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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Through May 24, 2018 the Costa Rican police register a total of 247 violent deaths, 27 more in comparison to the same period of 2017. In a period of just 25 hours, between Tuesday and Wednesday 10 people were killed, half of them in San Jose, and the rest outside the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM). The violent deaths in the past days include the shooting of an Italian citizen as he was leavin...

The bill to block cell phone signals in Costa Rican prisons was presented more than one year ago to the Legislative Assembly, today it received the approval in first debate and therefore could soon become a reality. The bill which is promoted by the Executive Branch, received the support of the 50 deputies present in congress at the moment of the voting. It has the goal of reducing the number o...

The creation in Costa Rica of a specialized court to combat organized crime was supposed to be ready by October 14 this year, however, the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Carlos Chinchilla, requested that this is held back for another year with the purpose of getting the necessary funding. Chinchilla explained that the Supreme Court had already made the request to the Legislative Ass...

President Carlos Alvarado met with five deputies from Limon to work on a work agenda for the development of the Caribbean province. “The development of Limon is one of our priorities”, commented Alvarado. Also present in the meeting were Greivin Villegas the new executive president of the Atlantic Zone Development and Port Administration Group (JAPDEVA in Spanish), the Minister of Public Works ...

Costa Rica is known for many different reasons, most of them positive, but when it comes to having to deal with government institutions anyone will tell you bureaucracy is crazy and they will make you jump through 100 hoops, 90% of them unnecessary. Costa Rica is the country with the worse average in Latin America when It comes to the number of processes that are required to start a constructio...

The non-governmental organization Volcanes Sin Fronteras (Volcanos without Borders) has suggested the possibility of creating geoparks in the areas involving the Poas, Turrialba and Irazu volcanoes with the purpose of reactivating the economy in these communities. As it has been reported recently, the closure of the Poas Volcano for more than a year now has resulted in losses not just for the N...

A foreign couple was shot as they were leaving the Italian Embassy in San Pedro, San Jose, Costa Rica this Wednesday afternoon. The victims were identified as Salvatore Ponzo, an Italian citizen who ran a business in Costa Rica and a woman of last names Lopez Toaquiza from Ecuador who was Ponzo’s girlfriend. According to a witness the couple left the embassy and were walking to their vehicle...

Costa Rican police raided 29 locations this Wednesday morning to bring down a drug trafficking operating the southern zone of the country which was headed by two former Coast Guard officers. According to the District Attorney office, the investigation began in 2016; as a result of today’s operation, the police arrested 22 suspects, among them four Coast Guard officers from Golfito and a female ...

Ezequiel and Samuel Nuñez, the Costa Rican siamese twins who underwent a separation surgery at the National Children’s Hospital three months ago are almost ready to leave the hospital. The twins who are now 2 years and 5 months old have slowly made progress to the point that Samuel could be going back home as early as next week; Ezequiel still requires to get some infections under control but c...

By the name of “Minnerva”, HP Inc. inaugurated its innovation center in Costa Rica. This site was created to develop creative ideas and promote innovation processes oriented to solve internal necessities of the company, as well as, in a second phase, support the academy’s innovation processes for products and services. The grand opening event included the participation of Justin Ferrell, an int...

The Costa Rican Supreme Electoral Court (TSE in Spanish) made it possible for citizens to change the name that appears in their identity card (cédula) to match their gender identity, following the advisory opinion given by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. With this change all personal documents of the transgender population must also be modified according to show the name as it appears...

Two United States citizens tried to leave Costa Rica through the Juan Santamaria Airport with a kilogram of ketamine hidden in baby powder containers. According to the Ministry of Public Security, officers from the Drug Control Police intercepted the suspects at the Juan Santamaria Airport, two men of last names Santoyo, 35 years-old and Morales, 38 years-old. The drug which is used as an an...

A bill analyzed by the Legislative Assembly proposes a change in the Transit Law to allow the Public Force (Fuerza Publica) to act as traffic cops when necessary and have the ability to extend tickets and fines for law violations. The bill received the support of 51 deputies. The project establishes the cooperation between both police forces and gives one year for the Ministry of Public Works a...

Puntarenas receives many tourists from cruise ships every day, however, the majority of these visitors choose to take tours in nearby areas due to the lack of attractions and activities to enjoy in the pier and Paseo de los Turistas; solving this situation is what is motivating the building of a new park that will receive the tourists and hopefully get them to spend more time in this zone. The ...

The financial services firm, Encore Capital Group, will become the first multinational company to open its operations very close to what will be San Jose’s Technological City, as part of the Special Zone for Economic Growth, promoted by San Jose’s Municipality. It will relocate its operations to Yaohan’s old building, by next November. Encore is part of the Municipality’s initiative to promote ...

The Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica has been in a period of relative calm throughout the past weeks with the constant emission of gas as vapor. On Sunday afternoon, however, the volcano had another eruption of importance with emission of ash and a column that reached 500 meters above the crater (3,800 meters above sea level). Another eruption was registered at 9 a.m. of Monday morning, with ...

Philip James Layfield, 44, a personal injury attorney, was indicted on federal charges accused of stealing the majority of a multi-million dollar settlement, most of which should have been paid to the victim of a car accident. Layfield was arrested in New Jersey late April, when he returned to the United States from Costa Rica, where he relocated when his law firm Layfield & Barrett located...

All evidence indicates that the dead body found under the Rio Sucio bridge on Route 32 (San Jose-Limon) is the Italian citizen that went missing on May 14, Stefano Calandrelli. The body was badly decomposed and this complicated the proper identification of the same through traditional measures such as fingerprints; however, other characteristics of the body as well as items found along with it,...

Today's travelers want to bring home more than tan lines and souvenirs. They aspire to achieve personal enrichment through life-changing experiences that create a shift in perspectives—of the world and the self. Enter transformational travel, the key to meaningful interactions, immersive encounters and genuine communion with nature and culture. According to the Transformational Travel Council, "we...

Once again, the bridge over the Virilla River on the road that connects Lindora, Santa Ana with San Antonio de Belen, Heredia will be closed at night time starting this Sunday May 20th through Thursday, May 24 from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. This time, the closure is for the installation of the central part of the new bridge; in order to do this cranes will be working on both the existing bridge as...

The Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) found the body of a man under the Rio Sucio bridge on route 32 (San Jose-Limon). According to the information given by the police the body was badly decomposed and therefore they require time to confirm the identity of the victim. As of Saturday, OIJ officers were conducting a search in this area after receiving information that the Italian citizen St...

Get up close to see a heart, lungs, skull and even a brain, at the “Yo Humano: All Bodies”  exhibit at the National Gallery in Costa Rica that will be open through June 17. “With the clear objective of raising awareness among the public on the importance of the care, protection and proper use of the different structures that make up the human body, the exhibit shows how our body is formed biol...