The emergency service 911 in Costa Rica is receiving in average 268 reports of domestic violence every day, which translates into one call every 5 minutes. The majority of the victims are women (80%), the number of calls increase during holidays and weekends when the husbands or romantic partners are home; soccer games also seem to be a trigger since every time there’s an important soccer game,...

U.S. company, Shoreline Entertainment, one of the longest-running and a highly-respected company in the film industry is joining Costa Rican production companies for the creation of projects in this country. The meetings between the companies were held during the Buyers Trade Mission (BTM) part of Costa Rica Services Summit event organized by PROCOMER (Costa Rica Foreign Trade Promotion Agency...

The images of a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle entangled in a fishing net and carrying several plastic bottles in the middle of the ocean taken earlier this month by scientists during the expedition between Galapagos Island in Ecuador and Coco’s Island in Costa Rica, has raised awareness on how the contamination of the oceans is affecting the marine life. Scientists freed the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle...

A 30-year-old German tourist that was participating in a scuba diving expedition at Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, had the scare of a lifetime when a tiger shark went after him. According to the report given by a witness to local news site CRHOY, the foreigner was diving along with other tourists in the sector known as Manuelita at around 10:40 on Saturday, April 28, when a shark went after the tou...

The second occupant of the light aircraft that crashed this Saturday morning in Bejuco, Nandayure, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, passed away. Jose Alberto Arroyo Guillen was a 26-year-old Costa Rican aviation student; he was in the plane at the moment of the accident along with his instructor, 34-year-old Esteban Mora Aguero when the accident occurred; the causes of the same are currently under inves...

One person died in the crash of light aircraft that took place this Saturday, April 28, in the area of Bejuco in Nandayure, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Two people were aboard the plane, a Cessna 182 with plates TI BIL and that apparently is part of an aviation school. The cause of the accident is still not clear, the second person in the plane is conscious but presents a head trauma and a fractu...

According to data by the Social Security Service (CCSS), a total 26 thousand children and teens under 15 years of age in Costa Rica required medical attention in 2017 as a result of obesity. Grace Murillo Loaiza, national coordinator of Nutrition of the CCSS, the statistics are alarming. 85.8% of the patients were between the ages of 5 and 14. Health authorities call on parents and educators...

Costa Rica and Ecuador signed an agreement of cooperation for the conservation of the marine species and birds that will allow the strengthening of the conservation actions, control and protection of the ecosystems in the national parks Coco Island and Galapagos Island respectively. “The agreement Frame of Cooperation between the Direction of the National Park Galapagos in Ecuador and the Natio...

The 61,595 Costa Ricans that work in the corporate services sector, that are attracted by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), added a total of US$3,125 million in exports, last year. This represents 72% of the knowledge-intensive services exports generated by the country. This group is conformed by corporate services and the information technology sectors (ICTs). It represents ...

The Costa Rican government has approved the project “Fortuna en Dos Ruedas” (Fortune in Two Wheels), which proposes the creation of a 60 kilometer bike lane in the tourist area of La Fortuna de San Carlos. With an investment of close to U.S. $20 million, the bike lane will be developed in five stages and will take cyclists through some of the most important tourist sites in this area, the cent...

A U.S. $400 million project is taking shape in the North of Moín, Limón, Costa Rica at the entrance to the Tortuguero Canals  under the name "Casino City Caribe". The tourism project will consist of three hotels with a total 264 rooms, three casinos, 219 apartments, two convention and cultural centres with capacity for 150 people a full service marina and a helipad. Patti Rao Projects is the...

Photo Credit: CRHOY An English tourist passed away tragically this Thursday in Flamingo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. According to the Ministry of Public Security, the victim was 71 years old. The man was practicing snorkeling near Isla Catalina when he was dragged by the waves hitting some rocks. Even though the tourist received quick attention he was declared dead by the paramedics....

Costa Rica’s President elect, Carlos Alvarado, presented today the members of his team for the 2018-2022 period. The team has members of different political party including, of course, the Citizens’ Action Party (PAC), Social Christian Unity (PUSC), National Liberation Party (PLN), Frente Amplio, and Curridabat Siglo XXI. Except for the Minister of Culture, Sylvie Duran, the rest of the cabi...

