A growing concern among Costa Ricans surfaced Wednesday when a radio reporter dared to ask the president if he cared to comment on criticism that he should spend more time at home solving national problems instead of trying to be the world’s peacemaker.

The president, Óscar Arias Sánchez, replied that his critics have to have a small, stingy spirit to label him for fighting to save lives anywhere. War, most of the time, doesn’t have any sense, and no one is going to win, he said. If he had the opportunity to save human lives, the president said, he will take that opportunity. And, he said, he really doesn’t care what his critics think.

Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, had just finished talking to reporters about his weekend trip to Colombia. He went there for the inauguration marking the start of Alvardo Uribe’s second term as president.

Arias said then that he was ready to help the Colombians end their five-decade civil war. He also had plans to meet with a Cuban official to encourage Raúl Castro to enact democratic reforms, according to his Casa Presidencial. That second meeting did not take place because the Cuban official wanted to restrict the topics to be discussed. Arias said Wednesday he did not want people putting conditions to dialog.

The Arias administration also has been quick to criticize the war between Israel and Hezbollah and to push for worldwide controls on small arms.

Arias also has been working on a proposal to have developed nations forgive debts of developing countries if the developing countries agree to reduce military spending and apply the savings to social needs.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Arias. the president’s brother and minister of the Presidencia, issued a statement expressing pleasure at the results of an opinion poll on the first three months of the Arias government.

The poll, done by CID-Gallup for La República newspaper and the Repretel television group said that 44 percent of those polled thought the Arias administration was doing a good or very good job.