Isabel "Chavela" Vargas Lizano was born during the first quarter of the 20th century in San Joaquin de Flores, a coffee-growing region of Heredia that former President Oscar Arias Sanchez calls home. When she was 17 years old, Chavela Vargas left Costa Rica for Mexico, a country where she would not only find fame and glory, but also the deep respect and love of the Mexican people. For the secon...

A massive avalanche down the western slope of Mount Everest disrupted the busy climbing season and injured a Sherpa guide. Eyewitnesses at the Everest Base Camp reported seeing a cloud of snow over Camp 1, which ended up completed buried by the icefall.  The plume of snow was estimated to have been ten stories tall. Warner Rojas, a mountaineer from Costa Rica who aims to be the first Tico a...

Costa Rica is known to attract a fair share of international visitors, but Ticos are catching up to foreign tourists –and they are turning to Google to plan their domestic getaways.  According to a report on online business daily Estrategia y Negocios, more than half of all Ticos who go on vacation within Costa Rica started their trip on Google. Google is paying attention. The Internet search g...

The Santa Ana Bulldogs and the Toros of Escazu will face off tonight at 6:00 pm at the Cuty Monge Stadium for the fourth edition of the Costa Rica Federation of American Football (FEFACR in Spanish). The Bulldogs are currently the top-rated team in the league, having won all eight games of the 2012 season. The Toros arrive to the Super Bowl with a record of 5 victories and 3 losses. FEFACR and ...

If you plan to take a Saturday afternoon stroll around Plaza de la Cultura and the Central Avenue pedestrian boulevard tomorrow, don't be surprised if you see a group of couples kissing in the vicinity of the legendary Soda Chelles. According to national newspaper La Nacion, a activist group that supports the rights of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered community in Costa Rica will h...

Author's Note: The article herein is based on news reports that have appeared in El Pais, a publication that takes a very firm stance on environmental issues in Costa Rica. The advent of the Information Age has produced some very interesting practices related to media jamming and manipulation. The lexical terms that develop to match these practices tend to be colorful as well. Astroturfing,...

Flying will be cheaper than bus travel for a few days in Costa Rica. Nature Air, a domestic flight carrier that bills itself as the world's first carbon-neutral airline, will offer very cheap flights with a couple of promotions during May. These two promotions will be the most inexpensive flights offered in 2012. The first promotion started two days ago, and will run until Saturday, April 28th ...

A criminal court in Puntarenas has ruled on the case of a Taiwanese captain in charge of a fishing vessel registed in Belize. Tsai Yu Jen was caught unloading 20,000 kilos of blue shark at a commercial dock in the Port of Puntarenas. Fishing inspectors detained him when they determined that his considerable catch consisted of blue sharks with their fins cut off. Captain Tsai Yu Jen will now ha...

With a ceremony that took place at the esplanade of the Costa Rica Art Museum at La Sabana, representatives from the People's Republic of China (PRC) donated 50 new patrol cars to the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MOPT in Spanish). These patrol cars will be placed at the service of Transit Police operations. President Laura Chinchilla was present at the event, as well as top off...

In an effort to promote transparency and fiduciary duty in Costa Rica's fiscal process, the tax records of delinquent individuals and business entities could soon be in the public record. Such is the essence of a new legislative proposal introduced by Jose Maria Villalta of political party Frente Amplio, a faction generally aligned with leftist ideology. The proposal was introduced on April...

The long-running border conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua goes back several centuries, and it is currently being deliberated at both the International Court of Justice at The Hague and the Central American Court of Justice. The latest volley of accusations from both nations are centered on the infamous Google Maps invasion of Isla Calero by former guerrilla commander Eden Pastora and a...

On Wednesday morning, Daniel Calderon was at the Costa Rica Art Museum in La Sabana. Earlier this week, he was at the Central Park in Heredia and later at the Eladio Rosabal Cordero Stadium. In the meantime, he posted a flurry of updates to his Twitter account: In the Guarari Sector, 4 known robbers were captured in Zone 2; two of them in fraganti and the other two with outstanding warrants ...

A Small and Medium Business (PYMES) Fair will take place at the Plaza Mayor Shopping Center in Rohrmoser, San Jose, from April 26th to April 29th. Everyone is invited to visit the expo and support PYMES in Costa Rica. The businesses that will exhibit their goods and services at the fair include: Almacén Searson Arte Muebles Casa Muar Artesanía de los Santos  Artesanía Turca Temka Baysal ...

