“La Sele”, the Costa Rica male national soccer team and in particular head coach, Oscar Ramirez, have been the object of criticisms especially since their lost to Serbia last Sunday in their first game in the Russia World Cup. There’s been talk about the lack of capacity to lead and innovate from Ramirez, gossip about differences in the locker room between different groups of players, the Costa...

The Consulate of Costa Rica in Los Angeles is handling in coordination with the United States authorities, the case of a Costa Rican minor who was found on Tuesday afternoon at the Arizona desert. "The six year old child, was rescued by migratory agents of the United States in Luckeville, Arizona, just north of the frontier", stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. Accordi...

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Epsy Campbell, announced that Eduardo Trejos, Costa Rica’s ambassador to Nicaragua will remain in his position in the Nicaraguan Embassy through July 31st. Trejos was supposed to leave the embassy on July 1st to take on his new position as head of the Security and Intelligence Directorate (DIS). The decision obeys to the current crisis that Nicaragua is goin...

The sixth date of the Kolbi National Surf Circuit: INS Youth Cup will take place this weekend (June 23-24) at Jaco Beach. Some of the best representatives of this sport will gather in front of the Beach Break hotel and the forecast for the weekend couldn’t be better with big waves that will make for a very competitive event. A total of close to 150 competitors are expected, the activity will...

An analysis carried out by the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR in Spanish), “Challenges for the modernization of the remuneration scheme in the ministries” which was published today, revealed huge differences in the salaries from one Ministry to the other. The analysis was done for the Legislative Assembly, with the purpose of offering technical data and information that will serve as ...

President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado and the Minister of Treasury, Rocio Aguilar, announced today the plan to battle tax evasion, through which they expect to collect taxes by end of this year for an estimated amount of $88 million that have gone uncollected. The information was shared in a press conference held this Wednesday, June 20, at the Presidential House. The plan includes 10 strate...

Personnel from the Protection and Control Program of the Guanacaste Conservation Area arrested two men of last names Sanchez Mayorga and Sanchez Sanarrusia as they were hunting in the Guanacaste National Park, four other men were with them at the moment of the arrest but were able to escape. According to information provided by the Guanacaste Conservation Area (ACG in Spanish), Sanchez Mayorga ...

Costa Rican police detained this Tuesday a Colombian man as suspect of providing the drugs to a national drug trafficking organization who was moving the product to different parts of Central America via cargo trucks. The Public Ministry and the Organism of Judiciary Investigation (OIJ) conducted 11 searches in Escazu (San Jose), Belen, Sarapiquí, Santo Domingo (Heredia, and Sarchi, Naranjo, At...

Costa Rican boxer and former interim-world champion Bryan “Tiquito” Vasquez, was signed with renowned boxing promoting company Top Rank. “I want to share with my beautiful people, that after praying so much to God my moment is here, I promise to put Costa Rica in the highest point in the world, and represent each an every one of you with my heart, always grateful to God and my amazing wife Hann...

Heavy rains have been affecting several communities in the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica causing floods and damages to infrastructure. More rain is expected as of this Wednesday which has led the National Emergency Commission to emit a green alert for the Pacific coast and yellow alert for the area of La Cruz in Guanacaste and North Zone. “Atmospheric disturbances over the south of...

The famous lingerie store Victoria’s Secret is remodeling and expanding its store in Costa Rica to offer their complete line of products and lingerie in the country. Victoria’s Secret opened doors in Costa Rica back in 2011, focusing mainly on fragrances, body lotions, accessories and make up; now, 7 years later the brand is ready to offer their complete line of lingerie with famous lines such ...

Soccer games in Costa Rica always bring out the passion in Ticos, unfortunately this is not always the good kind of passion, but instead, it turns into violence and aggression. Last Sunday, June 17, during the national soccer team’s game against Serbia in the Russia World Cup, 911 registered in average 20 domestic violence incidents per hour, for a total of 482 reports in comparison to the 433 ...

Photo Credit: La Nacion/ Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal. The dream trip of hundreds of Costa Ricans soon became a nightmare last week when they were informed of the cancellation of their flight by travel agency DestinosTV. Close to 300 Ticos were stranded, at this point, sixty of them have been accommodated in commercial flights and are still waiting to get confirmation on their return flights, ...

