Keeping kids from dropping out of school has topped the Education Ministry's agenda for years in Costa Rica, and some advances have been made. However the past two years the percentage who drop out at some point during the school year has remained steady at 2 percent. That translated into 14,606 students who have dropped out so far this year, according to data from the ministry. The mid-year...

Over 13,000 teens in Costa Rica became mothers this year. Pregnancy in teens not only has increased health risks for young expectant women, but is a direct contributor to limited educational and economic opportunities for women throughout their lives. This and other data on the topic of teenage sexuality was recently presented at the National University (UNA) in Heredia. A new law that we...

The Ochomogo, Cartago-based paint company, Celco, has developed a unique product that may help in the battle against potentially fatal mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya, and zika. Costa Rican chemists, biochemists and pharmacists joined together to create a paint formula that repels insects and interferes with their reproduction including the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that can carry...

Southwest Airlines inaugurated a new U.S.-Costa Rica route today to offer daily flights between San José's International airport (SJO) and the Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL) in Florida. The first flight for the new service left southern Florida at 11:30 a.m. today, Sunday, November 5, and arrived at the Juan Santamaría airport at 1:28 p.m. Southwest Airlines announced plans for ...

The Costa Rican Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) this week imposed the first sanction on an Uber driver for illegally providing transportation services. The penalty amounts to ¢2,017,000 (about US$3,500). Both the car owner and the driver are responsible for what is deemed the illegal provision of transportation, because, said the regulatory agency, Uber is not just a technology...

If you've been missing a trusted shoe source, you may be happy to know Keds has opened its doors at the Curridabat (eastern San José) Multiplaza shopping center. The new store has more than 200 shoe style distributed throughout the 50 square meter outlet. "The brand has gone through a renewal. It went from the classic silhouette, which it retains but now with a triple sole, more sporty designs...

Controversy never seems to end for the northern Costa Rican town of Crucitas. After a Canadian gold mining company, Infinito Gold, was denied access to the land to mine, the case continues to die. The company appealed the Costa Rican government's decision, but finally gave up on the case in 2015 and packed up their bags. However the after effects continue. Not only have over 300 Nicara...

An estimated $1 billion development located between Bagaces and Liberia in the northern Guanacaste province is underway. The mega project is expected to take 20 years to complete. The Ponderosa Country Club and Ponderosa City project will include 400 houses, as well as a kindergarten, private school, exercise areas, playgrounds, an equestrian area, and swimming pools, said project developers. ...

Prisma Business Center in the western San José suburb of Escazú is home to the first kickboxing gym in Costa Rica thanks to 9Round's decision to set up here. The U.S. franchise offers a patented system of nine training stations created by a professional fighter. The system includes boxing and kickboxing circuits interspersed with functional, interval and cardiovascular training, according to th...

Cocoa cultivated in Costa Rica, especially in the northern Upala region bordering with Nicaragua, continues to be one of the best in the world. "There are four aspects that help to obtain a superior quality of chocolate. Among them, the correct genetics - and in Costa Rica there are excellent varieties - and also the post-harvest process, roasting, and conching. We have made notable progress in p...

This Halloween, clients of the upscale Multiplaza Escazú shopping center had the scare of a lifetime - but not from goblins or ghosts. Clients reported running for cover as shots rang out on the first floor of the glitzy shopping center as robbers assaulted Eurochronos around 2 p.m., according to police reports. This same store was robbed last April. It is estimated that the robbers made off...

Monday at the Jacó Walk shopping center, the first recharging center for electric vehicles was inaugurated in Costa Rica's Pacific region. Jacó Beach, a town about an hour and a half from San José the Central Pacific coast, is expected to receive increased development in the next few years. The town is now out and ahead of the pack on green energy with this joint program of the Costa Rican and ...

Good news for people with handicap license plates in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), through its Directorate General of Traffic Engineering (DGIT), is now granting permits to people with disabilities so they can use their vehicle any day of the week in the downtown San José sector which has restricted access. The Costa Rican National Council of the ...

In a video recently uploaded to Facebook, cult leader, Eligio “Nature Boy” Bishop, who has garnered a following of over 42,000 people on Facebook, claims his group of mostly black followers were racially discriminated against by Spirit Airlines who refused to deport the five U.S. citizens last Thursday, October 26, due to their body odor. According to Bishop, things got really real for the cult...

