This week's weather forecast, includes the formation of a tropical cyclone in the Pacific Ocean near Costa Rica A large but disorganized low pressure system in the Pacific Ocean near the country has been generating a lot of instability, bringing heavy afternoon and evening rains to much of the country. This weather system will likely become organized in the coming days, predict Costa Rican m...

Drug-related violence is as much a fact of life in Central America’s Northern Triangle as it is in some parts of the urban U.S. But its impact in these small Central American countries is huge, with up to 10 percent of the population of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador having fled violence and its associated poverty and insecurity according to the Washington-based Atlantic Council. This viol...

Roberto Zoch, the young entrepreneur now leading San José's top ranked municipal government, was recently profiled in Costa Rica's EKA business magazine. Moravia is a county north of downtown San José; its county seat is San Vicente. Its municipal government website is very user friendly with pages listing recycling routes, park clean-up dates, and other useful information for residents. The...

Multiple reports in U.S. and Canadian media have revealed the details currently known about the gruesome murder of a Canadian woman and her U.S. boyfriend near the northern Belize town of Corozal. Belize police determined that theft was not the motive of the murder as no money or jewelry were stolen from the couple. Of two people detained this week as suspects in the murder, one Canadian man...

Meet the changemakers promoting sustainable living in one of the world's greenest, and happiest, countries, Costa Rica:    ...

As Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís finishes the final year of his term, he urged legislators to focus on eight priority pieces of legislation in his address to this nation earlier this week. The first of these is relating to the value added tax, or VAT. Under this legislation, the current sales tax would become a value added tax (VAT), but remain at the same 13 percent rate. The p...

Costa Rica’s busiest airport, the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela, 20 minutes northwest of San José, has selected SITA to implement its ground-breaking control center technology solution. SITA, a global information technology provider to the air transport industry, will operate its ControlBridge which will provide Aeris Holdings, the airport operator, with a centralized ...

Panama’s Public Prosecutor’s Office this week charged the police officer responsible for accidentally shooting a 22 -year-old American tourist in the capital's historic district April 28, reported local Panamanian media. In the incident, an agent from the Institutional Protection Service (SPI), a special police unit assigned to protecting the president and the presidential palace area, fired at...

Today Costa Rican Security Minister Gustavo Mata Vega gave highlights of one of the biggest break ups of a drug ring to date in Costa Rica. With today’s 12 arrests - 10 in Costa Rica and two in Colombia - a total of 38 people have been caught in connection with a Costa Rican-Colombian drug trafficking ring after a 2-year investigation, said the ministry press office. Costa Rica’s Drug Contro...

As researchers scramble to understand how ecosystems react to the earth's changing climate, forests, especially tropical rainforests, are top on the list. This is because of their huge capacity to be "carbon sinks" or absorb tons of carbon pollution - from burning fossil fuels - that creates the greenhouse effect, or warming of the earth's climate. As global temperatures rise, and rainfa...

When the La Cruz elementary school director decided to allow Nicaragua students to join her Costa Rican classes, things started to change. La Cruz, Upala, at Alajuela province's northernmost point, is on the border with Nicaragua. Under the guidance of creative designers and communicators from J. Walter Thompson and with the commitment of Costa Rica's leading TV station, Teletica, the children ...

Last night during a street patrol, tourist police seized 541 doses of LSD in the center of Montezuma de Cóbano, a popular coastal tourist and surf town on the southern part of the Nicoya peninsula in the province of Puntarenas. Police said they believe the drugs may have been thrown out onto the street by local traffickers who got nervous by the police's presence. LSD is a powerful and dange...

In the first four months of the year the price of the dollar on the Monex wholesale market has increased almost 2 percent, according to financial reports. At the beginning of the year, the price of the U.S. currency was 556.06 colones to the dollar, but on Tuesday, May 2 the day closed at 566.97 colones to the dollar, a gain of 10 colones in only four months. "In the banks' windows, the refe...

While Latin America as a whole has experienced marked deforestation, Costa Rica has proved the notable exception, and has sustained and even increased its forest cover, said a climate investigation published in the University of Costa Rica’s weekly Semanario Universidad. What has led to Costa Rica’s success? The United Nations Organization for Agriculture (FAO) says state support and incentives...

