H.H. the Dalai Lama with President Oscar Arias, right, and Costa Rican Archbishop Ramon Arrieta, left, and Foreign Minister Rodrigo Madrigal Nieto.

Costa Rica: In a front-page article on June 23, 1989 The Tico Times, Central America's leading English-language newspaper, said in its lead: What can bring together Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet, Costa Rican Archbishop Ramon Arrieta, a Cherokee chieftain, various musicians and some 500 visitors from all over the world?

Answer: Peacespecifically, 'Seeking the True Meaning of Peace,' an international conference sponsored by the Costa Rican government and its Ministry of Natural Resources, the Catholic Church and the University of for Peace, being held in San Jose June 2530.

A weeklong conference was also called the meeting of the World Family for Peace and Sustainable Development. These events were, according to Tico Times, the brainchild of Dr. Abelardo Brenes, a psychologist who teaches at the University of Costa Rica and the University for Peace.

The conference was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Arrieta, 1987 Nobel-Peace Prize winner President Oscar Arias on June 26. President Arias and the Dalai Lama, nominated for the third year in a row for the Nobel Peace Prize, were also the keynote speakers at the conference.

In his opening address, His Holiness the Dalai Lama stressed the importance of developing a sense of universal responsibility in efforts to create a lasting peace and protect the natural environment.