San Lucas Island in the Pacific holds great historic and cultural richness for Costa Rica, and it is also a beautiful place to visit; for these reasons, the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC), are carrying out important efforts to strengthen the protection of the island, better the infrastructure for the park rangers and promote its ...

The Government of Costa Rica was notified by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the decision by the Arbitration Court in relation to the David Richard Aven et al c. Costa Rica (known as “Las Olas”). This arbitration was presented by a group of US investors in the year 2014 due to the Government shutting their real estate project down.  The claimants cited the...

The general labor strike in Costa Rica is going on 11 days, more than 30 institutions have presented their request to the labor courts to declare the illegality of the movement, yet, nothing has happened. Is the general labor strike legal or illegal? And why has it taken so long for judges to make their decision on this matter? The main problem comes from the changes made last year to the La...

The National Employee Union of the Social Security Service (Undeca) posted a press release on their social media channels in which they qualify the hiring of private laundry services by the Costa Rica Health Authorities (CCSS) as “illegal”. “The desperate actions of the authorities of Caja (CCSS), that arranged the hiring of private companies and external workers without any training to replace...

The 15th edition of the Ross Foundation Walk and Run Against Cancer in Costa Rica will take place Sunday, October 7 starting at 8 a.m. at Paseo Colon, San Jose. Like every year, this initiative expects to gather the attention of thousands of people, raising awareness on breast cancer and other forms of this illness that affect many Costa Ricans every year. The 2km walk is completely free an...

Two U.S. citizens, a man and a woman drowned today in a river waterhole known as El Salto de Belen, Nicoya, Guanacaste. According to preliminary information, the Red Cross received the alert at 11:35 a.m. this Wednesday, September 19; the foreigners were staying in a hotel in Samara and decided to visit this place to enjoy the fresh water and the waterfall. A witness stated to local media ...

Internationally acclaimed conductor Mark Laycock, from the United States and living in Berlin, Germany, will be directing the Costa Rican Symphony Orchestra this upcoming Friday, September 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 23 at 10:30 a.m. at the National Theater. The Orchestra will be sharing the stage with the Costa Rican Saxophone band Sonsax presenting the VII Concert of the Official Seaso...

After almost five hours of dialogue, the Costa Rican Government and the labor unions were not able to reach any agreements. During the first “preliminary meeting” held by both parties with the mediation of the Catholic Church at the Archbishop’s Palace in San Jose, each group laid out their positions and their requests, no agreements were reached and therefore the meeting will continue tomorrow...

This question should have a very simple answer, but as the days go by and the “strike” continues, the answer changes depending on who you ask. In short, the labor unions (sindicatos) are protesting the fiscal plan, formally known as the Law to Strengthen Public Finances, which is currently being discussed at the Legislative Assembly and has undergone some changes since it was originally present...

This weekend the Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra will pay tribute to some of the best guitar players of all times. With their unique and characteristic style that has earned them a huge fan base and has ensured that all their shows sell out, the proposal of Director Marvin Araya this time around is to highlight the work of famous guitar players such as Jimi Hendrix, Gilmour, Clapton, J. Page...

A “preliminary meeting” between Government representatives and leaders of the labor unions is scheduled to take place this Wednesday, September 19 at the Archbishop's Palace in San Jose at 9 a.m. Yesterday afternoon leaders of the labor unions agreed to have the Catholic church mediate to facilitate dialogue between the parts. The meeting that will take place tomorrow will just be a first “phas...

The U.S. Embassy shared the following alert for U.S. citizens living in or visiting Costa Rica in relation to the labor strike and related protests that are now going on 9 days: "Local and social media report that last week’s demonstrations against the host government’s fiscal plan likely will continue this week throughout Costa Rica, and particularly in San Jose. Protesters may express their o...

The Minister of Tourism, Maria Amalia Revelo, urged to protect the image of Costa Rica and defend the tourism industry, which represents the main source of income for the country. “The Costa Rican tourism industry is formed in its majority by small and medium size companies that in addition to generating wealth, they distribute it to thousands of families. Just last year income generated by tou...

