NEW YORK, September 27 – Waving the Tibetan national flag, members of the Costa Rican Boys Scout stood side by side with a crowd of some 400 well-wishers, who too were there yesterday to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the National Theater of Costa Rica, where the Tibetan leader was to give a talk on “Inner Peace, Outer Peace”.
The talk was attended by 2,500 people, exceeding the Theater’s seating capacity of 2,000.
The remaining 500 listened to the Tibetan Nobel Peace laureate on a short circuit television installed in Hotel Costa Rica.
About 300 people lined the street outside the National Theater to catch a glimpse of His Holiness as he passed by.
His Holiness was introduced at the public talk by Oscar Arias, Costa Rica’s former president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and a long-time friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Earlier, His Holiness received Oscar Arias and his family in private audience, spending some 30 minutes with them.
In addition, His Holiness also met Costa Rica’s cultural minister and under secretary of culture.
His Holiness’ enagagement included an appearance at a special ‘Meet the Press’ event, where he answered questions from some 75 media persons.
Costa Rica shares a very special ideological vision with Tibet.
Just as Tibet gave up warfare as a national policy centuries ago, Costa Rica today is the only nation on the planet that is totally demilitarized, thanks to the vision and initiatives of its former president Oscar Arias.
