Two recent attempts by government officials to undermine press freedom in Costa Rica were thwarted by competent legislative and judicial officials. One case involves access to government information that should be made available with full transparency, and the other involves undue snooping on journalists by law enforcement agents with the help of a former communications monopoly that used to be co...

David Rivera Tenuous security controls at the Peñas Blancas border crossing checkpoint between Costa Rica and Nicaragua helped a controversial former Member of the United States Congress and a close associate hide from the law. David Rivera represented South Florida's 25th District from 2011 to 2013; his controversial background includes allegations of setting up a shadow reelection campaign w...

Source: Focus Features A penetrating film that deals with a very delicate, yet factual and historic, Cold War narrative, is now available on DVD. Kill the Messenger was modestly released to regional audiences in the United States last year; it has received positive reviews thanks to actor Jeremy Renner's powerful performance as the late journalist Gary Webb. Kill the Messenger is based on t...

Source: Ricardo Retana - Twitter The participation of a top-level public official in the recent march in memory of Jairo Mora has become the subject of political controversy. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star: With picket signs, banners, slogans, songs, and a general feeling of indignation, a march in memory of slain environmentalist Jairo Mora took place in San Jose on Thursday, ...

Source: Flick Commons Carry a beer, lose your gun. In essence, such is the gist of a new rule promulgated by the Ministry of Public Security in Costa Rica. According to a news report filed by Jason Torres of online news daily CRHoy.com, the new rule calls for law enforcement officers in Costa Rica to confiscate weapons and the actual permit to bear arms from individuals are determined to be in...

An anti-GMO activist in San Francisco. Source: Wikimedia Commons In Costa Rica, the fight against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) deemed to be dangerous for the soil and thereby the ecosystem has been resolute and systematic. Over the last three years, The Costa Rica Star has been reporting on the fight against the use of potentially harmful transgenics in agriculture, particularly th...

Source: MSP Earlier this month, the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP) held a special ceremony in Isla Calero that served two purposes: The commemoration of fallen Fuerza Publica officers who died in the line of duty, plus the announcement of a significant donation made by the United States government to augment border security. Through a security cooperation agreement, the...

Source: RREE Speaking from Beijing on January 8th, President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera used strong words to describe his new foreign policy as it relates to the unprecedented and massive economic agreement between the Republic of Costa Rica and the  People’s Republic of China (PRC). As published in a communiqué issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:   “We are not here to talk ab...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Ligia Fallas, a legislator who represents the Caribbean city of Limon under the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party, is standing her ground with regard to a derogatory comment she made about Costa Rica in reaction to a port construction project. Last week, Legislator Fallas took to social network Twitter to express her dissatisfaction over the approval given t...

A draconian situation in Costa Rica was recently reported by Jimena Soto of online news daily CRHoy.com, and it involves a denial of public health care to a foreign woman who is pregnant with the child of her husband of four years, who happens to be a Costa Rican citizen.   According to the news report, the husband of the Nicaraguan woman who was summarily denied benefits by La Caja,  C...

They are young, undereducated, unemployed, and disenfranchised. In Costa Rica and other parts of Latin America, they are known as the NiNis, an abbreviated portmanteau of “ni estudio, ni trabajo,” which translates into “I don’t study and don’t have a job.” The number of NiNis has been on the rise since 2010, and this has prompted public officials and researchers to take a closer look at this worri...

The future border crossing checkpoint at the Tablillas community of Los Chiles, in the northern region of the Alajuela province, will not be operational until April 2015. Nonetheless, this formality does not seem to stop illegal immigrants from taking advantage of the new bridge on the Nicaraguan side of the border to illegally cross into Costa Rica. According to a recent news article reported ...

Although World Teacher's Day was celebrated on Sunday, October 5th this year, Costa Rica chooses to observe this important, yet often ignored, holiday on November 22nd. This year, the holiday fell on a Saturday, when most public schools do not operate, so the Ministry of Education (Spanish initials: MEP) decided to celebrate Teacher's Day with a paid holiday break on Friday. Costa Rica is hardl...

Outside of La Terraza (The Terrace) Restaurant & Bar, a known nightspot located in the heart of San Jose, a group of gender equality activists staged a loud protest on Saturday night as patrons lined up to enter this well-known dancing and drinking establishment. As reported by metro reporter Laura Ruiz of daily newspaper La Prensa Libre, a kiss between a same-gender couple was the reason for ...

