60 Hours of dialogue throughout 5 days have proven insufficient for representatives of the Costa Rican Government and the Labor Unions to come to an agreement. At 11 p.m. this Monday, September 24, during a press conference, the Ministers of Labor, Justice and Planning expressed their frustration after eight hours of dialogue, “we regret to inform that there has not been any advance in the nego...

According to information by the Quick Response Team of the Technical Secretariat of the National Coalition against Illicit Immigrant Traffic and Human Trafficking (CONATT), between 2010 and September 2018 there have been a total of 211 victims in Costa Rica. “In Costa Rica we defend citizens reports as the indispensable base to detect possible cases, however, thanks to the efforts carried out b...

The Labor Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of San Jose declared illegal the strike promoted by the National Association of Public Employees (ANEP) in the Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements (MIVAH) stating that the movement did not comply with the requirements established in the Labor Procedures Code. This is the second sentence by Labor Courts of the more than thirty requests that we...

Leaders of the labor unions announced since Saturday that the protest will continue this week and “for indefinite time”, this Monday they marched in different areas, including, downtown San Jose, Barranca in Puntarenas, Guápiles in Limón and Nicoya, Guanacaste. The labor unions have shared their schedule of activities on their social media channels, these are the planned activities, so you can ...

During the UN’s 73rd General Assembly this week Costa Rica will present its initiative for and "All Coalition", which includes topics such as environmental protection, climate action, inclusion, diversity, access to justice and international law, regional and global governance in migration and cooperation, and financing for development. These priorities and objectives coincide with those define...

At around midnight this Sunday, September 23, 2018, representatives of the Government and Labor Unions decided to take a break from their “preliminary dialogue” sessions and announced they will continue their meeting on Monday at 3 p.m. This was the fourth day of dialogue between both parties; no information has been released of what has been discussed or the progress made; Steven Nuñez, Minist...

Photo Credit: Zona de Motores FB In the early hours this Sunday, authorities and rescue entities received the alert of a very unusual accident in the Zapote roundabout, where a car ended up at almost the top of the Garantías Sociales monument. According to preliminary information the driver of the vehicle died as a result of the accident; no details have been released with regards to the ide...

Despite the current difficult social climate in the Costa Rican Caribbean as a result of the ongoing labor strike, the third cruise ship of the season, the Carnival Fantasy, arrived to this port on Saturday with a total 2,064 tourists and 872 crew members. This ship, operated by US-British company Carnival Cruises, is the third of 110 cruise ships expected to arrive to Limon this season and whi...

The Labor Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San Jose ruled that the strike of the employees of the National Production Council (CNP) is illegal because the strike is a mechanism to resolve conflicts related to labor situations and not of political order. This is the first resolution of illegality that has been resolved of the 32 that were presented by different public institutions in relat...

The Costa Rican Judicial Association (AVOJUD) called on its members to join the labor strike to protest the fiscal plan since it “weakens judicial security of the structure of the judges’ salaries”. “As it is of your knowledge, last Friday, September 14, project 20580 known popularly as “fiscal reform” was ruled in Commission through ‘fast track procedure’. The project regulates in Article 26, ...

The MS Maasdam, mid-size cruise ship of Holland America Line, arrived at the Golfito dock in the South Pacific of Costa Rica this week with 1,164 passengers aboard between tourists and crew; this is the first cruise that Golfito receives since its relaunching as tourism destination for mid-size cruise ships. Tourists were able to leave the ship and enjoy different cultural activities that had...

After more than 11 hours of negotiation this Friday, September 21, representatives of the Costa Rican Government and leaders of the labor unions have not reached an agreement ensuring the strike will continue this Saturday into its 13th day. Government authorities affirmed they presented a proposal to the labor unions. The labor Union presented a counter proposal which the Government responded ...

Aeris Holdings, administrator of the Juan Santamaria Airport in Costa Rica announced the investment of $3.8 million in technology to reinforce security, monitoring and surveillance of passengers and flights while improving efficiency. 20 self-service check-in kiosks, a new operations and communication center , the creation of a crisis response room, and free WiFi are part of what has been imple...