“No More Excuses, It’s Time to Build Roads.” That is the top headline in today’s print edition of business news daily La Republica. The statement comes from Minister of Transportation and Public Works Francisco Jimenez, who has promised to kick off a new ambitious highway infrastructure initiative on May 1st, 2012. The projects that Minister Jimenez is referring to have been gathering dust for ...

The next time you take a trip to one of our national parks or volcanoes; do not be surprised if you see a group of young men and women hunched over portable gaming systems, engaged in furious button-mashing with incredible thumb dexterity.  They are members of the growing Nintendo StreetPass 3DS community in Costa Rica, video game enthusiasts who break the tired stereotype of the lone gamer si...

"Science and technology depend on people, and Costa Rica's future depends on her young people's affinity for science and technology. In this regard robotics is a medium, an instrument, a path to opportunities to develop on a personal and professional level, with improved value-added employment prospects that can make a difference. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT) is very happy to sup...

Financial analysts and different news media outlets have been busy reporting on the output of coffee crops in Costa Rica, and the reports paint a different picture regarding production and climate. Costa Rica's most prized agricultural commodity is either holding up well in the wake of climate patterns caused by La Nina, or weakening to the point that Tico roasters will import more bags of coffee ...

A new establishment in Escazu intends to become Costa Rica's first "smoke-easy" in defiance of the Tobacco Control Law which was enacted in early April. This law explicitly prohibits smoking in many places where the public gathers, particularly bars and restaurants. The Tobacco Control Law does not seem to concern Don Sergio Martinez too much. Mr. Martinez is the businessman behind "9 Degrees N...

They are cordial, bilingual, ride bicycles, and often wear white polo shirts and blue shorts. The men and women of the Tourism Police, a special unit of Fuerza Publica, are often approached by backpackers and other visitors to Costa Rica with questions about directions and bus schedules. These officers also perform old-fashioned police work such as investigations and arrests. Such was the case ...

SAN JOSE - As part of an investigation that involves the Minister of Education, the former Minister of the Treasury, a former Presidential aide, and the public oil utility RECOPE, agents from the Judicial Investigations Office (OIJ) descended upon the Treasury Offices in the heart of downtown San Jose earlier today. Prosecutors from the Economic Crimes section of OIJ ordered the raid, which was...

"When opportunities appear, take them. Don't vacillate. "Sometimes a route is not straight, you have to take turns." Such were the words of Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz at the Lawrence Senior Center in Essex County, Massachusetts. Franklin Chang-Diaz, in addition to being a Distinguished Citizen of Costa Rica, is the CEO and founder of the Ad Astra Rocket Company -an aerospace enterprise that is wor...

In celebration of World Book Day, the Ministry of Culture has planned a series of events to commemorate the importance of print (and now electronic) media in Costa Rica. At the Miguel Obregon Lizano National Library in San Jose, there will be a lecture on Education and Print Culture in Costa Rica in the Second Half of the 19th Century. The lecture will take place at 2:00 pm and will kick off a ...

When the People's Republic of China (PRC) graciously handed Costa Rica the keys to the new National Stadium last year, the powerful Asian nation was proud to have completed the most technologically-advanced and modern sporting venue in Central America and the Caribbean. China, however, was not done leaving its mark in the region. According to a recent article published by The New York Times, Ch...

The Day of the American Indigenous was celebrated earlier this week in Costa Rica, and the Ministry of Culture planned a series of activities this past Saturday in San Jose to commemorate the occasion. The cultural events took place at the Morazan, La Merced and Espana parks; they were organized by Enamorate de tu Ciudad (Fall in Love with Your City) and Banco Popular. The events included i...

Going into the last game of the regular season, Club Sport Cartagines (CSC) had three options to qualify to the next round of the First Division Summer Tournament in Costa Rica: Winning; taking three points and comfortably advancing. Coming away with a tied score, as long as Saprissa lost against Club Sport Herediano (CSH). Losing, but with the hope that neither CSH or Liga Deportiva Alaju...

For the second year in a row, Tico athletes elevated Costa Rica's status in the surfing world with medals. Noe Mar McGonagle earned third place overall in the under-16 division at the Dakine World Junior Surfing Championship in Playa Venao, Panama. The young Tico surfer from Pavones was victorious in every heat during the eight days of elimination rounds. His day began with a morning heat which...

