of Popular Art, Santa Lucía, Barva, Heredia.

Salsa Dance Competition
May 8, 8 p.m., Bar 1, Tamarindo, 2653-8533, 8881-2134.

Monologues
In Spanish, by Los Insolentes, May 8, 8 p.m., Café Malpaís, San Pedro, across from Múñoz y Nanne.

Costa Rica Trumpet Ensemble Concert
May 8, 4 p.m., José Figueres Cultural Center.

Ecological Hike to Cartago Mountains
With guide Luis Fernando Boza, May 9, leaving at 6:15 a.m. from the Bus Stop to Los Santos, MUSOC Building across from the Women's Hospital, further details at 8306-6354, 2223-3186.

Joe Anello Quartet
Jazz, Sundays, 2 p.m., Vista del Valle Hotel, El Rosario, Naranjo, Alajuela, 2451-1165.

Play “Bufo Periglenes”
Music, dance and black theater show, about the extinction of the golden frog, performed by EX-áNIMA group, May 9, 4 p.m., at Gráfica Génesis, 250 m. north of Plaza Víquez swimming pools, Ca. 13, 8815-0140, 8815-0301, ex.anima@gmail.com

Pla “Un hueco en la pizarra”
Drama, May 9, 2 p.m., Giratablas Theater, Los Yoses, across from KFC. Info: 2253-6001.

Play Mamma Mía
Based on Abba, May 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, 29-30, 7 p.m., auditorium of Escuela Miguel Obregón, Alajuela.

Human rights advocates and victims groups have pledged to launch an alternative to the internationally backed truth commission, calling the entity a “legal monstrosity.” The commission began work this week to clear up the facts surrounding the June 28, 2009 ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya,

The commission's mandate, created by an executive decree signed by Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, fails to include a probe into possible human rights abuses during the Honduran crisis, sidestepping a crucial element for the truth commission to be effective, according to the nongovernmental Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).

In a press conference Tuesday at the center's San José office, members of Honduran activist groups participated via teleconference to denounce the state-sponsored commission.

“The commission lacks the involvement of the victims who were subjected to human rights violations,” said Bertha Oliva, director of the Honduran Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared (Cofadeh). “That's why we believe it's necessary to form our own (truth commission), because we know that whatever authorized that commission is nothing more than a legal monstrosity disguised as the law.”

Oliva believes her words are not overly harsh, as Cofadeh alleges that abuse has continued since the coup, and cites as many as 14 assassinations of anti-coup activists since President Lobo's Jan. 27 inauguration.

According to Oliva, the U.S.-backed commission “tries to make us believe that what we're experiencing is a thing of the past, and we categorically say that it is an issue in the present.”

Oliva added that an umbrella group of Honduran human rights and victims associations are enlisting international experts to join their counter commission, which she expects to be launched on June 28, the first anniversary of Zelaya's ouster. Oliva didn't divulge the names of the experts.

Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza, an early vocal critic of the coup, supports the official commission and visited Honduras Tuesday to help kick off its work.

The OAS suspended Honduras' membership in the body, and its human rights arm cited “serious human rights violations,” including deaths, state repression and arbitrary restrictions of freedom of expression in the wake of the coup.

But Insulza and several OAS member states, including Costa Rica, are lobbying for Honduras' return to the organization.

“I believe (the commission) will work very well and I hope it serves not only to overcome the divisions that might exist, but also for Honduras … to be strengthened by this process,” Insulza said Tuesday in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

Oliva said, “We cannot believe Mr. Insulza is validating this monstrosity.”

After the solemn transfer of powers Saturday morning, Panamanian salsa master Rubén Blades and a host of other leading artists from the region are set to perform that night, spicing up the festivities for the incoming president, Laura Chinchilla.

The event is being billed as a “Central American fiesta” and picks up on the new leader's expressed desire for regional integration.

Panama's Blades joins Nicaraguan singer-songwriter Perrozompopo, Belize's Mr. Peters, Salvadoran singer Pamela Robin and Honduras' Guillermo Anderson on the concert program.

Costa Rican acts include Iride Martínez, the country's most celebrated opera singer, as well as popular local acts such as Son de Tikizia, Malpaís, Editus and Gandhi. Tica expat Debi Nova, who lives in the United States, will also perform.

The outdoor party kicks off 7 p.m. at La Sabana Park and is free and open to the public.

Before the evening's festivities get under way, Chinchilla is set to open her four-year term before the likes of Mexican President Felipe Calderón, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and leaders and representatives of 18 other countries.

See related story
Costa Rica to inaugurate first female president Saturday

A network of communes in Costa Rica will try to promote sustainable communities and eco-living through a four-day gathering near the Rio Machuca in San Mateo, Alajeula.

The first national meeting of intentional communities (a commune where activities are shared and communal arrangements create a supportive network) will take place from June 21-23. The event coincides with the summer solstice. Attendees will participate in activities relating to permaculture, agriculture, ecology and biodiversity – with an added focus on communal living and arts.

“We have to make this network work,” said Christian Carranza, one of the events coordinators. “We have to achieve a successful community. And then we have to find a manner to make changes together.”

More than 50 communes, including 14 indigenous villages, have been invited to join the gathering, which is being organized by the Harmony Group, a movement that promotes ecological awareness through Costa Rica and Central America. These include communes from the northern Caribbean region of Costa Rica to the Osa Peninsula in the south. Tacotal, the commune hosting the event, sits close enough to the river that participants can swim in natural pools

For the inaugural gathering, Carranza said the emphasis is on bringing together local communities. However, he believes in the future these meetings will have a more international flavor. The idea of maintaining a peaceful and harmonious relationship with the environment is a universal issue, and Carranza said that concern should bring out people who respect and care about nature and who want to understand better how to live in peace with their surroundings.

For those who want to participate, the cost is ¢ 50,000, which includes living arrangements, food and the cost of activities throughout the event. Call 8364-3498 for more information or visit www.grupoarmonia.org.