In commemoration of the International Day of Peace, celebrated this Friday, September 21, the Costa Rican Ministry of Security destroyed a total of 1,423 firearms that had been seized in different operation The guns, linked to different judiciary processes, arrived at the National Arsenal with the respective orders of destruction, process which was carried out between Thursday, September 20 an...

American credit rating agency Moody’s published  its analysis in relation to the negotiations of the Costa Rican Government with the labor unions regarding the fiscal plan and stated that “even though dialogue is positive, the current social unrest is negative for Costa Rica since it complicates fiscal consolidation efforts” Moody’s highlighted the importance of the approval of the fiscal plan ...

The Government of Costa Rica was notified by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the decision by the Arbitration Court in relation to the David Richard Aven et al c. Costa Rica (known as “Las Olas”). This arbitration was presented by a group of US investors in the year 2014 due to the Government shutting their real estate project down.  The claimants cited the...

The general labor strike in Costa Rica is going on 11 days, more than 30 institutions have presented their request to the labor courts to declare the illegality of the movement, yet, nothing has happened. Is the general labor strike legal or illegal? And why has it taken so long for judges to make their decision on this matter? The main problem comes from the changes made last year to the La...

The National Employee Union of the Social Security Service (Undeca) posted a press release on their social media channels in which they qualify the hiring of private laundry services by the Costa Rica Health Authorities (CCSS) as “illegal”. “The desperate actions of the authorities of Caja (CCSS), that arranged the hiring of private companies and external workers without any training to replace...

Two U.S. citizens, a man and a woman drowned today in a river waterhole known as El Salto de Belen, Nicoya, Guanacaste. According to preliminary information, the Red Cross received the alert at 11:35 a.m. this Wednesday, September 19; the foreigners were staying in a hotel in Samara and decided to visit this place to enjoy the fresh water and the waterfall. A witness stated to local media ...

After almost five hours of dialogue, the Costa Rican Government and the labor unions were not able to reach any agreements. During the first “preliminary meeting” held by both parties with the mediation of the Catholic Church at the Archbishop’s Palace in San Jose, each group laid out their positions and their requests, no agreements were reached and therefore the meeting will continue tomorrow...

This question should have a very simple answer, but as the days go by and the “strike” continues, the answer changes depending on who you ask. In short, the labor unions (sindicatos) are protesting the fiscal plan, formally known as the Law to Strengthen Public Finances, which is currently being discussed at the Legislative Assembly and has undergone some changes since it was originally present...

This weekend the Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra will pay tribute to some of the best guitar players of all times. With their unique and characteristic style that has earned them a huge fan base and has ensured that all their shows sell out, the proposal of Director Marvin Araya this time around is to highlight the work of famous guitar players such as Jimi Hendrix, Gilmour, Clapton, J. Page...

A “preliminary meeting” between Government representatives and leaders of the labor unions is scheduled to take place this Wednesday, September 19 at the Archbishop's Palace in San Jose at 9 a.m. Yesterday afternoon leaders of the labor unions agreed to have the Catholic church mediate to facilitate dialogue between the parts. The meeting that will take place tomorrow will just be a first “phas...

The U.S. Embassy shared the following alert for U.S. citizens living in or visiting Costa Rica in relation to the labor strike and related protests that are now going on 9 days: "Local and social media report that last week’s demonstrations against the host government’s fiscal plan likely will continue this week throughout Costa Rica, and particularly in San Jose. Protesters may express their o...

The Minister of Tourism, Maria Amalia Revelo, urged to protect the image of Costa Rica and defend the tourism industry, which represents the main source of income for the country. “The Costa Rican tourism industry is formed in its majority by small and medium size companies that in addition to generating wealth, they distribute it to thousands of families. Just last year income generated by tou...

Costa Rican Public Police Forces have started to take action which guarantee public order and the security of the inhabitants as promised during a press conference Monday morning. The Police intervened to eliminate a road block near the access to the Moin port to facilitate the access and exit of containers. The operation left two people detained and three officers suffered injuries as a r...

The company Celebrity Cruises made the decision of canceling the arrival of cruise ship Infinity to Puntarenas scheduled for this Monday; this due to security concerns resulting from the labor strike that is going on its 8th day and has affected mainly the provinces of Limon and Puntarenas. The ship will continue its itinerary straight to Panama without making the scheduled stop in Costa Rica,...

