Only behind Argentina and Mexico, Costa Rica takes the third place in Latin America when it comes to car density, with an average 231 cars per 1000 inhabitants, according to information published by the State of the Nation 2018 report. Argentina has a vehicle density of 315 and Mexico 278. The traffic problems in the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica are not news to anyone; in the pas...

Globcan 2018, a study carried out by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) with the purpose of analyzing the trend and international impact of the different types of cancer, exposed that Costa Rica is exceeding the average number of cases of prostate cancer. The study shows that globally, there an estimate of one million new cases of prost...

Two back to back wins in friendly matches relive the hope of Costa Rican soccer fans. The male National Soccer Team defeated its equivalent of Peru 3-2 in a friendly soccer match that took place in that South American country. It had been 62 years since the Ticos beat the Incas. During the first half of the game Costa Rica had problems finding the right game formula, the pieces were still in...

American actor and singer Zac Efron is no stranger to Costa Rica, he has vacationed in the country in the past and he wanted to come back for more. The handsome young man spent several days in the country, and like last year, he visited the with some friends and his brother Dylan. Efron shared some of his adventures in the country through his social media accounts, a visit to waterfalls in t...

The Costa Rican Coast Guard Service intercepted a vessel carrying 324 packets of cocaine weighing close to 1 kilogram each in front of the coast of Quepos in Puntarenas. The boat was detected the afternoon of this Monday, November 19, 80 nautical miles from Quepos, the interception was the result of the joined work of the National Coast Guard Service, the Drug Control Police and the United St...

Monday November 19th the Appeals Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of San Jose annulled the previous sentence that had declared the strike of employees in the education sector illegal, and sent back the process to the Labor Court for a new analysis. The strike of workers in the education sector which began September 10 was declared illegal on October 9, most educators of public schools have ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) and the Costa Rican Road Safety Council (COSEVI) had announced last year the plan to operate the entire Centralized Traffic System with the use of solar power, this system consists of 474 intersections with traffic lights located in San Jose, Cartago, Heredia and Alajuela, the project has now entered its fourth stage. In this new stage, p...

The 8th edition of the WODfest will take place in Costa Rica this December 1 and 2 at the Villa Olímpica in Desamparados. This year the event expects to attract close to 300 athletes from Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, United States and even England, Scotland and Kuwait. WODfest has positioned itself as the biggest event of its kind in Central America, geared towards individ...

A loaded truck from the Cervecería Costa Rica (Costa Rican Brewery) suffered an accident for reasons still unclear the afternoon of Sunday, November 12, near the Juan Santamaría Airport, loosing boxes and boxes of beer that ended up on the middle of the highway. Many of the beer bottles ended up broken, and the ones that didn't break ended up in the hands of a group of people when they realized...

It was supposed to open doors the first semester of 2018, and finally, after some delays, Oxígeno (Oxygen) Human Playground is ready for a pre-opening, which means it will open doors to the public even though they are still working on some areas. The date announced by the Oxigeno complex in Heredia is this Tuesday, November 20 , at 10 a.m.; however, on Thursday, November 22 they will be inaugur...

This week the Constitutional Chamber (Sala IV) in Costa Rica approved  the decision of the Government to put a limit of 2.7 million colones (approximately $4500.00 USD) to luxury pensions where some currently reach close to 12 million colones (approx. $20,000.00 USD) gross amount. “Luxury pensions” are those received by retirees that did not contribute the necessary quotes to receive the amount...

Costa Rica’s state refinery, RECOPE, announced they will be mixing the “super” gasoline with ethanol as of May 2019. According to Alejandro Muñoz, president of RECOPE, the plan is to include a 10% of alcohol per liter of super gas; at a later date, the “regular” or “plus” gas will also be mixed. Ethanol or alcohol is naturally produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts via petrochemic...

Costa Rican tourism business leaders will be trained on security and innovation issues during the XX National Tourism Congress (CNT), an event being organized by the National Chamber of Tourism in collaboration with the Costa Rican Tourism Board on November 21-22 in the Costa Rica Convention Center. The CNT is the largest event for the country's tourism sector, bringing together leaders and rep...

For a second time, the Nicaraguan Government insults the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, calling him “nosy, impolite, snide, racist and meddler”, this in response to the position that Alvarado and the Costa Rican Government has maintained in the different International Organizations and events regarding the crisis that Nicaragua has been facing since April this year. The insults wer...