This Monday, police authorities in Costa Rica were alerted of the apparent murder of a 67-year-old US woman who was found dead by her son in her motor-home which was in a property in San Rafael, San Ramon, Alajuela. The woman, identified as Melida Maria Thomas Gibson, and who was born in the United States but was nationalized Costa Rican, had knife wounds on her chest. Thomas was well known...

President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, and the Minister of Treasury, Rocio Aguilar, signed this Monday Law No.9573 which grants Costa Rica a line of credit for $500 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) –known as Conditional Credit Loan for Investment Projects (CCLIP) - for the development of sustainable electric projects. Individual loan contracts will stem from this CCLIP ...

The Ministry of Public Security in Costa Rica will be reinforcing their preventive work at the frontiers with the help of new equipment and vehicles that were received by the institution. The police delegations located in the areas of Los Chiles, Upala, San Carlos in Alajuela, La Cruz in Guanacaste as well as in Sarapiqui in Heredia, Talamanca in Limon, Corredores and Coto Brus in Puntarenas ar...

After two months of conflict in Nicaragua and a death toll of close to 200 people, violence continues in the streets of the Central American country as the protests against the government of Daniel Ortega and its repression seem unlikely to come to an end soon. The national dialogue resumed last Friday but it advances at a slow pace. The Government accepted this Friday the presence in the coun...

After four months of having been shut down to repair a leak, the largest hydroelectric plant in Central America, Reventazon in Costa Rica, resumed operations. Initially the works to repair the problem were estimated to take three months, but then the Costa Rican Electric Institute considered it could take up to six months, however, the main works were concluded and the plant resumed operations...

Costa Rica made its debut in the Russia World Cup this Sunday morning in Samara against Serbia in a game that saw intense action from the moment it started, both teams were clear that this game was crucial if they wanted a chance to get passed the group stage, since the other two teams in Group E, Switzerland and Brazil are tougher opponents, ranked 6 and 2 by FIFA respectively. Serbia attack...

The Sophia Wanamaker Galleries from the Costa Rican –North American Cultural Center (CCCN) will offer as of this Monday, June 18 the National Geographic Photo Exhibit. “Adventure, biodiversity, landscapes, culture, urban and wildlife, were captured by the lenses of National Geographic photographers for the photo exhibit of NatGeo Experience 2018 that the CCCN brings for you”, states the Gallery...

On Monday, June 18, truckers will take some of the main roads such as Route 27 (Caldera-San Jose), the General Cañas highway (Alajuela-San Jose) and Route 32 (Limon-San Jose, to protest against a number of situations they consider affect their jobs. The slow moving protest convoy of trailer trucks will begin at 6 a.m. leaving from several points: one group from the Coyolar-Orotina toll booth t...

According to a report by the Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD) on the impact of the consumption of drugs in Costa Rican jails, this business moves between $1.7 and $7 million dollars a year. Just last year, authorities in the country seized close to $2 million in drugs in the penitentiary centers, 79.8% were seized from inmates, while 19.7% from visitors and 0.4% from personnel. 176 kilograms...

This year, Father’s Day in Costa Rica revolves around the World Cup, “Ticos” are known for their love of soccer, and coincidentally “La Sele” will make its debut in Russia at 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 17, a perfect way to start Father’s Day celebration, that is, if they win. Granted, not all dads like soccer, but in Costa Rica that’s a minority, so promotions and many of the activities planned to...

During the commemoration of National Tree Day in Costa Rica, the State of the Nation Report points out the that the country has taken a leading position in the region when it comes to forest cover recovery, however, many challenges still lay ahead. By putting into practice different legal restrictions such as the prohibition to modify the use of land; incentives like the payment for environment...

"Paniamor Foundation and YouthBuild International have begun an ambitious project to improve employment opportunities for young Costa Ricans by expanding opportunities for work-based training for youth, such as apprenticeships, with a focus on including vulnerable and marginalized youth. This project is funded by a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The project was introduced d...

The afternoon of this Friday a man died after being struck by lightning while doing canopy tour in Monteverde. The victim was identified as Pedro Obando, 31 years old, who apparently worked as a canopy tour guide in the area. No additional information has been offered so far regarding the accident or the details on how the tragedy occurred. This Thursday heavy rainfall affected most of the C...