Costa Rican Public Police Forces have started to take action which guarantee public order and the security of the inhabitants as promised during a press conference Monday morning. The Police intervened to eliminate a road block near the access to the Moin port to facilitate the access and exit of containers. The operation left two people detained and three officers suffered injuries as a r...

The company Celebrity Cruises made the decision of canceling the arrival of cruise ship Infinity to Puntarenas scheduled for this Monday; this due to security concerns resulting from the labor strike that is going on its 8th day and has affected mainly the provinces of Limon and Puntarenas. The ship will continue its itinerary straight to Panama without making the scheduled stop in Costa Rica,...

The Costa Rica Fire Department had to handle this Sunday night the spillage of close to 3,000 gallons of fuel from an oil pipeline. The spillage was reported at 9:10 p.m. close to the Dos Pinos factory in El Coyol, Alajuela, to handle the emergency, transit police had to close Route 1 which connects San Jose and Alajuela. There are no reports of people affected by the spillage; to avoid environ...

Fuel shortages are being reported in the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas, but also in some areas of San Jose, as a result of the constant road blocks created by protesters near the Recope (state’s refinery) facilities throughout different points of Costa Rica. According to a press release offered by Recope, tanker trucks decided this Sunday afternoon not to enter the Recope facilities in...

Photo Credit: FB Pegando Porte Costa Rican Public Police Officers handled an alert received by the 911 service regarding an apparent case of domestic violence that took place in Quesada Duran, Zapote, San Jose the afternoon of this Sunday, when they arrived the suspect attacked them. According to preliminary information the man, a U.S. citizen of last name Caspari, was out of control, attack...

During a press conference held on Saturday afternoon, the Minister of Security, Michael Soto, expressed his concern over damages caused by an “antisocial group” to the state refinery’s (Recope) oil pipeline between Limon and the Central Valley. Yesterday, the Public Police Force had to take control of the accesses to Recope in La Garita, Alajuela and Barranca, Puntarenas, to guarantee the suppl...

The labor unions rejected the proposal of the national deans’ council (Conare) and the Episcopal Conference to act as facilitators of dialogue to bring the general labor strike affecting the country since last Monday, September 10 to an end. The information was provided by the president of Conare, Marcelo Prieto, to national newspaper La Nacion, “The problem we have is that the leaders of the ...

Photo Credit: La Nacion/Shirley Vásquez The Costa Rican National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR) calls on the establishment of dialogue, agreements and solutions to prevent any more negative effects over the productive sectors and the economy of the country, and, of course, the provision of basic services for citizens. According to information provided by Canatur, the general labor strike has alre...

The Social Security Service (CCSS) in Costa Rica reported that this last Friday almost half of the regional health clinics that joined the strike on Monday had resumed operations normally; however, these first five days of strikes left 1,201 programmed surgeries cancelled and 38,921 appointments that did not receive attention. According to the institution's authorities, during the week all con...

This weekend the sports media’s focus is on the rematch between Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and the native of Kazakhstan, Gennady Golovkin better known as “GGG” (triple G). The first time these two met in the ring was two years ago, and the fight ended in a controversial split draw. The biggest boxing event this year, brings once again face to face the Mexican idol who holds a record of 49...

The labor unions announced the strike will continue for an indefinite period of time, they separate from the acts of violence that took place in some areas this week stating that the same are carried out by outsiders that take advantage of the protests and have nothing to do with the movement (police authorities confirm they cannot link protesters to these acts and most likely they are carried out...

US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo sent a message of congratulation for Costa Rica in the celebration of its independence: "On behalf of the Government of the United States, I congratulate the people of Costa Rica on your 197th anniversary of independence on September 15. Cooperation between Costa Rica and the United States is stronger than ever. Our enduring and respectful partnership,...

Captain Guillermo Hoppe Pacheco, General Director of Civil Aviation, informed today of the decision to declare yellow alert for Costa Rica’s international airports as a preventive measure in response to the general labor strike. The yellow alert involves increasing security in the perimeter of the airports, in the terminal access points and in the airport in general; this with the purpose of gu...