Subway Costa Rica and the non-profit housing initiative, TECHO, have joined to aid children living in extreme poverty in Guararí de Heredia. Subway Costa Rica teamed up with TECHO on an initiative called: “Para vos, para alguien más, y los que más lo necesitan,” "For you, for someone else, and those who need it most." The company will donate US$20,000 to TECHO for the construction of a new m...

KLM launches its new direct service between San José, Costa Rica and Amsterdam, Holland on Halloween on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, an eco-friendly craft. The service will operate Tuesdays and Fridays as of October 31, and then additionally on Sundays starting at the end of January 2018, announced the airline. The new craft consumes 20 percent ​​less fuel that the airline's other jets, gene...

Reports of a shooting were received by police yesterday, Sunday, October 29, at 8:30 p.m. in a farming community outside of the tourist destination of La Fortuna - Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica. The incident involved the head of the Traffic Police unit for La Fortuna in the district of San Carlos, Alajuela in the north-central region of Costa Rica. Pedro Arce Araya (56) fatally shot his 19-year...

Walking through downtown San José between the hours of 3 - 10 p.m. is considered the most likely way to be the victim of an assault in Costa Rica, according to the most recent data from the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ). San José's central area - comprised of the Hospital, Merced, Catedral and El Carmen districts - is where most of the country's assaults occur, according to Marco Carrión,...

Even McDonald's knows it pays to buy local. At least 60 farms in Cartago, Costa Rica supply the U.S. fast food chain's network of 55 restaurants with over 27 tons of vegetables each month. "As a global brand, we are proud to support national producers who represent more than 60 percent of the suppliers with whom we work in Costa Rica. Most of the products on our menu have vegetables, which gen...

One of Russia's wealthiest individuals had over $20,000 in cash seized yesterday afternoon, Thursday, October 26, 2017, at Costa Rica's main Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José when he was leaving for his home country after a vacation. Andrei Bokarev, 51, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes at $1.69 billion, had arrived in a private jet earlier in the week and participated in a ...

Costa Rican and global business and government leaders will meet next week to discuss investment opportunities in Guanacaste, Costa Rica's northern province known for its idyllic beaches and stunning national parks, including the now active Rincon de la Viejo Volcano. Toronto, Canada-based Colliers International, a global commercial real estate services giant will be hosting the event. This is ...

The National Center for Energy Control (CENCE, its initials in Spanish) will have state-of-the-art equipment and a new building by the end of 2017, when it inaugurates its new facilities, the most modern of its kind in Central America. Its operations - now in the Sabana North section of San José - will move to San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia, a location strategically chosen by the Costa ...

Hopping from one Central American country to another has never been easier, with cheap flights on Volaris, Costa Rica's airline. And the company just announced that your first checked bag flies free on regional flights purchased between now and November 20. The promotion applies to travel undertaken between now and February 28, 2018, as long as tickets are purchased within the time-frame of ...

A 59-year-old Israeli man, Lita Jake, was deported from Costa Rica Monday, October 23, 2017 due to his alleged ties with the criminal structure led by the murdered Lebanese, Elías Akl. Akl was assassinated May 15 in Escazú, Costa Rica at the front entrance to a private school in Guachipelín. Police have continued to investigate those connected with Akl, and have made other arrests since his ...

Commercial centers in an around San José, Costa Rica have a full agenda lined up with free events for kids and families to celebrate Halloween in a safe, comfortable environment. On Friday, October 27, from 2 - 6 p.m., Lincoln Plaza in Moravia, east of downtown San José, offers an afternoon of fun with inflatables, cotton candy, treats and face-painting, with a trick-or-treating session from 3 ...

Foodie alert! If you though ceviche was all about seafood, you'll be surprised at this festival in Jacó which will offer a wide range of dishes and flavors to suit all tastes and preferences. Fifteen of the hottest restaurants in the Jacó area are readying their best ceviche receives for this Friday, October 27 when the Central Pacific Ceviche Festival takes place at the Océano Boutique Hotel &...

The casual clothing and accessory store, American Eagle Outfitters, opened its second locale in Costa Rica this week, said the company. The new location in the fifth stage of the Multiplaza Escazú shopping center, off Highway 27 in Escazú, opened Friday, October 20. The store's first locale opened in 2016 at Lincoln Plaza in Moravia, a district in eastern San José. The Escazú opening high...

