Nekupe Sporting Resort and Retreat, a luxury countryside resort, has opened on a 1,300 acre (526 hectare) nature reserve in southwest Nicaragua, not far from the Costa Rica border. One of Nicaragua's many volcanoes. Boasting an intimate eight-room property, a luxury spa facility and a number of outdoor pursuits, the resort, located around 30 minutes north of the historic colonial town of Gr...

Geneva, Dec. 13 — Malaria has retreated in almost all of Latin America. Mosquito nets are key in preventing malaria transmission. Costa Rica is listed as free of malaria transmission by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it, along with several other countries will be certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coming years. The exceptions to thi...

Managua, Dec. 6 — "We are willing to pay (Costa Rica). We just want to clarify the accounts they are charging us" for US$6 million, said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, after receiving the credentials from the new Costa Rican ambassador to Nicaragua, Eduardo Trejos. The San Juan River that divides Costa Rica and Nicaragua, photo credit AFP. The International Court of Justice in The Hagu...

By Wendy Anders Hurricane Otto on its approach towards Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Hurricane Otto left at least 564 damaged homes as it passed through the municipality of San Juan de Nicaragua, also known as Greytown, on the southeast coast of the country bordering Costa Rica, where it landed on Thursday late morning as a Category 2 hurricane, leaving no casualties so far, authorities said to...

CARIBBEAN HURRICANE Photo from The Weather Channel. Miami, Nov 22 — Tropical Storm Otto on Tuesday strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) as it continued to move toward Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. As of 21:00 GMT (3:00 p.m. Costa Rica time), the storm was located 305 miles (485 km) east-southea...

By Wendy Anders Mandro Linton (19) and Rubén Bolaños (29) were the two most recent divers to die harvesting sea cucumbers in Nicaragua; photo courtesy of La Prensa. Two recent deaths bring the total to seven sea cucumber divers who have died in Nicaragua’s North Caribbean sea since September of this year, reported Nicaragua’s daily La Prensa last week. Meanwhile, two deaths have been rec...

(EFE).- Nicaraguans are heading to the polls Sunday for general elections, with six candidates, including incumbent Daniel Ortega, vying to be the Central American nation's president. Some 4.34 million people are eligible to cast ballots in the general elections, choosing a new president, vice president, 90 National Assembly members and 20 Central American Parliament, or Parlacen, members. T...

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, Oct. 19 — A recent study paints a panoramic picture of a surging global trade in illicit cigarettes that is funding groups from Hezbollah and Hamas to the Central American Los Zetas cartel. Contraband cigarettes in Singapore, Facebook, photo for illustrative purposes. The study, "From Ant Smuggling to an Elephant in the Market,” was conducted by CID Gallup for the Cost...

By Wendy Anders Facebook post denouncing xenophobic attitudes in wake of the Education Ministry's inclusion of Nicaragua's culture in independence day festivities. On September 15, Costa Rica’s Education Ministry issued a memo indicating that schools in San Jose with a high percentage of Nicaraguan students could sing the Nicaraguan national anthem at the close of this month’s celebrations ...

By Wendy Anders Nicaraguan school children evacuated after 5.5 quake. This morning at 10:48 local time, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck Nicaragua in La Paz, a small town in the province of León, north of Managua. Electricity was out in La Paz Centro, and schools in the surrounding region, including Managua were evacuated and closed after the quake, reported Nicaragua's El Nuevo Diario....

NICARAGUA - U.S. A Russian T-72 battle tank, similar to those heading to Nicaragua. (CC) Managua, Sept. 27 — Nicaragua's vice president spoke out on Tuesday about a proposal in the U.S. Congress that would threaten Managua's access to funding from international lenders. "It's something that in this day and age provokes embarrassment. We're in the 21st century. I believe that some gentlem...

Managua, Sept. 15 - A 5.9-magnitude earthquake has hit the Pacific coast of Nicaragua close to three volcanoes, the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER) said Thursday. The temblor stuck at 23:57 p.m. local time on Wednesday (5:57 GMT) at a depth of one kilometer, three kms to the north of El Hoyo volcano, in Las Paz Centro municipality, León province, the institute said. So f...

By Wendy Anders Tuesday just after midnight, residents near the Los Horcones Bar in Chachagua, San Ramón on the way to La Fortuna, Arenal heard a loud boom, reported La Nación, Costa Rica’s main Spanish daily. Etilma Ballestero, a neighbor of the bar, said after hearing the boom she “rushed into the street, and there we saw the flames on the roofs of the cabins, and we immediately called 9-1...

