National Liberation Party Presidential candidate Johnny Araya floated a controversial plan to eliminate the much hated “bachillerato” test requirement for those who do not intend to go on to higher education. Those who opt out of the test would receive certificates showing they had completed high school. The first big educational reform in a quarter century is bound to create a firestorm of ...

The number of complaints filed against police, accusing officers of abuse, has risen drastically during the last few years, although Security Minister Mario Zamora says that the situation looks worse then it is. In 2012 alone, the 15 judicial jurisdictions received 2,061 complaints compared with the 1,196 filed in 2008, the 865 increase being an average of six per day in 2012. But Zamora points...

The parents of a teenager killed in Costa Rica two years ago are having to return to the Central American country next month. Their son’s killer has been granted a new trial and they’re worried justice may escape them this time. Justin Johnston, 16, was on a student field trip with his high school Spanish Club when he was shot and killed by a hotel security guard. Justin and a classmate were re...

The Puente La Amistad de Taiwán (English: “Taiwan Friendship Bridge”) in Guanacaste could soon be a toll bridge, if a proposal by legislator Ernesto Chavarria is approved by the Legislative Assembly. The plan is to charge ¢500 colones for passenger vehicles, ¢150 for motorcycles and more for heavy vehicles. The legislator says the proposal is to raise funds to maintain the bridge, a bridge t...

The President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, ruled out any possibility of dialogue with Nicaragua after the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, said he aims to "recover" the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste. "We do not accept talking to Nicaragua about Guanacaste. Costa Rica does not accept that they challenge its absolute rights over the province of Guanacaste," affirmed the preside...

The article below is a long detailed guest post by Margie Thompson of Escribana “This place is magical. … the Southern Caribbean has such an attraction that when people come here they can’t explain why they want to stay.” (Maritza Morales Williams, young Afro Costa Rican from Puerto Viejo) Famous for being one of the most biologically rich areas in the world with a population comprised of a uniq...

The Regulatory Authority for Public Services (ARESEP) will define in a month the rates for private generators of renewable energy. They also seek to unify criteria, to upgrade and have clear transparent methodologies in private generation, said the spokeswoman Maria Carvajal to ARESEP. Last Monday ARESEP had a public meeting to explain the changes that they want to implement to the rate-setting...

Source: MSP Costa Rica, date unknown The United States Embassy in Costa Rica recently published this update on its Twitter stream: @CostaRicaStar Interesting article on #Erson seizure. However, Erson wasn't seaworthy. It wasn't towed or lost. Evidence safely transferred. — US Embassy San Jose (@usembassysjo) August 14, 2013 The article mentioned above was published in the Costa Rica Star ...

Source: Fuerza Publica San Jose, Costa Rica – In a sense, Sara Ortiz Esquivel is a typical mother in Costa Rica. She is sweet and kind to her six children, who have given her 15 grandchildren. She has experienced some hard moments in her life, but yesterday was particularly challenging. Over the last 22 years, Mrs. Ortiz has dedicated her life to protecting life and property in Costa Rica. ...

The Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance) wants you to use your credit card. And to promote its use it is holding the first “raffle” of the year, “Lotería Fiscal del 2013” with a total prize package of ¢50 million colones to those who have charged more than ¢3,000 colones with their credit or debit card. The draw will be held today, according to an announcement made Tuesday afternoon...

Wikimedia Commons As families in Costa Rica prepare to celebrate one of their most important holidays, inmates in the country's three correctional custody institutions for women are reflecting on what August 15th used to mean prior to their incarceration. These women, many of whom are single parents, are part of Costa Rica's growing inmate population. They will spend Mother's Day deprived of f...

Source: Flickr CC Street racers in Costa Rica, known as “picones” in the local slang vernacular, are staying one step ahead of the law with a tactic typically used by the police officers that attempt to put an end to their reckless driving. According to a recent article written by Roberto Portuguez for news daily La Prensa Libre, picones in Costa Rica have snitches planted inside law enforceme...

Source: MSP Costa Rica A Nicaraguan citizen who killed and gutted a green sea turtle in Costa Rica has been sentenced to 12 months in prison; he is not, however, in custody at the moment. The 40-year old man, whose last name is Martinez, was found guilty of the crime of slaughter of a Chelonia mydas in a sector of the Tortuguero National Park in the Caribbean region, an area that is a sanctuar...

