Costa Rica's Emergency Medical Response Team is the first in the Americas to achieve the EMT recognition by the World Health Organization. Costa Rica's emergency response team (EMT) is now recognized among the world's emergency medical teams that can be deployed quickly when requested by countries affected by disasters or emergencies, said the WHO last week.     Meanwhile...

Costa Rica is taking a leading role in motivating the international community to take action towards the decontamination of the oceans. As part of the celebration of World Oceans Day this June 8, Costa Rica will host the Global Dialogue about Oceans June 8th and 9th in the Villa Caletas Hotel in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica. Over 100 high level representatives from different countries ...

In the midst of protests surrounding the growing production of pineapple in Costa Rica, Friday, Costa Rica sent its first shipment of pineapples from the Pacific port of Caldera to Shanghai, China. The nine ship containers containing over 15,000 cases of pineapples marks Costa Rica's entry into the Chinese tropical fruit market, said the Xinhua news agency. "This first shipment of pineapples...

5 hammerhead sharks tagged during expedition to Cocos Island with Mission Blue Also on the expedition were Fins Attached, Ocean First Foundation and CREMA-Costa Rica The scientists removed abandoned longline fishing gear A 10-day scientific expedition led by Dr. Sylvia Earl of the U.S.-based marine conservation organization Mission Blue, just returned from Cocos Island National Park...

Researchers at the University of Costa Rica recently observed a neotropical frog that hasn't been observed for at least 30 years and which had therefore been declared extinct by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The rediscovery of the species, Craugastor escoces, or red-bellied frog, occurred in the Juan Castro Blanco National Park,  located in the province of Alaju...

The British Embassy in Costa Rica has released an updated list of lawyers and law offices in Costa Rica whose staff speak English. The list includes only lawyers who are affiliated with the Costa Rican Lawyers Professional Association (Colegio de Abogados). While the list is by no means intended as a recommendation of any lawyer or law office, the professionals on the list have expressed an ...

The National University’s Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (OVSICORI) reported an eruption that reached 1,000 meters above the crater, 3,708 meters above sea level (12.162,24 ft.), began at 8:50 a.m. local time this Tuesday and was still in progress at 10:05 a.m. This past Friday, June 2 the Poás Volcano registered constant activity with small size eruptions and redcolumns of gases...

Costa Rica's Ombudsman's Office (Defensoria de los Habitantes) said this week that the top complaint received by their office is related to access to health services. The figure came to light in the agency's 2016-2017 Annual Report which analyzes progress and gaps in meeting recommendations of the United Nations human rights committees. Part of these recommendations refer to the need to ensu...

Costa Rican and Azerbaijani chancellors met last week to seek to increase trade, investment, tourism, and cooperation between the two nations, and announced a reciprocal opening of embassies and an agreement on diplomatic visas. Investments by the Azerbaijan Petroleum Fund in Costa Rica were an important part of the talks, said the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry. Foreign Minister Manuel A. Gon...

Costa Rica's legislature will discuss a bill proposing the exploration and exploitation of geothermal energy in the country's protected areas, reported local media recently. Studies carried out by the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) estimate potential geothermal energy generation in the country at 875 MW. The current installed geothermal capacity is 195 MW. Bill 19,233, which has ...

- Protestors took to the streets again this Monday, two weeks after a similar demonstration in San José criticized deforestation and pollution caused by pineapple farming in Costa Rica. While Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís was giving a public talk to commemorate World Environment Day, some young protestors stood in front of him with a banner reading "De Muerte" or "of death" painted o...

As the city has taken shape and built up around it, the Gran Hotel, facing onto the National Theater and Plaza de la Culture in downtown San José, has held on to its style The hotel closed in June of 2016 to begin the major overhaul that is being directed by OBP architectural firm, and under guidelines for historical buildings so that the main characteristics of the building will be preserved, ...

An emergency measure ordered by the Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock's National Animal Health Service (SENASA) aimed at controlling a stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) outbreak in northern Costa Rica went into effect last week. All pineapple farms in the district of Cutris de San Carlos and San Rafael de Río Cuarto must refrain from any new plantings or soil preparations for the...