By Wendy Anders Monday, the public prosecutor for La Fortuna de San Carlos, Natalia Álvarez, described the miserable living conditions of 13 foreign women who were held in dingy, dirty rooms at the back of bars for forced prostitution, reported La Nación, Costa Rica’s main daily newspaper today. In order to leave the sites, the women were forced to pay CRC10,000 and had a set return time, sa...

Costa Rica has referred to its concerns about Nicaragua's recent purchase of military weapons. Managua, Sep 4 (EFE).- Nicaragua's army celebrated its 37th anniversary with the traditional military parade. President Daniel Ortega praised the Central American country's armed forces during the celebration on Saturday, touting the military's work in security, crime fighting and humanitarian missio...

By Wendy Anders Marketwire reported today that Toronto, Canada-based Bravo Multinational Incorporated earlier this year partially acquired the Centro de Entretenimiento y Diversion Mombacho S.A., located in Managua, Nicaragua. Bravo to date has purchased 150 of a total contracted 500 slot and video poker gaming machines to be operated and managed under a long-term national license throug...

NIcaraguan forces. File photo By Patricia Pernas for EFE Governments in Central America, one of the world's most violent regions, are expanding the role of their militaries in civilian affairs and increasing their weaponry, thus posing a threat to democracy, an expert told EFE. "This strengthening of the armed forces does not come in response to national security problems," Alberto Mora,...

By Wendy Anders This morning in Geneva, Switzerland, Costa Rica’s Security Minister Gustavo Mata reiterated Costa Rica’s wholesale commitment to the effective implementation of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty regulating international trade in conventional weapons, according to the United Nations website that entered into force in Dec...

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (C) listens during an official meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) and then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) during an official state visit by the Nicaraguan president to Iran in 2007. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif began his first Latin American visit Monday in Havana, where he met with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodrigu...

By Wendy Anders Wikimedia Commons Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega ousted 28 opposition lawmakers in July in advance of the country’s November elections, and the rocky road towards his probable reelection continues with no opposition candidates in the field. The former Independent Liberal Party (PLI) legislators are expected to appeal to the OAS for support for their removal which occu...

By Wendy Anders Mexican soldiers fighting the Drug War. Wikimedia Commons A recent political analysis of the region raises questions about the continuation of a militarized approach to illegal drug trafficking in an era where the decades long US sponsored “war on drugs” has been repeatedly called a failure. From 2004-2014 the United States provided $768 million in police and military aid...

By Wendy Anders Source: Red Cross of Costa Rica After waves of Cuban migrants cruised over the CR-Panama border late last year and earlier this year, and in recent months as the trickle of irregular migrants from Africa, Asia, Haiti and other countries has turned into a sizeable group now parked on the northern border seeking routes northward, Costa Rica’s governmental agencies are taking m...

By Wendy Anders Kristin Van Busum set off on a Fulbright Fellowship after leaving a think-tank job in Boston to help small-scale coffee growers in Nicaragua enter the global coffee market and improve their quality of life, reported USA Today’s network media the IndyStar yesterday. After the project failed due to the complicated dynamics surrounding local coffee production and marketing, Van ...

By Wendy Anders In today's early morning hours off Cabo Blanco at the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, the Costa Rican Coast Guard reported the seizure of nearly 2,300 kilos of cocaine. This latest illegal drug capture makes for nearly 10 tons of cocaine seized by police since January, according to office police sources. Twelve ships transporting illegal drugs from Jamaica and Co...

By Wendy Andershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn91WdKhUmE Eyewitness accounts in and around Peñas Blancas on Costa Rica’s northern border with Nicaragua show growing desperation and also health concerns among hundreds of Haitian and African immigrants trying to journey to the U.S. Costa Rica’s national TV Repretel documented a thwarted attempt last Wednesday by a boisterous group of immigra...

Thousands of Cuban migrants remain in shelters across Costa Rica. (CIDH/Twitter) By Wendy Anders After months of behind the scenes meetings and dialogue, the eight Central American Integration System (SICA, in Spanish) members met last week on Roatán Island, Honduras and welcomed Costa Rica back. At the June 28-30 meeting, leaders agreed to a forward-looking agenda that convinced Costa R...

Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif will begin a diplomatic tour of Latin America on Sunday. (Archive/Reuters) Iran’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will begin a diplomatic tour of Latin American states on Sunday, May 8, according to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The Iranian foreign minister’s 6-day-long visit to Brazil, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela a...