Fourteen characters, two actors, two hours. That's the essence of ¡Que Zambrote! (What a Mess!), a sketch comedy especially written with modern Tico society in mind. This dynamic theater play is acted by experienced actress Rita Campos, who returns to the stage after a hiatus due to maternity leave, and Ricardo Segura, a young newcomer who graduated from the prestigious Conservatortio de Castella....

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT in Spanish), along with the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (CICR) wrapped up InnovAccion, the First Conference on Innovation for Competitive Enterprises on April 20th. The conference was directed to entrepreneurs and small business owners who are interested in using innovation to remain competitive in today's marketplace. At the InnovAccion...

One of the highlights of the annual Festival of the Stone Spheres in the Osa canton is watching the alignment of the Sun with three magnificent and mysterious spheres in the early morning hours. This is how journalist Andrea Solano Benavides of prominent news daily La Nacion described the mystifying event: It was 5:45 am and the Sun embraced the Osa canton to welcome a new day. A fiery sphere of...

Thanks to the efforts of all the young surfers who traveled to Playa Venao in Panama, the Junior National Surf Team of Costa Rica is now number ten in the world, and it could climb to the eighth position. All eyes are on Noe Mar McGonagle, the 15-year old surfing prodigy from Pavones who could be advancing to the finals, and who currently has a strong chance of bringing home a gold medal. ...

Today is the final round of regular season matches between First Division teams, and four teams are vying for two tickets to the four-way semifinals that will wrap up the Summer Tournament. For two of the teams, advancing to the next round will be completely up to their performance, while the other two teams depend on a mixture of tenacity, mathematical probability and plain old luck. He...

The prized eggs of the sea turtles that massively arrive in the shores of Costa Rica to nest are often subject to poaching and trafficking. Thanks to efforts of Fuerza Publica officers assigned to the Matina canton of the Limon province, nearly 500 turtle eggs were rescued from the hands of three men traveling in a taxicab. The eggs were contained in two sacks concealed in the rear compartm...

As the first-ever Costa Rica Craft Beer Festival is underway in Avenida Escazu, more good news for beer lovers just arrived: Passengers flying from Denver or St. Louis to our Juan Santamaria and Daniel Oduber international airports will be able to enjoy Colorado's finest offerings on their next flight. The latest press release from Denver-based Frontier Airlines announced: "This brew is on y...

Costa Rica's highest court, Sala Cuarta, has ruled in favor of a prominent Catholic radio station and its stance against in vitro artificial fertilization. The case in question dates back to last year, when Radio Fides 93.1 FM aired a series of 14 radio spots clearly stating the opposition of the station and the Catholic church against in vitro fertilization, a procedure that does not enjoy leg...

Brazil, the economic colossus of Latin America, is having a hard time getting ready to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The construction and improvement of infrastructure needed to accommodate thousands of visitors to the world's premier sporting events is constantly running into problems. The country with the largest Portuguese-speaking population in the world has...

On Tuesday, April 24, at 12 noon Motorola will unveil its newest smartphone for the gadget-hungry Tico market at an event at the Luxe Lounge in Escazu. Based on preliminary reports, Motorola is hailing its new personal communications device as "Thinner, Faster, Smarter." Not much else is known about the smartphone. Since Motorola Mobility is currently in the process of being acquired by Inte...

While at the VI Summit of the Americas in Cartagena a few days ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the following announcement: “For years Canada has been working with like-minded countries to make the Americas a safer place, providing necessary equipment and training, and technical and legal assistance to those fighting on the front lines against drugs, transnational organized crime and...

The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC in Spanish) has announced Operation Jaguar, an effort to capture those responsible for killing and dismembering a black Panthera onca (black panther or jaguar negro) weeks ago near Pejibaye de Cartago. At least 20 members of different environmental protection and law enforcement organizations will be involved in the search for the poachers, who h...

Noe Mar McGonagle has been unstoppable in 2012. The young surfer from Pavones is now in the semifinals and his incredible performance thus far places him as one of the top ten surfers under-16 in the world. Thanks to strong swell conditions at Playa Venao in Panama yesterday, Noe Mar took advantage of two lefts averaging between 2.5 and three meters to beat Brazilian and South African surfers ...

Conectad@s and VUCE 2.0 are the names of two new initiatives launched by the administration of President Laura Chinchilla in order to make the lives of exporters and small business owners easier. The entities involved are the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Commerce (COMEX) and its leading agency for international trade and commerce, PROCOMER; as well as Banco Nacional and ICE. VUCE 2.0 is a proj...