DHL Costa Rica recently donated bikes to 77 poor families in Guanacaste, Costa Rica’s northern Pacific coast province, reported the company. The event was designed to coincide with the recognition of 75 DHL Employee of the Year recipients, who were also featured at the bike ceremony. "Every year during the Employee of the Year celebration, we organize activities that reinforce the philosophy...

The Manuel Mora Valverde Hospital in the southern Costa Rican city of Golfito near the Panama border recently received an investment of approximately US$1.8 million to renovate and upgrade their outpatient care, operating rooms, neonatal care, and hospitalization area, said the Costa Rican Social Security Agency which runs the country's public health care facilities. In February surgeons at the...

Two areas of San José's La Sabana park have become well known spots for casual sex between men, reported Costa Rica's Teletica Channel 7 TV. The city's largest green space by day is filled with runners, walkers, cyclists, and others enjoying the are which has been reforested over the past years with thousands of native trees. The Teletica report estimates around 38,000 people visit the park eac...

On April 5, 2017, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen introduced legislation into the U.S. House of Representatives to "oppose loans at international financial institutions for the Government of Nicaragua unless the Ortega administration takes effective steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections," according to information on the U.S. Congress website. The bill, termed the Nicaraguan Investment ...

San Francisco de Heredia will soon be home to Oxígeno, a unique recreational and commercial space that combines nature and human relaxation in a development that “will be unique in the world," said Cuestamoras board president Manuel Zuñiga. Cuestamoras, owners of the Fischel pharmacy chain in Costa Rica, “is committed to becoming a multibusiness leader in the Americas across a range of industri...

British and UK media reported over the weekend about a group of Australian and other tourists who left their hotel in Antigua, Guatemala for an excursion on a private bus, only to be shot at by a passing car and subsequently assaulted, tied up, and robbed at gunpoint. An Australian couple who was part of the kidnapped group decided to try to recuperate their thwarted vacation plans by coming to...

A 22-year-old American woman tourist is in stable condition in Panama City's Santo Tomás  hospital after a shooting incident in the downtown historic center, called Casco Viejo. In the early morning hours of Friday, April 28, the woman was unintentionally shot by an Institutional Protection Service (SPI) agent, reported the local media El Siglo. SPI director Eric Estrada was quoted as saying...

Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool. The index's growing notoriety means its influence over governments is growing. Many heads of state and government fear its annual publication, said the nonprofit organization. The Index is a point of reference used worldwide by media, diplomats, and international enti...

The Zurich-based Swiss airline, Edelweiss Air, which operates flights to many European cities, North America, Asia, North Africa and the Caribbean, will start offering direct travel to and from Costa Rica May 9, said Enio Cubillo, director general of Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Department. The plans were announced last year by the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the Ministe...

The Westin Conchal Golf Resort & Spa, on Costa Rica’s north central Pacific coast, is the first all-inclusive beach hotel in Latin America and the first Starwood chain member to qualify as carbon positive. Florida Inmobiliaria, a subsidiary of Florida Ice & Farm Co. (FIFCO), owner of the Conchal resort, set aside 40 hectares of dry forest and mangrove of the resort's some 930 hectares a...

PayPal has extended its consumer protection coverage to include customers in 12 Latin American countries including Costa Rica, reported the region’s Summa business magazine. The service, which went into effect last week, aims to put customers more at ease when buying online, and is already available in several Latin American countries including Mexico and Brazil. PayPal said they will now re...

In July 1999, 21-year-old Claire McFarlanel was brutally raped and left almost dead in the streets of Paris, France when she was about to take a cab home after leaving work. Her attacker was captured 10 years later by means of DNA tests; since her attack, she has been fighting for her cause in the French courts. Last year, McFarlanel, now 38, started what she says is the "biggest journey of her...

The North American-Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) urged Costa Rican entrepreneurs to work within the U.S. government's framework of expanding bilateral trade as Trump steers the U.S. away from multilateral agreements that have generated a trade deficit. San José, April 28, 2017. On the Trump Administration's 100th day, political and economic analysts the world over are sizing things up....