A Russian T-72 battle tank, similar to those heading to Nicaragua. (CC) Russia will deliver 50 new T-72B1 battle tanks to Nicaragua this year, in a deal worth some US $80 million, according to Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency and Nicaraguan media. The first batch of 20 tanks is ready for shipment, and the remaining 30 are to be delivered by the end of the year or early 2017, according to th...

John Cocgh - Flickr Commons Managua, Apr 22 (EFE).- Nicaragua is undergoing the most severe environmental crisis in its recent history, a group of 15 non-governmental organizations said during the presentation of a report coinciding with Earth Day. The drastic reduction or disappearance of 34 rivers, the near-complete evaporation of at least four lakes, the loss of nearly 6,000 hectares (14...

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega listens during an official meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an official state visit by the Nicaraguan president to Iran in 2007. (Iranian state media) Iran's Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi has announced plans to deploy warships and destroyers in Central American and Latin American waters, Iran’s semi-official FARS...

Robert Allen Lopez had been on the run for nearly 20 years. (WFOR Miami / Screen capture / Fair Use) An American fugitive who has been on the run for nearly 20 years was deported to Miami from Nicaragua on Saturday, escorted by officers of the United States Marshals Service. Robert Allen Lopez, 49 was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities on November 14th, 2015, after entering the Central Amer...

Preferred weapon of guerrillas and drug cartels. It's the 1980s all over again in Nicaragua, but this does not mean a return to skinny ties, big hair, Miami Vice, and New Wave hits by Flock of Seagulls. According to a recent report by investigative reporter Frances Robles of The New York Times, the 1980s revival in Nicaragua means armed rebel groups unhappy with the political status quo. Un...

(Nicaragua state media) Eight leaders of a massive religious cult in Nicaragua that attracted some 650 followers from Nicaragua as well as Honduras and El Salvador to live in “subhuman” conditions in a mountainous area in the municipality of El Viejo, in Nicaragua’s Chinandega department, were sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Monday. According to local media reports, the reli...

Nicaragua’s Momotombo volcano ended a 110-year period of inactivity with a fiery eruption on December 2, 2015 (Photo courtesy of INETER, Dec 2 2015) Authorities in Nicaragua activated emergency plans after explosions occurred at both the Momotombo and Telica volcanoes on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Masaya volcano has also witnessed an increase in seismic activity in recent days. According t...

Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916). Photo: Public Domain MANAGUA (EFE) Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916) was declared Saturday a "national hero" of Nicaragua, in a special session of the National Assembly marking the centennial of his death. The plenary session of the National Assembly named Dario a "national hero" because "with his pen and intellect as well as arms, he defended ...

Source: Red Cross of Costa Rica Paso Canoas, Panama, Dec 25 (EFE).- Some 800 Cubans spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on the streets or in shelters at the Panamanian-Costa Rican border, not at their final destination as they had hoped. "I thought I'd spend Christmas in the United States with my family," said Sarai Santos, who spent the night of Dec. 24 with friends from her hometown of ...

Source: Flickr Commons A criminal division judge in the municipality of Carazo, located about 70 kilometers southwest of Managua, has named four suspects in the murder of Canadian expat Rajan Deedar Gill, who was found beaten to death in his country home near La Boquita in Nicaragua. According to a November 30th wire report by Agencia EFE, police officers found the victim next to Marbely de...

By Emilio J. Lopez Miami, Dec 8 (EFE).- Cuban immigration to the United States grew by almost 80 percent in 2015 out of fear that the thaw in relations between Washington and Havana might at any time put an end to the advantages Cubans currently enjoy the minute they set foot on U.S. territory. Since Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced to the world on Dec. 17, 2014, their determination to...

Marti Noticias Twitter United States Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a veteran Florida Republican who is Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is not happy about the treatment received by hundreds of Cuban immigrants at the hands of Nicaraguan Army soldiers yesterday at the northern border of Costa Rica. Ros-Lehtinen went on Marti Noticias, an independent news outlet tha...

Managua, Nov 5 (EFE).- The state-run Nicaraguan Grand Interoceanic Canal Commission on Thursday approved Chinese concession holder HKND Group's environmental and social impact studies for that waterway project, clearing the way for construction to begin. "We're authorizing HKND now to begin the design, structural and construction processes," the commission's president, Manuel Coronel Kautz, sai...