Due to the serious harm that trawling causes to the marine environment and sea bed, Costa Rica has banned all shrimp trawling in the country. The ruling, written by Justice Paul Rueda, declared admissible a lawsuit filed by six environmental organizations against various articles of the country’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Law, reports TicoTimes. "Based on extensive scientific studies, it...

The suspected head of an international child pornography ring was arrested in Costa Rica as part of a probe coordinated with Spain and several Latin American countries, authorities said. Agents, both local and from the global police agency Interpol, arrested the man and seized computers during raids across the country, said Marisel Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Judicial Investigation Organizat...

A legislator in Costa Rica brought up explosive accusations against two political parties during a debate on campaign reform. Jeanette Ruiz from the Citizen Action Party (PAC in Spanish) has insinuated that Liberty Reserve, a controversial money transmitter based in Costa Rica, donated money to fund the electoral campaigns of the Libertarian Movement and the powerhouse National Liberation Party (P...

The Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), the Defensoría de los Habitantes (Ombudsman) and the public employee union, the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados (ANEP), have banded together asking Laura Chinchilla to declare a state of emergency in the country’s penitentiary system. According to legislator and leader of the PAC legislative bloc, Carmen Muñoz, the call is for the governm...

Yesterday the government of Costa Rica welcomed the approval of the UN Arms Trade Agreement during a first debate in the Congress. “Costa Rica has starred in one of the fundamental struggles for disarmament. We have used our moral power as a peaceful country to advocate for a world without weapons,” said Chinchilla. The president added that “the approval of this treaty represents a breakthro...

Residents of the community of Los Angeles of Palmira in Carrillo, Guanacaste, reported that concession holders have destroyed the Tempisque River and endangered the community in times of high rains and flooding. The neighbors are upset with the Ministry of Environment for having authorized a concession to extract sand from the Tempisque River, work which was done using a backhoe to descend into...

Source: Wikimedia Commons One of the strangest cases in the history of Costa Rica's judiciary recently came to an end in the Central Pacific city of Puntarenas. It is not everyday that judges in Costa Rica preside over prosecutions involving frozen shark carcasses filled with cocaine, but after four years of legal wrangling and a considerable expenditure by prosecutors and investigators, the d...

Thank you to Guy Edwards of Brown University for allowing The Costa Rica Star to publish the below article. A recent visit to Costa Rica by Chinese President Xi Jinping has led to a mounting backlash against a proposed oil refinery, which undermines Costa Rica’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2021. The visit of the Chinese President to Costa Rica earlier this month led to a raft of agree...

People with criminal records cannot obtain a firearm permit to carry weapons in Costa Rica, according to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica. The justices rejected an appeal by a citizen who saw the move as discriminatory. The Constitutional Court ruling indicates that carrying a weapon is an award given by the State to its citizens and not a right. Under that pr...

The Permanent Committee on Women's Affairs at the National Assembly in Costa Rica recently approved two motions that take a strong look at how women are perceived and treated with regard to political participation and their image in the media. On July 30th, the 64th anniversary of the women's right to suffrage was celebrated with a motion to investigate why political parties in Costa Rica are n...

Source: Flickr According to an official press release from the Organization of Judicial Investigations (OIJ in Spanish), Costa Rica will no longer send cocaine or other controlled substances to the United States, at least for the time being. The announcement comes in the wake of news reports about nearly 24 tons of cocaine transported by the U.S. Air Force to Miami on Saturday, July 27th 2013....

Last month The Costa Rica Star was the first news media website in Costa Rica to publish about the closing of these zoos. The article below is a follow up from CBC News. Costa Rican officials say they plan to close both of the country's public zoos next year so that animals can be freed from their cages. But the foundation that runs the animal parks said Saturday it is trying to keep them opera...

The development association of North Esperanza in Nicoya held its 37th annual meeting on July 28, during which they approved the work plan for the next two years and swore in the new members of the organization. Among the projects that stand out for the coming years is the creation of a community aqueduct, with a total of 100 million colones ($200,000), from Water and Sewage (AyA), which will b...

Fourteen individuals with a history of sexual offenses were barred from entering Costa Rica due to a warning system by the International Police (Interpol), allowing immigration officers to detect the foreigners before landing on Costa Rican soil. Immediately, the foreigners were returned to their country of origin, said Freddy Montero Mora, deputy minister of the Interior. Montero explained ...