After five days of labor strike in Costa Rica, many students have been affected with approximately 50% of schools being closed, thousands of patients have lost their long waited doctor’s appointment or worse, their surgery, others have been affected by to road blocks, and the list goes on. Through a press release The Costa Rican Chamber of Exporters (CADEXCO) informed that after four days of labor...

The Minister of Public Security mentioned yesterday that officers of the public police force had been working additional shifts and had been the target of insults, violence and more during these last few days of general labor strike, he made the comment after people criticized the actions of a group of officers during a road block in San Pedro that concluded with the arrest of four university stud...

The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) informed through a press release the morning of this Friday the decision of suspending the tour of the independence torch through the different provinces of Costa Rica due to concerns for the security of the students who carry it, this because since the torch arrived yesterday its journey has been interrupted in several locations of Guanacaste and today in Pu...

The US Embassy San Jose announces three upcoming Consular events – routine Consular services for U.S. citizens in Golfito and Uvita and a Town Hall event in Perez Zeledon. Consular staff will be on hand to provide the below services in Golfito and Uvita and to answer any questions. "To RSVP for passport renewals, notary services, and federal benefits inquiries, please indicate your preference b...

President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, gave a press conference this Thursday afternoon after a long meeting with deans from the different Universities and where other members of the Government were also present. The President referred to the actions of the public police force that took place Wednesday evening and after which university students and the dean of the University of Costa Rica re...

At around 10:25 a.m. this morning the Independence Torch arrived in Costa Rica from Nicaragua through Peñas Blancas. The Independence Torch represents the liberty and independence of Costa Rica and the rest of the Central American countries. The tradition of the torch traveling through the different Central American countries began in 1964, the torch begins its journey in Guatemala and concl...

OAS: The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today passed a resolution on the "Recent Events in Nicaragua". Member States express their "strong condemnation regarding acts of violence, repression and human rights violations and abuses" committed against the people of Nicaragua, as documented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the United Na...

As promised last night by student federations of the different public universities, a large group gathered in San Pedro and is marching this Thursday morning towards the Presidential House in Zapote, members of the labor unions are taking advantage of the student movement and joining the demonstration. All academic activities were suspended today and are expected to resume at 1 p.m. at the Univ...

A group of students from different public universities were participating in a protest near the Outlet Mall in San Pedro. Apparently some of them were blocking the road and creating problems for drivers, the police intervened at which point the group threw rocks at them and took off running, in response, the police began a chase, and according to a journalist of Semanario Universidad, the officers...

The labor unions’ protest today in San Jose was very close to getting out of control, when a group of demonstrators took part in riots in front of the Legislative Assembly. The group tried removed the security barriers that were placed in the southeast of the Legislative Assembly building with the purpose of entering by force, in the process they also attacked two police officers with pepper sp...

RPM TV organizer of the Essential Costa Rica Surf Pro, one stop on the World Surf League (WSL), expects to receive close to 170 thousand people between October 4th and October 7th in the Men and Women’s Qualifying Series (QS) at Jaco beach. This event gathers some of the best surfers in the world and has the backing of the WSL North America, and the Costa Rican Surf Federation. The last time C...

As promised by members of the different labor unions, thousands of people from all areas of the country took La Sabana, Paseo Colon and other streets in San Jose starting at 9 a.m., the movement will extend today for as long as the weather permits. Since early hours this Wednesday, September 12, buses helped transport protesters from far away regions and they gathered at La Sabana, from this me...

The Costa Rican Government assured through a press release that the 10% of the homes with most income will be paying for 60% of the resources that would be collected with the fiscal plan, Project 20580 for the Strengthening of Public Finances, which is currently in discussion in the Legislative Assembly. This is an estimate of the Ministry of Treasury after revising the new adjustments that ha...

Labor unions in Costa Rica confirmed that the country wide strike will continue this Wednesday, September 12, when they expect to have the biggest march so far. According to information released by the labor unions the protesters will leave from different points in the country and will meet at 9 a.m. in La Sabana to walk towards the Legislative Assembly. Bus transportation will be offered by t...