The Costa Rican government announced the inauguration this Monday, June 4th of Route 257 which will connect Route 32 (San Jose-Limon) to the Moin Container Terminal. The design and construction of this road was executed by the company Consorcio del Atlantico which is formed by Constructora Meco and Spanish company Puentes y Calzadas; it had a cost of approximately $77 million USD and took 18 mo...

Many see it simply as a freaky coincidence, but the resemblance of Costa Rican goalie Keylor Navas to former soccer player and Real Madrid’s club president for 35 years Santiago Bernabeu, still surprises many. The Real Madrid stadium was named after the iconic character who played as a striker from 1912 through 1927. Keylor Navas is the main goal keeper of “Los Blancos”, and recently achieve...

Violence in Nicaragua continues, and this Saturday it left another three fatal victims, among them, a United States citizen. The death of the three men occurred in confusing circumstances during conflict between mobs. The American citizen was identified by Nicaraguan authorities as Sixto Henry Vera, 48 years of age and it was attributed to “delinquent groups that operate in the area with fi...

Costa Rican runner Juan Diego Castro, earned his ticket to the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships in Athletics, also known as the World Junior Championships in the 800 meter track running category. Castro took the first place in the U20 Central American Championship that is being held in El Salvador, stopping the clock in 1:49.95 when the time established by the International Association of Athl...

This Sunday, June 3, over 40 thousand inhabitants of Nicoya, Guanacaste are called to vote on the administrative independence for the district of Nosara. The plebiscite which will be overseen by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), will decide on whether or not to form the Municipal District Council of Nosara. In other words, Nosara will continue to be part of the Nicoya Municipality but it wi...

The hurricane season 2018 officially kicked off this Friday, June 1st, and this year the National Hurricane Center of the United States estimates a total of between 12 and 16 storms, out of which between 5 and 9 could become hurricanes. Only four are expected to reach high categories of 3, 4 or 5. This year we will not have the influence of El Niño in the initial months, but La Niña should not ...

National Parks, Wildlife Protected Areas, Biological Corridors, Protected Zones, Forest Reserves, Costa Rica has a number of protected areas that represent one of the country’s biggest assets as they attract millions of tourists every year. The options of different National Parks to visit are many, 28 to be exact and 72 protected areas of variable types that represent 26% of the total area of t...

Just days away from the Russia World Cup 2018, experts and fans start making their predictions; Germany, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, are some of the favorites to win the World Cup; for other smaller teams it seems an almost impossible dream. Four years ago during the Brazil World Cup, Costa Rica surprised the world by making it to the quarter finals; for many critics, it was luck, but in reality,...

Costa Rican goal keeper Keylor Navas, was recognized as the best athlete in the American continent by the AIPS-America (International Association of Sports Media). Navas, who recently won his third consecutive European Champions League title with his team Real Madrid, received the award as the best male athlete in the 2017 season. This recognition is awarded every year since 2011 to the best m...

Source: U.S. Embassy Costa Rica The United States Embassy in Costa Rica shared the following list of safety tips for travelers visiting the country: Know Your Environment Costa Rica lies in an active seismic zone; small earthquakes are commonplace and authorities sometime limit access to national parks near active volcanoes for safety. During the rainy season from May to November, heavy rai...

The Costa Rica male national Soccer Team “La Sele” has been working together throughout this week as their preparation begins in route to the Russia World Cup 2018. The team will be playing in a full National Stadium on Sunday, June 3 when they face Northern Ireland in their last international friendly in Costa Rica before leaving to Europe next week. Norther Ireland faced Panama this past Tue...

Photo: Archives The crisis continues in Nicaragua as the government and the opposition fail to come to terms. According to EFE, the Nicaraguan Health Minister Sonia Castro confirmed Thursday that 15 people have died and 199 have been wounded over the past two days of protests around the country. While the Nicaraguan Center of Human Rights (CENIDH) detailed in a preliminary report that enco...

Street vendors are found everywhere in Costa Rica, and they will offer many different products, ranging from food to clothes and cell phone accessories. According to a recent study by the Demoscopia for the Illicit Commerce Observatory of the Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce, there are over 5000 street vendors in the center of the capital city of San Jose alone; it is estimated that they could ...