Cartago will soon be getting its second Walmart store, this one in La Lima, at the entrance to the city and in the vicinity of the La Lima Industrial Park. This new store will bring the Walmart global chain’s total to 11 outlets in Costa Rica. No information was forthcoming regarding details of the opening date, construction size, or number of new hirees for the new la Lima store. The lat...

After taking a lot of flack for closures and delays, Costa Rican transportation officials announced one more total closure for the mega-overhaul of the Alfredo González Flores bridge spanning the Virilla River bridge along the General Cañas highway, the main artery into San José and to the international airport in Alajuela. The bridge will be completely closed starting Saturday, April 29 at 3 p...

The Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) has moved on from awarding the country’s cleanest beaches to granting their eco-diplomatic awards this week. The AyA awarded four embassies in Costa Rica, and three Costa Rican embassies abroad for their notable efforts in energy and water saving such as reducing paper use, recycling and solid waste management, and minimizing fossil fuel c...

Want to learn how to make a terrarium or how to care for a pet turtle or snake? Have a question about caring for your horse? Or just want some old fashioned fun for the family? The Coronado Agricultural Fair, now in its 30th year, runs from April 27-30 in the hilly agricultural area northeast of San José. Featured activities include a Costa Rican snakes exhibit with information on the differ...

Less than a month after starting operations, budget airline Volaris is considering adding a route to Nicaragua, said José Adán Aguerri, president of Nicaragua’s Superior Private Business Council (Cosep). The airline has expressed an interest in starting a flights between San José, Costa Rica and the colonial lake-side city of Granada, Nicaragua located in the southern part of the country. "V...

While business leaders clamor for expedited border crossings, the issue has been pulled from the legislative agenda for further consultation with indigenous groups living in the southern and northern border regions, according to reports in several Costa Rican national media. A border integration program established with the Inter-American Development Bank to provide Costa Rica with US$100 milli...

Glyphosphate is an herbicide used on coffee plantations in Costa Rica and other Central American countries. The chemical is included in the international Pesticide Action Network’s "List of Highly Hazardous Pesticides" and is targeted for global phaseout. Endosulfan is also used in Central American coffee production. It is “an off-patent organochlorine insecticide and acaricide that is being...

The Costa Rican Comptroller’s Office (CGR) has taken on the challenge of inspiring citizens to be proactive in exercising their rights and understanding their responsibilities. The “Juntos Somos Mas” (Together We Are More) campaign was launched last year and works mainly through public schools to instill the civic notions of public responsibility, working for the common good, non-discrimination...

Come one, come all to try out creative fare from throughout Costa Rica at the sixth Gustico food fair at the La Sabana Metropolitan Park this weekend. The event gives small scale food and other agricultural-related producers an opportunity to meet with local and international buyers, distributors and businesses, as well as a chance introduce their value-added products to the general public. ...

The Central Volcanic Mountain Range Conservation Area (ACCVC, its initials in Spanish) invites residents in the western Central Valley towns of Zarcero, Naranjo, Grecia, Sarchí, and Bajos del Toro to participate in a participatory process to create a management plan for El Chayote and Río Toro protected areas, said Costa Rican conservation officials. The plan will specify measures to be taken o...

The Balmoral Hotel is offering a new flexible, furnished lodging option in downtown San José for short or long stays. Preferential rates are available in a number of different room sizes and types for stays ranging from 3 days up to a year. The remodeled “micro apartments" range in size from 32m2 to 86m2, and are newly fitted with Italian porcelain floors, fine locally crafted wood furniture...

“Sí vos no pisas majé, sos marica! Así pensamos nosotros,” said a friend of Ben Anson's during his stay on Honduras' northern Caribbean coast. Which translates to, “If you don’t f*** man, you’re a faggot. That’s how we think.” This, and many other incidents experienced by the young and girlfriend-less Brit, drove Anson to write up his thoughts on masculinity, and publish them this week in Hondu...

If you want some extra income, and have a 4-door car no older than a year 2000 model, you can register at Nova to be a driver. The company is seeking applicants throughout Costa Rica's seven provinces. The driver phone/computer application will be released May 24, and the company says they plan to start offering services, complete with a legal services department for drivers, July 24, according...