The uncomfortable two-week strike by dock workers in the Caribbean ports of Costa Rica was closely watched by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, the ITF was not pleased with the poor handling by the government and by the violent actions that surrounded the strike. Before the strike ended, 400 cruise ship tourists were directly affe...

Hundreds of cruise ship tourists who arrived in Costa Rica to explore the natural beauty and hospitality of the Caribbean region were instead trapped in their tour buses for hours as a result of the dock workers strike in the ports of Limon and Moin. The strike, which recently came to an end thanks to the intervention of the Ombudsman, lasted two weeks and was tainted by violence perpetrated by cr...

Source> Wikimedia Commons After a lengthy meeting that ran into the late night hours of Wednesday, the government of Costa Rica and the powerful dock workers' union in the Caribbean region signed an agreement to put an end to the strike that started on October 22nd in the ports of Limon and Moin. The strike, which had turned violent and extremely political at times, seemed as if it would ne...

Source: Wikimedia Commons As key officers from the Directorate of Intelligence Services (Spanish initials: DIS) in Costa Rica continue to testify before the Legislative Assembly about the shadowy agency’s questionable budget allocation and spending, lawmakers are beginning to lose their patience. Although the focus of the panel assembled to look into the murky DIS affairs is on major spending ...

Source: WikiMedia Commons The Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS), a shadowy agency in Costa Rica that operates with barely any oversight, may or may not have known that the infamous “Google Maps Invasion” of Isla Calero by a Nicaraguan Army infantry squad since 2008. Such was a recent report filed by journalist Manuel Sancho of online news daily CRHoy.com. While testifying before th...

Longline tuna haul. Source: Greenpeace. By means of an Executive Decree signed on Tuesday by President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis, parts of the Pacific Ocean are now off limits to commercial tuna fishing. The two main oceanic locations where tuna fishing is absolutely prohibited are the Isla del Coco (Cocos Island) National Park and the Seamount Conservation Area. The National Coast Gu...

President Solis Even before former presidential candidate Johnny Araya surprised the political sphere in Costa Rica by dropping out of the race that elected President Luis Guillermo Solis in a landslide runoff victory, analysts sensed uncertainty among the ranks of the powerful National Liberation Party (Spanish initials: PLN). Such observations are now being confirmed by a report by Gianluca ...

The province of Guanacaste may be home to the Gold Coast beaches, the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport, the most expensive communities in Costa Rica, and a thriving expatriate scene, but it comes up way short in one aspect: a reasonable and efficient supply of drinking water. One of the most vexing challenges of the current administration under President Luis Guillermo Solis is to ensure...

Lethal Injection is still used in the United States Costa Rica is a nation that supports, defends and promotes the defense of human rights around the world. In the matter of the death penalty, the Constitution is clear insofar as human life being inviolable, never to be broken or infringed upon. Such was the message issued by Minister of Foreign Affairs Alejandro Solano last week in commemorat...

Source: Casa Presidencial It took a little less than an hour for President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera to deliver a summary of his first 100 days in office, but the collective time spent by legislators and political analysts commenting on his speech could soon add up to more than 100 hours. As expected by many, President Solis did not have much to say; however, critics pointed out that he coul...

Paul Watson with actress Daryl Hannah. Creative Commons. The ice bucket challenge to raise awareness and funds towards research and treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) has reached the Presidential Office of Costa Rica. Challenged by a radio personality from 104.3 FM (Los 40 Principales or Top 40), President Luis Guillermo Solis respectfully decl...

Source: CONAMAJ Labor disputes and internal bickering between labor unions and immigration officials may complicate the legal status of visitors, perpetual tourists and other foreigners in Costa Rica. At the heart of the issue is an operations manual that aimed to reflect the national security policy of improvement undertaken by the administration of President Laura Chinchilla; alas, it looks ...

The Republic of Costa Rica is divided into 81 cantons administered by municipal councils. Over the last few years, 74 of these municipalities have passed ordinances prohibiting the cultivation of transgenic crops and other genetically modified organisms (GMOs). That 90 percent of Costa Rica's territory is transgenic-free is a point of pride for anti-GMO activists; however, some legislators don't t...