Authorities at the Juan Santamaría Airport arrested a man that intended to travel to Canada carrying 5 kilograms of cocaine hidden in bottles of aloe vera and lotion. The man of last name Mehdi, a native of France, entered the country back in October 31 from Spain and was leaving the country this Friday, November 16 with destination to Canada. Officers found in the man's luggage five bottles...

The National Electric System (SEN) reached its biggest number in generation of wind power so far, with just six week left in 2018 before it comes to an end, the country has accumulated 1,512.65 gigawatt hours, surpassing the 1,287.68 gigawatt hours generated in 2017. The wind will pass for second year in a row as the second source of importance within the Costa Rican electric matrix. To date it...

The Costa Rica male national soccer team took the victory over Chile in a friendly matchup this Friday, November 16 in Rencagua, Chile. “La Sele” played well, better than it has in a very long time, even without Keylor Navas, it dominated the first half of the game without any problems. The offensive game finally appeared in the national soccer team, something that had gone missing since the R...

A report by the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) shows that the Tourism Industry contributes a 6.3% to the country’s GDP. “To put into perspective the size of the tourism industry in the country, it can be compared to other economic activities. In this way, for example, the IT industry represented a 2.2% of the GDP, the production of electricity contributed a 2.1%, the manufacturing of medical...

Manuel Jaquez, commercial cirector of low-cost airlines Volaris, announced this Thursday that the company will make of Costa Rica its Central American Hub. According to Jaquez, the company wants to give Costa Rica an airline with local identity as it once had; from here it will open new direct flights from Costa Rica to South America, the specific destinations were not revealed, but they will i...

Credit rating agency Fitch placed Costa Rica’s Issuer Default Ratings (IDR’s), which is basically an opinion on an issuer’s general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations, on rating watch negative (RWN), this gives the country anywhere from one to three months to resolve its public finances before lowering its already low rating. Costa Rica is currently rated as BB (elevated vulnerabilit...

Health authorities in Costa Rica warn of red tide affecting some areas of the Pacific Coast, Guanacaste, the Nicoya Peninsula and the Central Pacific. Red tide is caused by large concentrations of some species of algae. Red tide can be easily spotted due to the presence of red-brownish spots in coastal waters, this algal bloom also deplete oxygen in the waters and release certain toxins which w...

The Costa Rican Convention Center will host ¨Belgium Fest¨ an event that will bring together Belgian producers and distributors with the purpose of promoting their food, drinks and culture and offer an opportunity to network. Chocolates, Belgian Waffles, ¨Belgium Style¨ Beers as well as local craft beers, traditional Belgium food, food trucks, music and games are part of what visitors will be a...

The Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, will extend its operation hours to work 24/7 before the end of 2019. Currently, the Liberia Airport operates from 4 a.m. to 12 midnight, the decision of working an additional four hours responds to the increase of traffic to this terminal; this will also be beneficial to the region as it will create more jobs and will allow the att...

Specialists in gynecology at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Costa Rica built the vaginas of two woman that were born with vaginal agenesis, a rare disorder that occurs when the vagina doesn't develop, and the womb (uterus) may only develop partially or not at all. ¨The procedure consists of two stages: a surgical stage and a mechanical stage, the hospital had to acquire a special device for e...

The Ministry of Public Security conducted nine searches this Wednesday, November 14, eight of them in Alajuela and one in San José, to break down a local drug trafficking organization that is apparently linked to murders of members of other criminal groups and also debtors. According to the Drug Control Police (PCD) the group was formed by 14 people, 8 of them were arrested today, the other six...

Agents of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) with the assistance of the public police force carried out 13 searches the morning of this Wednesday, November 11 in the area of Guápiles, Cariari, Guácimo, Pocora and at the Carlos Luis Fallas Prison in Limon, also in San Rafael, Heredia with the purpose of arresting memebers of a drug trafficking organization. The operations culminated with t...

The NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams scheduled for Monday had to move from its original site at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca to the LA Memorial Coliseum, due to the field’s poor conditions. The field of the Azteca stadium did not meet NFL standards for playability and consistency. The Azteca Stadium had its natural grass turf replaced in May for a hybrid field used i...