The United States and Costa Rica formalized the donation of four UH-1ST helicopters to the Costa Rican Air Surveillance Agency (SVA) of the Ministry of Public Security. With these helicopters, Costa Rican increases its capability to provide aerial support during maritime operations, as well as to provide direct support to the National Coast Guard Service and emergency care. “This is another ...

MicroVention, a wholly owned subsidiary of Terumo Corporation and a global neurovascular company announced its plans to grow its operation in Costa Rica, doubling its capacity of production and creating at least 1,100 new jobs in the country in 2019. The company, located in Zona Franca el Coyol since 2011 would go from their current 7,000 square meters (75,347 square feet) to 14,000 square met...

Over the past few weeks Costa Rica has been the site of multiple world class sport fishing events. The Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown The Offshore World Championship Sport Fishing Tournament The Marina Pez Vela Open The Quepos Billfish Cup Costa Rica is quickly becoming one of the most important destinations for sport fishing aficionados in the world. The variety of marine s...

Costa Rica’s former Minister of Treasury and former candidate to the Vice-Presidency in this last campaign, Edgar Ayales, passed away this Wedneday, April 25, 2018. Ayales was a respected economist who served as Minister of Treasury for two years (2012-2014); during the presidency of Laura Chinchilla, he was also the candidate to the vice-presidency in this past elections alongside presidentia...

La Fortuna Waterfall * Photo for illustration purposes only. The alert was given by family members at around 1:30 p.m. this Wednesday, April 24, that their son had disappeared in the waterfall of La Fortuna River in San Carlos, Costa Rica. Unfortunately, after several hours of searching for the young boy, the rescue teams confirmed they had found the body of the minor 30 meters (100 feet) fr...

The Costa Rican Social Security Agency (C.C.S.S.) will kick start its yearly massive vaccination campaign against influenza this May. In total, the health authority will be a applying 1.3 million vaccines giving priority to children, senior citizens over 60 years of age and high risk population which includes diabetics, patients with heart conditions, pregnant women, cancer patients or those th...

42 deputies of the Legislative Assembly in Costa Rica approved in first debate the creation of a the National Police Academy. The initiative proposes the creation of an academy as part of the Ministry of Public Security and with the capacity of offering training, specialization, and formal education in aspects of security. The document establishes that the academy will offer education in dif...

Through an executive decree signed by President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis, the government seeks to offer working mothers the minimum conditions to breastfeed or pump breast milk at work. The obligation will be applied both for private and public institutions that have in their payroll 30 or more women; the companies must also give the mother the time during the work day to use the room...

Costa Rica’s National Coast Guard Service with the assistance of the United States Coast Guard intercepted a vessel that carried 809 kilograms of cocaine near Punta Burica, the South Zone of the country. The ship under the name “Arcasli” was intercepted 24 nautical miles from Punta Burica, the same is registered as a fishing boat and was built in 1994; a crew of four members was aboard the sh...

Labor union groups in Costa Rica have called a strike on this Wednesday, April 25 to protest against the new fiscal plan that is currently in discussion at the Legislative Assembly. The strike will gather the union groups of the National Insurance Institute (INS), the Social Security authority (CCSS), public education unions, among others. Leaders of the groups explained that their position...

The sentence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) received earlier this year in favor of Costa Rica, regarding the cases of “Maritime Delimitation Claim in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua)” and “Terrestrial Frontier in the North Area of Isla Portillos (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua)”, allowed Costa Rica to update the map of the country to include 36, 000 km2 of maritime t...

French company Vinci Airports signed an agreement to acquire the portfolio of Airports Worldwide, which includes co-control stakes of Costa Rica’s two major airports, 48.75% of the Juan Santamaria International Airport and 45% stake in the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. The agreement also included airports in the United States and Europe, “The operation boosts Vinci...

After showing a decline in the number of visitors from the United States last year, the fist trimester of 2018 shows a growth of 6% in tourists from this country to Costa Rica. The raise is also evident in visitors from other regions such as Europe with 14.2% in comparison to the same period of 2017 and South America with an 11.4% growth. “The actions that we have taken in marketing and pro...