The Costa Rican National Tourism Board, Canatur, met with canopy tour operators from throughout the country this week to discuss a recent court ruling on the patent rights over use of the canopy invention in Costa Rica. Monday, Canadian national Darren Hreniuk, who developed the canopy tour mechanics and invention in the first such tour developed in the country in Monteverde in the 1990s, recei...

Over the past week alone, six foreigners have been detained by police, and some already have their deportation orders approved, said the Public Security Ministry press office. A directive was issued to tighten controls on foreigners with criminal records or behaviors by Costa Rica's Minister of Public Security Gustavo Mata Vega in the wake of the May 15 shootout in Guachipelín, Escazú. The shoo...

The Costa Rican judiciary celebrates five years of a successful restorative justice program that has now earned its place as part of the country's public policy, said the judiciary press office in a statement this week. The nationwide program has linked its efforts to all sectors of the government as well as private and civic groups, and its work to rehabilitate adult and juvenile criminals ove...

The month of May in Costa Rica closed with a surplus of rainfall, exceeding the predictions of the National Meteorology Institute, the number of lighting strikes doubled the number of 2016. In the past weeks the country has registered seven tropical waves which generated heavy rainfall and thunder storms that caused floods and landslides in different areas of the country. May registered a reco...

- United States Embassy in Costa Rica celebrates sexual diversity month with rainbow flag. "In previous years we have displayed this flag at the entrance to our embassy, ​​but starting last year, we hoisted it along with the United States flag, so that Costa Rica can see this powerful and symbolic demonstration of our commitment to tolerance, acceptance and equal rights for all citizens, regard...

While pineapple growers downplay the social, and also environmental, issues behind the monoculture’s activity in Costa Rica, local communities continue to share firsthand experiences of human and labor rights violations. “One of the most worrying complaints that is systematically repeated in the plantations visited in Limón province - in Guácimo, Siquirres, Pococí, and Talamanca - as well as th...

The next time you go to Taco Bell don't be surprised if you see employees using sign language to communicate with one another. This is because the company has a strong policy of including people of different abilities as part of its workforce. Taco Bell Costa Rica continues to expand its operations, and also its philosophy of inclusivity, giving greater participation to individuals with disabil...

The Solís government continues to work on delayed infrastructure projects throughout the country, and is moving forward with two bridges in the Drake area of the Osa Peninsula, the biodiversity hotspot in Costa Rica’s southern Pacific region and home to Corcovado National Park, said the president’s office this week. A program of the Office of the First Lady of the Republic called “Tejiendo Desa...

- Inventor of the Canopy Tour® recovers invention patent in Costa Rica after lengthy legal battle, meaning local tour operators must receive authorization to continue to offer such tours in Costa Rica. After almost 20 years of wrangling through the administrative and judicial channels in Costa Rica, a legal resolution ended the conflict that arose after the canopy patent held by Canadian national...

While it might be tempting to grab a bag of inexpensive fruit from a street vendor on your next trip to downtown San José, you should think twice about the quality of what you are buying. San José municipal police are amping up their operations in the center to curb informal sales of products along the streets. On a patrol this week, police on bicycle retrieved bags of fruit hidden in storm ...

Costa Rican Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata Vega spoke to the Horizontes Costa Rica radio program yesterday to urge more resources for combatting cocaine trafficking and related crime. A satellite image produced by the radio program and published on their website depicts Pacific sea routes from cocaine-producing South American countries that are thought to be drug-related. So many routes ...

Costa Rica's EKA business magazine has released its 2017 rankings of private schools in Costa Rica. Of the at least 500 private educational institutions in the country, about 180 offer a K-12 education according to the Ministry of Public Education (MEP). Schools are ranked in different categories including the 50 best schools in the country, the top 50 of the last five years, the best school...

Starting September 1, 2017, the annual tax on corporations, including inactive - or "shelf" or holding - companies will begin to be collected, said president of the Association of Public Accountants, Ronald Artavia in a statement. The law exempts micro and small businesses from payment; and a one-time exemption is included for the first year of the tax on people who close their companies or tra...

