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Theater at Noon in Alajuela
Storytelling by Los Tropezones, July 22, at 12:10 p.m., Juan Santamaría Museum, Alajuela.

Cine y Fútbol
La pelota en pantalla: Free soccer-themed film festival, “Die Elf Teufel,” by Zoltan Korda, July 22; “Football under Cover,” by Ayat Najafi and David Assmann, July 29, both at 6 p.m., Sala Gómez Miralles, Centro de Cine, Av. 9, Ca. 11, behind INS.

“Evita” in Two Languages
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical presented in alternating English and Spanish, with translations on a screen, by the McCallum Fine Arts Academy of Austin, Texas, to benefit 2010 National Cleanup Day, July 23-24, 7 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum. Reserve at 2222-7647, 2258-4929.

“Barroquísimo”
Contemporary ballet by Ballet Independiente de San José, July 23-24, 8 p.m.,Teatro de la Danza, CENAC, Av. 3/5, Ca. 11/15, 2221-2154.

Vacation Workshops
For ages 3-12, through July 22, Desarrollando Mentes, Escazú. Info: 2289-4586, www.desarrollandomentes.com.

Music at Dusk
Flute and piano recital, July 22 at 5:10 p.m., foyer, National Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 3/5. Info: 2221-5341.

Nicaraguan Folk Music Concert
July 22, 7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Barrio Escalante, Av. 13, Ca. 31. Info: 2257-2919, www.ccecr.org.

The Finance Ministry announced that government spending ballooned 26.5 percent in the first half of 2010 in comparison with the same period in 2009. Government revenues increased only 13.7 percent during the same time frame.

According to the Finance Ministry, much of the increase in spending was attributed to the payment of government salaries, which rose 23.3 percent, and personnel expenditures, which went up 36.2 percent. The ministry also reported that university expenses increased 29 percent, interest payments were up 12.7 percent and that internal debt jumped 24.2 percent.

On the revenue side of the ledger, increases in taxes generated the largest sums of government income, including income generated by income taxes, which increased 9.2 percent, from sales taxes, which rose up 24.3 percent and from the customs tax, which shot up 30.5 percent. Income from utility taxes also grew 4.5 percent during the first six months of the year.

“We have to be very cautious about being pleased with the increase in the collection of taxes,” said Fernando Herrero, the finance minister. “While the areas of income grew in small amounts, particularly in the case of internal taxes, the weak economic recovery does not allow us to forecast important growths in government income. We are at a time when our focus needs to be on improving the management of public finances.”

The Finance Ministry predicted the growth of the fiscal deficit for 2010. The deficit, which is currently over $402 billion, currently represents 2.18 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Herrero has said he expects the deficit to account for 4.5-4.8 percent of the GDP by the end of the year ( TT, May 28 ).

As far as plans to limit the expanding deficit, Herrero said the ministry will continue to combat fraud and tax evasion, and look for new avenues to generate income, potentially by exploring the option of a tax reform.

“In the next few weeks,” Herrero said, “we will present a proposal to the country to introduce some reforms to the tax system that will allow us to improve the equity of the system while working to generate more income and reduce the system's complexity.”

After distancing her government from the stalled and controversial Crucitas open-pit gold mine in Costa Rica's northern zone near the Nicaraguan border, President Laura Chinchilla and her executive team seem to be more open than ever to hearing the point of view of the project's opponents.

Casa Presidencial spokesman have repeatedly told The Tico Times that the mine was signed into law in a previous government and that Chinchilla would not revisit the decision.

Now, perhaps driven by intensified opposition to the mine and recent polls that indicate that more than 80 percent of Costa Ricans oppose the project, her government has said it's willing to “study” and “analyze” the documents and resolutions that had granted approval to the mine.

Construction on the mine project began in early 2008 but halted within months over legal and environmental concerns.

Last week, before leaving on a weeklong, 170 kilometer march from San José to Crucitas, mine opponents handed Laura Chinchilla a written request to revoke the presidential decree signed by her predecessor, Oscar Arias, which authorized the Crucitas project to move ahead. Two days after the marchers departed, Chinchilla said in a press conference she would “analyze” the executive decree.

On Monday afternoon, when protesters returned from Crucitas, Vice President Alfio Piva issued a formal response to the marchers' request.

“The government will proceed to thoroughly study the complete text of the resolution of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court and it will act according to its duties,” he said.

That text is more than 300 pages.

But Piva stopped short of saying the government will fully support mine opponents and he ultimately left the project's future in the hands of the Administrative Appeals Court, where the legalities of the public interest decree are presently being examined.

“We will absolutely respect the resolutions of our tribunals … and considering that the issue remains open in the courts, it will not be until the results of this process are known that the future of the project will be clear,” Piva said.

Environmentalists who oppose the mine were disappointed with the government's response.

“This news was not received with much satisfaction on the part of the activists who walked 170 kilometers,” said Luis Diego Marín, president of Preserve Planet, an environmental group. “We will continue fighting intensely until we successfully bury, forever, open-pit gold mining in Costa Rica.”

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega told the press Tuesday that he skipped the Central American Integration System (SICA) meeting this week because it was designed and promoted by the United States.

He questioned why the U.S. has not closed its military base in Palmerola, Honduras, which he said was instrumental in the coup that ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya last year.

He called the effort to reintegrate Honduras into the regional organization “ridiculous” and harmful to the unity of Central America.

“Some governments, not their people, have said nonchalantly that they have decided to reintegrate Honduras into the Central American Integration System, which is absurd and ridiculous because this organization has rules, and according to them, there needs to be a consensus, unanimity,” Ortega said.