Today the Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ) and the district attorney's office affirmed that the murder of ecologist was because of an assault in an attempt to rob his belongings. Two months after the murder of the environmentalist Jairo Mora, six suspects implicated in the crime were detained by OIJ. The suspects, for men and two women linked to contraband turtle sets, were captured ...

With categorical words, Marcos Jimenez, mayor of Nicoya, referred to his possible nomination as legislator for Guanacaste for the National Liberation Party (PLN) during the 2014-2018 term. Jimenez plans to make his candidacy official, depending on the outcome of the PLN internal election in San Jose on August 25th when the party's candidates for legislator for Guanacaste are defined. Jimenez...

From Captain Paul Watson, taken from his Facebook page. Dear President Chinchilla, I can understand you agreeing to throw me under the bus as a political favor to your friends in the Japanese government. After all, I’m just a gringo. You don’t owe me a thing and you picked up a few hundred million yen for Costa Rica for your troubles. I’m sure there were no kick –backs, because after all,...

Two months after the murder of biologist Jairo Mora Sandoval, police on Monday arrested seven people in eight raids in the Caribbean town of Limón and in Guapiles. Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) agents were able to identify and arrest seven people they believe linked to the case early Monday monring, as well as confirm the seizure of important evidence in the case. Several of the ...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica— Conservation organizations and citizens are taking to the streets of San José, Costa Rica today, two months after the murder of environmentalist Jairo Mora Sandoval. They are marching from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy to the Judicial Investigation Organism to the Legislative Assembly to deliver a petition signed by more than 137,000 people from around the world ...

Edward Snowden At the National Assembly in Costa Rica, legislators are waiting to deliberate upon the merits of a curious proposal to intercept, collect and store electronic communications in a fashion similar to what the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States already does around the world. The legislative proposal goes by the lengthy name of Integral Reform to the Law on Regis...

A demonstration will be held outside of the Costa Rican consulate in L.A. demanding justice for murdered Sea Turtle activist Jairo Mora Sandoval. A petition with 137,000 signatures from more than 150 Nations will be delivered to the Costa Rica Consulate during this demonstration. The Costa Rica Star has published extensively on the death of Jairo Mora Sandoval. What: On Wednesday, environmen...

Source: Wikimedia Commons A curious cargo airlift operation recently took place at the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), in the northern province of Guanacaste. According to a news report by Alvaro Sanchez from online news daily CRHoy, nearly 24 tons of cocaine were loaded onto a United States Air Force transport aircraft. The destination of the controversial payload? Miami, a ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Law enforcement officials responding to reports of noisy neighbors came upon a small marijuana cultivation and distribution operation in a suburb of San Jose. The incident took place around six in the afternoon. Neighbors living in a multifamily residential complex in Cedros, a small community in the Montes de Oca canton, complained that the noise coming from an ap...

When Joy Stoviak Flores came to Nicoya in 1963 as part of the very first Peace Corps group to arrive in Costa Rica, she thought she would be here for two years to have an interesting experience. “You just never know where life will take you,” the elegantly dressed woman remarked, now at age 72, sitting in the impeccably decorated living room of her home in Barrio El Carmen and reflecting on...

With Luis Guillermo Solis throwing his hat into the ring as the Accion Ciudadana (Citizen Action) party’s presidential candidate, which makes ten candidates aspiring to the presidential seat for the upcoming elections on February 2nd 2014. Interestingly after the government of Laura Chinchilla Miranda, no women are running for the presidency of the Republic. The only female candidate who had an...

Coco Island. Source: Wikimedia Commons Coco Island and her surrounding maritime zones in Costa Rica have been protected by standing legislation over the last few years. This, however, has done little to prevent the incursion of nefarious shark finning crews who thumb their noses at the law and prey upon the selachian species that make the waters of Coco Island their home. According to onlin...

Workers in Costa Rica have certain legislative protections against sexual harassment, but what about non-sexual badgering and mistreatment such as making fun of someone's appearance or assigning employees tasks that are considered denigrating? The Special Permanent Committee on Women's Affairs of the National Assembly in Costa Rica is looking into the matter and is proposing legislative action. ...