Swarovski, leading manufacturer of precision cut crystal and a world-renowned brand that adds sparkle to everything from jewelry, watches, fashion accessories to couture fashion and state-of-the-art lighting technology, officially inaugurated its business services center in San José, Costa Rica. The new location will host the company’s Global Business Services (GBS) center in the Americas which wi...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) presented its Economic Outlook report 2018-2019, and in the specific case of Costa Rica affirms once again that the major domestic risk the country has involves the high fiscal deficit and the rapidly growing public debt. The report stresses that if left unaddressed the fiscal deficit and the growing public debt could end up threa...

“Fiscal Sustainability for the Wellbeing of Costa Rica” is the name of the proposal presented to the Legislative Assembly by the Minister of Treasury Rocio Aguilar this Wednesday. Administrative actions, decrees, law projects and directives are included as part of the proposal that hopes to contain the government’s expenses with the purpose of bringing down the fiscal deficit between 1.6% and 1...

The President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado and the Minister of Treasury, Rocio Aguilar, signed an order today for the reduction of general managers salaries working at the State’s commercial banks, aswell as Banco Popular. He instructed the boards of directors of each of these institutions (Banco Nacional and Banco de Costa Rica) as well as Banco Popular, to adjust the salary of their general...

President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, the First Lady, Claudia Dobles and other members of the government received the visit of the Male National Soccer Team at the Presidential House this past Monday. Headed by coach Oscar Ramirez, the players and representatives of the Costa Rican Soccer Federation, responded to the invitation of the president: “You represent the feeling of almost 5 mil...

The heavy and constant rains that have affected Costa Rica since last Friday have cause damage in different communities, floods, landslides, overflowing rivers and damaged infrastructure. Problems on Route 32 are not uncommon throughout the rainy season, and once again it remained closed for several hours as a result of multiple landslides. The road has since been cleared for transit once again...

The Minister of Treasury, Rocio Aguilar, explained to the Government Council this Tuesday, the difficult fiscal situation Costa Rica is facing and the actions that will be presented to the Legislative Assembly regarding containment of expenses this Wednesday and Thursday. At the same time, President Carlos Alvarado, signed along with Aguilar an order to “freeze” the salaries of all government o...

Costa Rica has been taking big and important steps towards becoming a sports tourism destination. The country’s particular characteristics, its many attractions, beautiful weather, safety, political stability, technology availability, together with the experience gained by organizing companies and the support offered by the government, have played a significant role in the growth of this industry...

Through a police operation organized this Tuesday morning by the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), 29 people were detained as suspects of being part of a criminal gang dedicated to car thefts. A total of 27 raids took place in Barrio San Jose, Alajuela; Concasa in San Rafael, Alajuela; Heredia, San Jose in Purral, Goicoechea and La Carpio in La Uruca. Members of this gang are linked main...

The number of femicides and different forms of violence against women are worrisome. According to numbers by the Observatory on Gender Violence Against Women and Access to Justice, in Costa Rica on average two women are killed per month in femicides. Last year for instance this number raised to 26 femicides.  So far this year there’s been 8 confirmed femicides. While in average the 911 service ...

If you are a fan of labyrinths Costa Rica offers several options for you, one of them is the Katira Labyrinth in Guatuso, Alajuela, the country’s biggest circular maze. The Katira labyrinth or Rafa’s Maze, covers 3,000 square meters, and it’s a fun stop if you are in the area of Rio Celeste since is just 1 kilometer away. Traveling from San Jose, it’s about a 4-hour drive. The record in find...

On May 24th The Word Health Assembly, approved an initiative promoted by the governments of Costa Rica and Colombia, along with the support of the Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP) branch of the University of Costa Rica. The ICP aims to take global action to bring down the number of deaths caused by snakebites. According to the documentary “Minutes to Die: Snakebite – The World’s Ignored Health ...

Timothy Philip, “Tim Don” known as “The Man With The Halo” has confirmed his participation in the Ironman 70.3 Essential Costa Rica triathlon event that will take place on June 24 in Playas del Coco, Guanacaste. Don became a World Champion in 2006 and won the London Triathlon in 2007. He set a new Ironman World Record at the Ironman South American Championship in Florianopolis, Brazil on May 2...

The activity at the Poas volcano was captured on video this past May 25th, as members of the National Seismology Network were doing maintenance work in the area. The impressive footage shows the degasification with an important column of water vapor. “The degasification is persistent but passive, it consists in low temperature fumaroles rich in water vapor with a relatively low content of ma...

