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2010 ComuniArte Festival in Belén
Piano recital, June 7, 7 p.m., Casa de la Cultura; guitar recital, June 8, 7 p.m., Casa de la Cultura.

National Bands in Concert
June 8, 2 p.m., Hogar de Ancianos, Cieneguita, Limón.

Antique Music Festival
Hedi Salanki and María Clara Vargas, June 8, 6 p.m., National Theater.

Theater at Noon
Juilliard School dance group, June 8, 12:10 p.m., National Theater.

Manuel Antonio National Park has been officially reopened by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications after a week of hard work to clear the debris left by last Tuesday's surprise storm.

In a statement Monday, Carlos Vinicio Cordero, the regional director of the Central Pacific Conservation Area (ACOPAC), announced that the national park will be open to the public as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. The park's main access trail, Sendero Perezoso, will be open, as well as several access points to the park's beaches.

This is welcome news for hotels and businesses in the area. A week after many tourists vacated Manuel Antonio after the severe weather, the reopening of the national park indicates a return to normalcy for the popular tourist hotspot.

Although a significant amount of trees were uprooted and properties damaged, no fatalities were reported.

The storm hit Manuel Antonio and Quepos late last Tuesday with winds reaching up to 100 kilometers per hour, knocking out the electricity supply to most of the area and leaving 7,000 local residents and businesses without power. Over the past week, an estimated 200 workers brought in by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) have been working to return power to the area, including Manuel Antonio National Park.

Cordero also praised the support given by the association of local guides, who helped to clear footpaths. Over 25 local guides and tour operators put in 10-hour shifts over a period of five days to help prepare the park to receive visitors.

Government experts from the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) visited the park on Monday to assess the feasibility of reopening. An official report from SINAC detailing the current conditions of the footpaths is due to be released in the coming days.

Cordero said the damage to the park was considerable, and that some footpaths will require more extensive and specialized repair. Access to these areas has been restricted and will only be permitted in the company of a park ranger. However, “as there are less tourists arriving during this season, (this) will give us an opportunity to complete the necessary work,” Cordero added.

The Aguirre Chamber of Commerce also thanked the local community and government institutions for their participation in the cleanup efforts.

With over 300,000 visitors a year, Manuel Antonio is the most visited national park in Costa Rica, and the economy of the Quepos – Manuel Antonio area is heavily dependent on tourism generated by the park.

Costa Rica's lawmakers have cast their eyes on a new bill against human trafficking. The legislation – the bill against human trafficking and related crimes - entered the Legislative Assembly's commissions for analysis last week.

On Monday, Luis Fernando Centeno, a penal lawyer and specialist in human trafficking, urged legislators to move on the initiative. “This is an ambitious bill that addresses the most important aspects of the fight against human trafficking,” he told a roomful of Costa Rican legislators.

Costa Rica's penal code, its immigration legislation, as well as the country's Victim and Witness Protection Law prohibit human trafficking and impose penalties for those found guilty of the crime. The country has also signed international treaties, pledging to help prevent human trafficking.

But Costa Rica lacks a centralized law that specifically targets the issue.

“If our rules are dispersed, with one regulation here and another one there, we are not going to (effectively) combat trafficking,” Centeno said. “This bill generates stability and integrates guidelines and institutions for fighting trafficking.”

Included in the law's new language is the creation of a new agency and a national information system to battle human trafficking, as well as a national fund to assist victims of the crime. The bill would also create a special squad of police agents to investigate human trafficking.

The proposed bill includes several options to pay for these initiatives, including tacking on an extra dollar to the country's airport exit tax, now set at $26.

The bill would mandate a five-year prison term for “proprietors or owners of establishments that benefit from human trafficking or connected activities,” and would sentence those who enslave persons for “exploitative labor” to six to10 years in prison.

The number of detected victims of human trafficking in Costa Rica has nearly doubled over the past year. During the first half of 2009, the Ministry of Public Security reported 30 cases of trafficking in humans, while so far in 2010 50 cases have been reported.

However, Centeno believes that most instances of human trafficking in Costa Rica remain undiscovered by authorities.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees and the International Organization for Migration have announced their support for the new bill.

Costa Rica and Panama are currently the only two countries in Central America still free of the huanglongbing (HLB) bacteria and its vector, the Asian citrus psyllid. HLB is considered one of the deadliest diseases for citrus trees. The disease is known in Spanish as the “dragón amarillo” (yellow dragon).

Costa Rica's orange trees were deemed healthy after the latest inspection of trees in more than 400 areas throughout the country by the National Phytosanitary Service (SFE), said Jorge Solano, the service's staff person in charge of citrus production.

Solano said that it isn't easy to detect the plague on orange trees in one's backyard, as more common vitamin deficiencies that stunt orange trees can easily be confused with the early effects of HLB. According to the California Citrus Research Board, the disease can attack all citrus trees as well as closely related such as kumquat. HLB “produces small, hard, bitter, misshapen fruit; causes yellow mottling of the leaves; and is fatal to citrus trees,” according to information on the board's website, www.citrusresearch.com.

If something suspicious on citrus trees is seen, Solano recommends contacting the nearest Agriculture and Livestock Ministry (MAG) office. Rather than taking in leaves or other samples, it is best if MAG does an on-site inspection, Solano said. An infected tree will eventually die.

Solano indicated that tree nurseries throughout the country have been notified of the possible arrival of the plague in Costa Rica, and have been instructed to grow all their saplings under tents to protect from any possible exposure to the bacteria. Newly planted trees take about three years to produce fruit, Solano said.

The flea-sized insect that is the HLB's main bearer is readily transported by winds, and can be spread long distances by storms. This has caused concern that the disease could easily spread into Costa Rica from neighboring Nicaragua, where it was detected last year.

Solano said that the citrus industry in Costa Rica provides 20,000 jobs and brings in millions of dollars each year in export earnings.