The crisis in Nicaragua has caused the requests for refugee status to increase, confirmed Director Raquel Vargas from the Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica in a press conference. According to Vargas, “there is no emergency and we are not facing a crisis at this point, there is an increase (in the number of requests), and we are clear on this; for this reason, we are going over the requests...

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) concluded after an investigation that Venezuelan national Diosdado Cabello Rondon (Cabello) has used his influence to personally profit from extortion, money laundering and embezzlement, and has used countries such as Costa Rica for his money laundering activities. Along with Cabello, his wife Marleny Josefina Contrer...

Vice-President Epsy Campbell, the Minister of Public Works and Transport Rodolfo Mendez Mata, the Minister of Foreign Commerce Dyala Jimenez and the Minister of Coordination and Link with the private sector Andre Garnier, met with close to 20 representatives of different corporations to coordinate efforts to mitigate the direct impact that the Crisis in Nicaragua is having over ground transportati...

Costa Ricans are counting the hours for the National Soccer Team to make its debut in the Russia World Cup 2018, however, in addition to the two defeats that “La Sele” experienced in their international friendlies, the concerns grow today as the Costa Rica Soccer Federation officially confirmed that “La Sele” is losing defender Ronald Matarrita (#22) due to an injury. 23-year-old Matarrita, who...

Labor unions in Costa Rica have announced this Thursday in a press conference a general strike that will take place since the early hours of Monday, June 25, as a means to manifest their opposition to the fiscal plan proposed by the Government. The labor union leaders, Albino Vargas from Patria Justa and ANEP (National Association of Public Workers); Martha Rodriguez from Bloque Unitario Sindi...

Through an executive decree, Costa Rica will establish safe routes in waters of the Pacific to increase marine security and prevent collisions between vessels and cetaceans. By creating an “Area-to-be-Avoided” and a traffic separation scheme, the country hopes to protect marine environment, particularly the migratory population of humpback whales and other cetaceans that travel the waters of G...

The low-cost airline Spirit, announced today the expansion of its operations in the Orlando International Airport, included in the new routes announced is a direct flight connecting Orlando, Florida with San Jose, Costa Rica. The route will be inaugurated October 5th and it will have a frequency of four times a week during the first month, increasing to daily services by November 8. Spirit h...

The Bureau of Consular Affairs of the United States Department of State issued a Level 3 (Reconsider Travel) advisory for Nicaragua due to “crime, civil unrest and limited healthcare availability”. Nicaragua has been facing a serious crisis that began in April 18, when college students took to the streets to protest the revocation of the social security and pension reforms approved unilaterally...

The Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy of Nicaragua called for a national strike this Thursday, June 14, to demand the end of repression and violence which has caused the death of at least 150 civilians. “This is a civic and peaceful strike that covers the entire country and all the economic activities”, explained the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy of Nicaragua which gathers bus...

In the frame of the World Day Against Child Labor, the Costa Rican Ministry of Work launched a campaign and signed a decree to raise awareness regarding child labor and with the objective of eradicating dangerous child labor by 2020. In Costa Rica it is forbidden for children under the age of 15 to do any kind of work, while teens over 15 are allowed to work under special conditions that guaran...

During his first trip as President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado held a meeting at the National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington D.C. with leaders in conservation and environmental sustainability. President Alvarado and the Minister of Environment, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, touched on topics such as the challenge to become carbon neutral, conservation of forests, and ocean health...

Eurofins Scientific, a global leader in bio-analysis, inaugurated its new offices in Costa Rica and foresees hiring up to 50 Costa Ricans with knowledge in Information Technology, professionals related to IT infrastructure, Data Center and IT operations, as well to application development, architecture, design, and support. Eurofins invested US$250,000 on this new service site in Costa Rica. ...

The Chamber of Commerce in Costa Rica has expressed its concern as the situation affecting Nicaragua continues to affect the transportation of merchandise through this nation’s territory, affecting both imports and exports. Due to this, companies have been obligated to use other means of transportation such as maritime and aerial which have resulted in an increase in the logistics costs of as much...

The National Seismology Network published the following information regarding the activity at the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano: “The Volcanology and Seismology Observatory of the Arenal and Miravalles (OSIVAM), operated by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) and that forms part of the National Seismology Network (RSN: UCR-ICE), registered changes in the behavior of the seismic activity in...