The Costa Rican Ministry of Health warned of an increase in the cases of respiratory syncytial virus which affects mainly young children; currently, health authorities have registered 121 minors hospitalized, 30 of them in very delicate condition, some that require the assistance of a machine to breath. The health authorities called on parents to keep small children especially newborns and babi...

The Costa Rican Chamber of Industries shares its concern regarding the recent ruling that deemed the labor strike which affected the state refinery (RECOPE) legal. “This ruling attempts against the judicial security and the good direction of the country, its production, its citizens, its wellness”. The strike at Recope (Costa Rica's State fuel refinery) was initially declared illegal, accordin...

Former president of the Costa Rican Soccer Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), Eduardo Li is now in supervised release after serving nine months in prison and a period on parole determined the Court of the State of New York; Li is now free to return to Costa Rica, if he wishes to do so. Eduardo Li was arrested back in May 27, 2015 in Switzerland as a suspect of accepting kickbacks and bribes for the comme...

The Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, was able to arrange during a recent work trip to China a donation by this Government of almost $5.5 million in favor of Costa Rica to be invested in security. In a bilateral meeting with he Chinese Minister of Defense, Xu Qiliana, Soto was able to discuss this and other future donations “specially related to everything that has to do with the moni...

The Social Security Services (CCSS) in Costa Rica were interrupted several times this year due to labor strikes, the most recent movement which began September 10 was considered illegal by the Costa Rican Labor Courts in a resolution from October 1st; however, a previous movement which affected the services back on June 25 was just resolved by the labor courts and also deemed illegal. The sente...

Tech Data announced it has opened a new Customer Lifecycle Management Services location in Escazú, Costa Rica. Opening this November 12, the new facility will provide additional capacity to accommodate new customer success programs. Part of Tech Data's Global Lifecycle Management Services portfolio, the Customer Lifecycle Management Services team offers programs to help customers expand their...

Stan Lee has passed away at the age of 95, the comic book writer, editor and publisher as well as film executive producer and actor leaves behind a gap that will be difficult to fill. Stanley Martin Lieber was born December 28, 1922 in New York, he passed away in his home in Los Angeles, California this Monday, November 12, 2018. Stan Lee is known to the world as the father of Marvel Comics ...

A boat carrying cocaine was intercepted this Sunday November 11th this time, in waters of the Costa Rican Caribbean. The work was the result of a joint collaboration between national Coast Guard Service and the USA Coast Guard Service. The situation took place 9 miles from Moín, Limón when during the evening hours of Saturday the authorities detected a suspicious vessel which they approached, t...

Just a short drive from San Jose, in Ciudad Colón you will be surprised to find a unique place which opened doors recently and is still an unfinished project, the Anfiteatro de Villa (Villa Amphitheater), offers a cultural space, with impressive views, a delicious restaurant, a natural amphitheater and underground tunnels that you can discover from the hand of knowledgeable guides. The place us...

Costa Rican biker Kenneth Tencio “Pollis” took a historic second place at the UCI BMX World Championships which took place in Chengdu, China. The first place went to Justin Dowell from the USA, who earned 92.20 points over Tencio’s 88.90, the third place went to Australian Brandon Loupo with a score of 88.72. This win and the high score put Tencio one step closer to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. ...

Photo Credit: The Waterfall Trail. A thermal waterfall to the north of the Irazu Volcano in Costa Rica could be the highest of its kind in the country. With a fall of approximately 130 meters (426 ft) its hot water is the product of the action from the volcano.The Caliente River which is formed by thermal waters is found a few kilometers north of the volcano crater. The exact location is well k...

Mexican airline Aeromexico, inaugurated its flights connecting Liberia, Guanacaste to Mexico City, Mexico this Saturday, November 10 ; a route that will operate during the high season, ending April 21, 2019. The route is operated with planes with capacity for 99 passengers. This first flight departed from the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia to Mexico City. Aeromexico has also ...

Authorities of the Ministry of Public Security in Costa Rica intercepted two boats carrying a total one ton of cocaine, one of the boats was used in for sports fishing while the other one for small-scale commercial fishing. In total 5 people were arrested, all of them Costa Rican. The operation started after midnight this Saturday, November 10, when members of the National Coast Guard Service n...