Costa Rican border police agents detained a suspected human trafficker, in Spanish what's known as a "coyote," with six Ecuadorians in the mountains near the Panama border yesterday. The area of southern Puntarenas province where the man was leading the six undocumented migrants  is called ​​Guaycará de Golfito. The Costa Rican man, Agüero, knew of a route over the border that circumvented p...

At 4 a.m. yesterday morning, hundreds of Costa Rican police busted into homes in northern Costa Rica, capturing 28 alleged drug dealers, said Walter Espinoza, director of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ). The narco group, perhaps the largest in northern Costa Rica, has been under investigation for the past year-and-a-half and is considered one of the largest police raids in recent years....

From October 24 to November 11, the XVIII International Festival of Baroque Music is being held, and all concerts are free. The activity is organized by the Santa Ana Municipal School of Integrated Arts (EMAI). The majority of the concerts will be held at the downtown Santa Ana musical school and at the Catholic church in Santa Ana. Free concerts will also be given at the Monteverde Institut...

Monteverde, Costa Rica suffered heavily from the intense rains dumped by Tropical Storm Nate earlier this month. The area was completely cut off from the rest of the country for days after the storm, with landslides blocking all access roads. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was closed for a week following the storm. Photos and drone footage show the immense landslides on the region's ste...

According to the company's latest sustainability report, Bridgestone reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in its operations in the region by 15 percent last year. The company aims to become carbon neutral, and is making strides towards the goal. In Costa Rica, the company's 1,042 employees produce 10,395 tires per day at the Bridgesteon plant in Belén, west of San José. The company's seco...

The third quarterly business survey, "Pulso Empresarial," published by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP), found that opening a business in Costa Rica through the formal routes is becoming more difficult for entrepreneurs. When asked, "How difficult is it to start a new business in Costa Rica?", 75 percent of those consulted said that it w...

The first space satellite developed in Costa Rica is a 10 cubic centimeter aluminum affair that weighs one kilogram. The milestone achievement was designed using the CubeSat picosatellites model - very small, lightweight and low-cost devices. The satellite will carry a computer, a communication system and a power system. It will also have solar panels and a secondary computer. When it arr...

A recent ranking of road infrastructure in Latin America lists Costa Rica as second to last, followed by Paraguay and Haiti who are tied for last place with similarly dismal rankings.   The information came to light in the most recent 2017-2018 competitiveness report issued by the World Economic Forum and focused on the quality of roads. The ranking is based partially on the percepti...

  A ruling earlier this year by an appeals court in San José, Costa Rica ruled that random searches of vehicles without good reason by police oversteps their powers and infringes on people's rights. The Costa Rican Public Security Ministry regularly sets up check-points near airports, ports, borders and on main highways to search at random vehicles passing by and in this way dissuade an...

Up-to-date information on tides and ocean conditions for surfers and beachgoers is available at the Costa Rica Surf website. The top surf beaches in Costa Rica include Pavones, Dominical and Manuel Antonio in the southern Pacific region, Mal Pais, Nosara-Guiones, Playa Hermosa and Tamarindo in the northern Guanacaste Pacific region, and Puerto Viejo on the Costa Rican Caribbean coast. Driving di...

Heavy rains last night and early this morning, Monday, October 23, caused flooding in the low-lying Upala region of northern Costa Rica, said Costa Rican National Emergency Commission (CNE) officials. The swollen rivers caused at least 15 people to be evacuated from the San José de Upala neighborhood. According to Leonel Jiménez, the region's Fire Department director, a temporary shelter was...

Costa Rica's National University's veterinary hospital took some 300 dogs and cats into their care that were orphaned after Tropical Storm Nate's rains Oct. 5-6 that left hundreds of houses inhabitable in different parts of the country. Many of these animals that were rescued by the country's National Animal Health Services (SENASA) needed to be treated for wounds. Currently 18 of these ani...

A Guatemalan woman is under investigation in Costa Rica for allegedly forcing another Guatemalan woman to work 17 hours a day without pay, and also without food during her workday or any days off, according to reports from the Costa Rica Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ). The woman, with the last names Martínez López, was arrested Thursday morning October 12 in La Fortuna de San Carlos, Alaju...