Efforts have been carried out by the San Jose Municipality as well as non for profit organizations and tourism agencies to promote tourism to the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica; however, these efforts are faced with a big challenge, the lack of proper infrastructure in San Jose. From simple things like the lack of street signs and tourist information centers, to sidewalks in bad condition...

Today we celebrate World Book Day, a day when we celebrate stories and the love of reading. To commemorate this day we leave you the following list of top 5 Costa Rican authors. Joaquín García Monge: (1881-1958) Considered the created of the Costa Rican realism novels he created international magazine Repertorio Americano (1919-1958) which was red in many Hispanic countries and was published fo...

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower which is associated with Halley’s Comet will have its peak activity on May 6 this year, and if you are a fan of astronomy you can go on a hiking tour to Cerro Pelado in Guanacaste, one of the best places to appreciate this phenomenon. The group Senderismo Costa Rica (Hiking Costa Rica) is organizing once again a tour for this date, “Last year we had between 100-1...

Costa Rican permanent representative to the UN Elayne Whyte Gómez and diplomats from the disarmament delegations of Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, and South Africa, received the "2017 Arms Control Person (s) of the Year” award in recognition of their efforts to secure the historic 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons The recognition was awarded based on the votes o...

While in the United States all bills are the same color, in Costa Rica like many other countries the bills are full of color and history. Perhaps you have never really paid attention to the bills, as a matter of fact, it is safe to say that if you ask a group of Costa Ricans the majority will be able to tell you the colors but won’t be able to say whose face is in each bill, or what other impor...

The United States will donate a third island-class patrol ship to Costa Rica in order to continue strengthening the country’s National Coast Guard Service. The United States has already donated two 110 foot boats which actually left from Baltimore and were scheduled  to arrive in  Caldera, Puntarenas at the beginning of April. The boats just crossed the Panama Canal yesterday and therefore shou...

As of the night of Wednesday, April 25 and every night through Thursday, May 3, the bridge over the Virilla River in Lindora, Santa Ana will be completely closed with the purpose of installing the auxiliary structure located to one of the sides and moving it to the opposite side. According to the information offered by the National Roads Authority (CONAVI) the structure that was put in place ba...

Costa Rica and the United States signed an agreement to exchange tax information and for mutual assistance between both countries, this with the purpose of attending to the transparency standard established by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis and Sharon Day, US Ambassador to Costa Rica, signed the agreement that now m...

SOURCE: OECD Economic Survey The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), an intergovernmental economic organization, presented its Economic Survey of Costa Rica in San Jose detailing “the factors behind the strong socio-economic achievements of the past decades as well as the challenges remaining to ensure growth”. “Costa Rica has made impressive economic and social pro...

Protests in Nicaragua began three days ago when citizens took to the streets to protest changes in the country’s pension system and social security reforms. The government of Nicaragua finally accepted a call for dialogue by the private sector. The protests have led to widespread  violence in the country that have killed at least 10 people (the official number reported by the government) and in...

Costa Rica became the first non-European country to adhere to the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, also known as Santiago de Compostela Treaty. This is the first international treaty against this type of crime and represents a big step towards battling trafficking of human organs in the world. The treaty’s objective is the prevention and penalization of traff...

The 2018 wildfires season has been the worse in Costa Rica in the past three years. According to the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC) a total of 47 wildfires have been recorded from January 1st through April 17 while in this same lapse in 2017 there were 33 forest fires, 36 in 2016 and in 2015 a total of 34. As it is common 67% of these fires affected areas in the North Pacif...

Costa Rica is already positioned as one of the preferred choices for North Americans as a medical and dental tourism destination , it is known that the treatments most commonly sought in the country are esthetic procedures; however, an alliance between the San Rafael Arcangel Hospital in Liberia, Guanacaste and Centro de Radioterapia Siglo XXI, hope to position the country on the map as a medical ...

Its April 20 or “weed day” as many call it and the consumers of marijuana in Costa Rica celebrate this day by smoking of course. The theories on how 4/20 became a code for pot smoking are many and no one can say for sure which one is the true story, but the fact is that April 20 has become internationally known as weed day, events are held in many countries to advocate for the legalization of c...