The Costa Rica Fire Department had to handle this Sunday night the spillage of close to 3,000 gallons of fuel from an oil pipeline. The spillage was reported at 9:10 p.m. close to the Dos Pinos factory in El Coyol, Alajuela, to handle the emergency, transit police had to close Route 1 which connects San Jose and Alajuela. There are no reports of people affected by the spillage; to avoid environ...

Fuel shortages are being reported in the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas, but also in some areas of San Jose, as a result of the constant road blocks created by protesters near the Recope (state’s refinery) facilities throughout different points of Costa Rica. According to a press release offered by Recope, tanker trucks decided this Sunday afternoon not to enter the Recope facilities in...

Photo Credit: FB Pegando Porte Costa Rican Public Police Officers handled an alert received by the 911 service regarding an apparent case of domestic violence that took place in Quesada Duran, Zapote, San Jose the afternoon of this Sunday, when they arrived the suspect attacked them. According to preliminary information the man, a U.S. citizen of last name Caspari, was out of control, attack...

During a press conference held on Saturday afternoon, the Minister of Security, Michael Soto, expressed his concern over damages caused by an “antisocial group” to the state refinery’s (Recope) oil pipeline between Limon and the Central Valley. Yesterday, the Public Police Force had to take control of the accesses to Recope in La Garita, Alajuela and Barranca, Puntarenas, to guarantee the suppl...

The labor unions rejected the proposal of the national deans’ council (Conare) and the Episcopal Conference to act as facilitators of dialogue to bring the general labor strike affecting the country since last Monday, September 10 to an end. The information was provided by the president of Conare, Marcelo Prieto, to national newspaper La Nacion, “The problem we have is that the leaders of the ...

Photo Credit: La Nacion/Shirley Vásquez The Costa Rican National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR) calls on the establishment of dialogue, agreements and solutions to prevent any more negative effects over the productive sectors and the economy of the country, and, of course, the provision of basic services for citizens. According to information provided by Canatur, the general labor strike has alre...

The Social Security Service (CCSS) in Costa Rica reported that this last Friday almost half of the regional health clinics that joined the strike on Monday had resumed operations normally; however, these first five days of strikes left 1,201 programmed surgeries cancelled and 38,921 appointments that did not receive attention. According to the institution's authorities, during the week all con...

The labor unions announced the strike will continue for an indefinite period of time, they separate from the acts of violence that took place in some areas this week stating that the same are carried out by outsiders that take advantage of the protests and have nothing to do with the movement (police authorities confirm they cannot link protesters to these acts and most likely they are carried out...

US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo sent a message of congratulation for Costa Rica in the celebration of its independence: "On behalf of the Government of the United States, I congratulate the people of Costa Rica on your 197th anniversary of independence on September 15. Cooperation between Costa Rica and the United States is stronger than ever. Our enduring and respectful partnership,...

Captain Guillermo Hoppe Pacheco, General Director of Civil Aviation, informed today of the decision to declare yellow alert for Costa Rica’s international airports as a preventive measure in response to the general labor strike. The yellow alert involves increasing security in the perimeter of the airports, in the terminal access points and in the airport in general; this with the purpose of gu...

After five days of labor strike in Costa Rica, many students have been affected with approximately 50% of schools being closed, thousands of patients have lost their long waited doctor’s appointment or worse, their surgery, others have been affected by to road blocks, and the list goes on. Through a press release The Costa Rican Chamber of Exporters (CADEXCO) informed that after four days of labor...

The Minister of Public Security mentioned yesterday that officers of the public police force had been working additional shifts and had been the target of insults, violence and more during these last few days of general labor strike, he made the comment after people criticized the actions of a group of officers during a road block in San Pedro that concluded with the arrest of four university stud...

The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) informed through a press release the morning of this Friday the decision of suspending the tour of the independence torch through the different provinces of Costa Rica due to concerns for the security of the students who carry it, this because since the torch arrived yesterday its journey has been interrupted in several locations of Guanacaste and today in Pu...