Anthony Fillingim won today the fifth date of the Kolbi National Surf Circuit: The 40’s Cup, which took place at Playa Bejuco in Parrita, Puntarenas. Fillingim, who had claimed the first spot in this same beach back in 2016 when the tournament last had this stop, had an incredible performance that earned him a score of 15.50 (8.00+7.50) and 17.50 (9.00 + 8.50) in the semifinal and final respect...

The Cisco Digital Readiness Index measured the digital preparation of 118 countries, 19 of which are from Latin America, with the purpose of learning where each country stands and the effects this generates in their competitiveness, generation of employment, attraction of investments and promotion of innovation. According to this Index, the country in Latin America best ranked in digital readin...

The different police operations that have been organized so far this year by the Ministry of Public Security which have led to the seizure of 757 firearms. In the majority of the cases, the gun bearer didn’t have the respective permit to carry the weapon. Of the 757 firearms confiscated, 338 are pistols, 257 revolvers, 45 shotguns, 40 rifles, 46 rudimentary manufactured and another 20 that are ...

The General Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica has announced they are intensifying the security protocols to prevent people suspected to be part of organized criminal groups or gangs in Central America (known as ‘Maras’ eg..Ms-13, M-18) from entering the country. MS-13 and M-18, the two strongest and most widespread Mara gangs, were spawned in the 1980s in poor Los Angeles neighborhoods by ...

Incae business School in Costa Rica appeared once again in the ranking of best business schools in the world generated by Financial Times. This year it earned position 29 in a ranking that includes over more than 100 schools that focus in the career of business administration and executive formation and that met the initial criteria. Incae also took third place in Latin America, only behind...

Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3 -1 and won for the third consecutive time the European Champions League. Real Madrid fans in Costa Rica celebrated the great performance of the Spanish team which reached the 13th Champions title; but Costa Ricans in general celebrated Keylor Navas’ achievement, he made history by becoming the first goal keeper to lift the Champions League trophy three consecutive t...

The Foundation Pro Unit of Palliative Care in Costa Rica received this Friday the Sasakawa Health Prize given by the World Health Organization, during a ceremony celebrated in Geneva, Switzerland. “The Sasakawa Health Prize consists of a statuette and a sum of money to be given to one or more persons, institutions or nongovernmental organizations having accomplished outstanding innovative work ...

As The Costa Rica Star reported earlier today, the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) conducted several operations this Saturday morning to take down a drug trafficking cell associated with a Mexican cartel. In total 7 foreigners, six Mexicans and one Guatemalan, were arrested as a result of the operations carried out by OIJ in conjunction with the Special Service of Tactical Response (SERT i...

The Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) conducted several operations this morning to take down a Mexican cartel operating in Costa Rica. The raids took place the morning of this Saturday in three locations in Alajuela (Atenas, Grecia and the center of Alajuela, as well as in Guachipelin, Escazu; as a result, seven people were arrested, six Mexicans and one Guatemalan. Apparently, the suspec...

The best surfers in Costa Rica gather today and tomorrow (May 26 and 27) at Playa Bejuco in Parrita for the fifth date of the Kolbi Surf Tournament: Copa Los 40 (The 40’s Cup). The last time the tournament had a stop at Bejuco Beach was back in 2016, an event that saw Anthony Fillingim and Emily Gussoni take the first place positions. The organization of the event confirmed it has received o...

According to a report by the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) issued today, May 25, the Intertropical Convergence Zone remains very active over Costa Rica, causing instability in the atmosphere. On the other hand, tropical storm Albert has formed 90 kilometers east of the Yucatan Peninsula, as informed by the National Hurricane Center. This storm is expected to move over the Gulf of Mex...

A white van carrying 302 kilograms of cocaine and that was being escorted by another vehicle was intercepted by the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) in Jacó, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. OIJ received confidential information that alerted of the situation and coordinated a road control operation with the Municipal Police of Garabito, the Public Force and the Direction of Intelligence and Security...

President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, signed a Law 9552 for the creation of the National Police Academy which seeks to bring professionalism to the police force. In the past five years 3,998 new people have joined the police, 78% men and 22% women, 43% of them concluded 9th grade of high school, 51% graduated high school and 6% have university studies. The approval of this law was celebr...