Ghaleb Nasar Al Bihani Ghaleb Nasar Al Bihani was a religious student in Afghanistan when he was introduced to jihad (the holy struggle of Muslims against infidels that is often hijacked by imbecilic extremists for terror and violence). These days, he practices yoga and Spanish as he dreams of one living in Costa Rica, Spain or Uruguay. First, however, he must somehow obtain a release from the...

Source: Flickr CC Over the last few years, law enforcement agencies in Costa Rica have noticed a sharp increase in the number of women who become involved in drug trafficking. The Drug Control Police (Spanish initials: PCD) reported the arrest of two women found to be in possession of cocaine hydrochloride and byproducts. Both women were detained at ports of entry and exit; for this reason, PC...

One of the species affected by seine fishing. The Costa Rican Fishing Federation (Spanish initials: FECOP) has launched an online petition addressed to President Laura Chinchilla asking her to issue a particular Executive Decree before she steps down as Head of State: To prohibit seine-haul fishing of tuna within the first 100 nautical miles of both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. FECOP is a...

Source: Ministry of Justice and Peace President Laura Chinchilla recently signed legislative decree number 9204, which creates a national protocol against torture, cruelty, unusual punishment, and degrading conditions perpetrated against those who are deprived of freedom in Costa Rica. By executing this decree, President Chinchilla explained that she would like to set an example for the intern...

Source: Roberto Carlos Miranda of Buses GB The bus line once known as Transportes La Pampa, which has been serving passengers in Costa Rica since the 1950s, is facing serious accusations by investigative journalists and government agencies. The allegations are strong: Unpaid salaries, delinquent obligations with La Caja dating back to the 20th century, antitrust violations, inciting bribes, fa...

Screen grab from YouTube An organization of motorcycle riders and street racing enthusiasts are petitioning the government for what they think is their right to burn rubber on the public roadways of Costa Rica. President Laura Chinchilla was flabbergasted at the idea and posted a scathing Facebook update calling the riders a bunch of snotty-nosed kids. Over the last few days, leaders of the...

Municipal Center of Carrillo. The Mayor of Carrillo and other municipal officials in this canton of Guanacaste are well-traveled public servants. According to a report published in recent days by online news site Primero en Noticias, official records show that Argentina, China, Mexico, Spain, and the United States are the destinations where Carrillo officials have or will travel to in 2014. Th...

Source: Fuerza Publica During a recent visit to the city of Liberia, President Laura Chinchilla did not mince any words when she sharply responded to comments made by a labor union leader and a legislator who are not happy with the investment of more than $750,000 in patrol cars, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to augment law enforcement operations in the formerly “forgotten provin...

Presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solis of Costa Rica. Following the announcement by presidential candidate and former Mayor of San Jose Johnny Araya's decision to abandon his pre-runoff election political campaign in Costa Rica, his opponent offered a polite and commiserate statement equivalent to accepting a concession speech. It did not take long, however, for presidential candidate Lui...

Longline tuna haul. Source: Greenpeace. The recent Executive decree signed by President Laura Chinchilla approving new restrictions on commercial longline fishing operations is a positive, yet not altogether effective, step towards stopping the overfishing and depletion of marine resources of Costa Rica. Such was the statement pronounced by the Costa Rica Fishing Federation (Spanish acronym: F...

A previous issue of Diario Extra newspaper in Costa Rica Diario Extra, a sensationalist tabloid in Costa Rica that is known for its bold headlines, over-the-top crime reporting and photos spreads of scantily-clad and seductive Ticas, was recently condemned by the Colegio of Periodistas (Board of Journalism) after the daily published ghastly photos of a motor vehicle accident on Route 32 connec...

Source: La Voz Liberacionista Despite its world-class golf courses, massive luxury beach resorts and proposed water parks (complete with wave pools), Guanacaste is known to most people as the region with the most serious water challenges in Costa Rica. This is not, however, the view of legislator Maria Ocampo of the ruling National Liberation party, a Guanacaste native who sees “no problems wi...

File photo from Casa Presidencial As part of her farewell activities before transferring leadership of Costa Rica to the winner of the upcoming runoff election, President Laura Chinchilla is busy making sure that Guanacaste is no longer known by its previous label of “the forgotten province.” On a return visit to Guanacaste, President Chinchilla recently inaugurated a remodeled vocational high...