Starting this Saturday, June 3, urban passenger train service will be available Saturdays between Cartago and San José, announced the Costa Rican Railways Institute (INCOFER) this week. Saturdays, trains depart starting at 6:30 a.m from the Atlantic station in downtown San José and from the Cartago station, and from then on every hour on the half hour until 1:30 p.m. Tickets are ¢550 - less ...

María del Rocío Sáenz Madrigal, executive president of the country's social security agency (CCSS), noted that Costa Rica's health care system stands out for its provision of pain management, saying it is, "one of the few countries that provides palliative support to the population that is in terminal phase or that has chronic pain," said Saénz. Her observations come as the new headquarters of ...

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in August 1962, Costa Rica and South Korea have had a successful cooperation partnership which was bolstered during the visit of the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, to the Asian country in October 2016. During last year's visit, the countries agreed to a Comprehensive Cooperation Alliance that outlined concrete political, economic...

Do you or your child need a cédula, or to register other vital statistics? People living in the area of Paquera, Cóbano and Mal Pais/Montezuma can access these services this month and next on a field visit by Costa Rica Civil Registry / Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE - Registro Civil) officials, without having to make a trip to San José. Door-to-door visits to Mal Pais will take place May 2...

Sustainable Costa Rican tourist enterprises will now be eligible for a European certification, issued by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, reported the agency last week. The international certification, called TourCert, was developed in Germany, and is based on international standards of quality and environmental management including EMAS and ISO, specifically the ISO 26000 guide for soci...

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis inaugurated Saturday a US$2.5 million Coast Guard Station in the country's south Pacific. The station was donated by the United States military's Southern Command (Southcom). The president's office said in a statement that the station, located in Golfito, Puntarenas province, was inaugurated by President Solis, Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata, Na...

Costa Rica's pineapple sector employs about 32,000 people directly and generates exports of about one billion dollars a year, which is the equivalent of 10 per cent of the country's total exports, according to a report released today. The study, "Economic, Social and Environmental Impact of Pineapple in Costa Rica", conducted by the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE) ...

The Turrialba Volcano in Cartago continued with constant eruptions throughout this week, most of them not exceeding the 500 meters above the active crater, but according to the National University’s Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (OVSICORI), there are at least four or five every hour lasting under one minute. These frequent eruptions have been releasing gases and ash, and some ...

The U.S. Peace Corps program in Costa Rica is searching for local talent to fill a new position. The program manager would be responsible for, "Building a Response Corps program of 10-15 Peace Corps Response Volunteer positions per year. Work in close collaboration with other PC Staff and local organizations to support Peace Corps/Costa Rica programs. Train and oversee the Peace Corps Response ...

A 35-year-old man by the last names Rojas Retana was arrested this past Tuesday by the Costa Rican police in Desamparados, San José, as he is the main suspect of raping a 9 year-old girl on several ocassions and having distributed the pornografic material through the dark web. The Costa Rica police received an alert from Interpol stating that they had traced the origin of somo 300 videos of chi...

The Ministry of Environment of Costa Rica released a new website that provides information regarding the country’s natural resources. The website www.crn.go.cr , where CRN (Spanish acronym) stands for Accounting of the Natural Resources, is a tool that allows the country to determine if its economic growth is sustainable; in other words, it provides details on the capacity of the country to gen...

During the “Cup of Excellence” contest which took place this week in the Bouganvillea Hotel in Heredia, coffee tasters from nine countries chose coffee from Don Antonio farm part of the Group Los Grande de Copey, from the Tarrazú region, as the best in Costa Rica. Experienced coffee tasters from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Bulgaria, China, Germany, U.S.A., Colombia and Costa Rica tasted coff...

This week Maureen Clarke Clarke, National Liberation Party legislator made a strong statement in the digital Costa Rican news outlet Elmundo.cr, saying, “Public transportation in Costa Rica is one of the biggest arenas of sexual violence against women.” She criticized the Solís administration for “not seeming to care,” about the situation which negatively impacts women’s quality of life and imp...

Whereas last month, meteorologists saw a possible El Niño effect slowing down the formation of storms in the Atlantic-Caribbean region, they now say the probable lack of development of the phenomenon may bring on a heavier than usual hurricane season. Last year brought the unusual late season hurricane - Otto - the first to touch land in Costa Rica in recorded history. For the Atlantic, 2016...