Costa Rican architect José Manuel Pizarro made the news earlier this year with the building of the world’s longest over-sea zipline cable in the world with 1,800 meter (5,905 ft.) long at 100 meters (328 ft.) high, reaching a speed of 120 kph (75 mph) named Xtasea and located in Acapulco, Mexico. Now, Pizarro and his company Linea Vertical are in charge of the project Emoción Intensa (Intense E...

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recognized Dr. Stella Bolaños Varela of Costa Rica Monday, September 25, for her outstanding career and longstanding commitment to the quality and management of health services in Costa Rica, by presenting her with the 2017 PAHO Award for Health Services Management and Leadership Services. The award recognizes Bolaños Varela's outstanding contribution...

The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation has organized an international congress in Costa Rica from November 29 to December 1, 2017 in which Pope Francis' "Laudato Si" and speeches on the environment by Benedict XVI will be the main themes, reported Papal news sources. Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si" is being used to create a tool to measure and rank countries' efforts in human ...

The seismic alert went off in Mexico City at 7:53 a.m. (Mexico time) this Saturday, September 23 as a 6.2 magnitude earthquake was felt again with epicenter in Oaxaca, earlier this same day at 5:38 a.m. a 5.8 magnitude movement took place in the same region. This seism takes place just 4 days after a 7.1 earthquake with epicenter in the city of Puebla caused devastation in Mexico City and the d...

Gilberto Ventura Ceballos was arrested today in Jacó by Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the Directorate of Intelligence and National Security (DIS) officials. The Dominican national, who has a knack for evading arrest, is wanted in Panama for the murder of five people in 2010 and 2011. The young man has been on the run since December 2016 when he escaped from La Joyita pris...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  President Donald Trump’s first address to the United Nations hit close to home in Costa Rica. Only two countries away -- past Panama and Columbia -- neighboring Venezuela was singled out as a “rogue” nation right alongside North Korea and Iran. The presi...

In the past few weeks, several countries have faced tragedy, hurricanes and earthquakes have struck and caused devastation, in small islands in the Caribbean as well as Mexico and the United States. If you are in Costa Rica and you want to help the victims of the Mexico earthquake authorities recommend going directly to the Red Cross in the country. The Costa Rican Red Cross will channel all...

A documentary by Costa Rican filmmaker and producer, Miguel Gómez, aims to highlight the perils of irregular migration by focusing on the Mesoamerican corridor. From January - July of this year, the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) registered 230 deaths of such migrants attempting to cross from Mexico into the United States. By recounting the true story of members of a Costa Rican regga...

Just 11 days ago, on September 8th the city of Oaxaca on Mexico’s southern coast was affected by an 8.2 earthquake, which caused the death of almost 100 people, and left many buildings with structural damage. Today, September 19, 2017, at 12:14 p.m. Costa Rica time, 1:14 p.m. Mexico time, another earthquake initially reported of a 7.1 magnitude and later confirmed as having a 7.4 magnitude shoo...

Electrification of the transportation sector is a crucial component of tackling global climate change. This is the topic of the Third Annual Latin America Clean Transport Forum in San José, Costa Rica organized by the Washington, DC think-tank The Inter American Dialogue. The event will be held Wednesday, Sept. 20 with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m., and the keynote address starting at 9 a...

If your travel in or out of Costa Rica today takes you via Panama's Tocumen International Airport you may be grounded or delayed. An electrical problem inside our southern neighbor's airport caused flight disruptions this morning, September 18, and has now been remedied, said Tocumen airport officials this morning. Copa Airlines was heavily affected by the problem as many of its flights to o...

-- Between 2013 to July 2017, 36,081 irregular migrants entered Costa Rica through Paso Canoas on the Panamanian border, according to immigration officials. Towards the end of 2015 and into 2016, Costa Rica faced a surge in irregular migrants for which it was not prepared, said the government press office today, and that forced institutions and communities to respond to the emergency. First th...

The second beach volleyball open tournament will take place in Tamarindo, Guanacaste on Saturday, September 16. The Costa Rican national team will face off against competitors from the United States, Colombia, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The format is two-on-two, and promises to be a thrilling event with very strong athletes competing, according to Ivannia Ramirez, event organizer. Also on S...

An 8.2 earthquake struck Mexico's southern coast this evening at 22:49 (local time), 78.4 kilometers Southwest of Tres Picos (Chiapas). Due to the magnitude of the event, a Tsunami alert has been issued for the Pacific coast, however, due to the direction of the energy Costa Rica will not be affected or the effect could be very mild in the form of dangerous currents that because of the hour in ...

Listeria may not be part of your daily lexicon, but if you've ever been pregnant it probably was once on your radar. The bacteria can be spread by contaminated food, and can cause a rare infection that can be deadly in 20-30 percent of infections. Pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other people to get a Listeria infection, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control. ...

A ruling Monday on the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador charged 20 ship crew members with steep fines and prison time for fishing in protected waters, said a report on 88.5 WFDD, Public Radio for the Piedmont in North Carolina, U.S. The ruling comes at a moment when Costa Rican conservationists are seeking global support to prohibit the exportation of a stockpile of tons of hammerhead shark fin...

Farmers in Costa Rica are clamoring for changes in immigration policies in order to facilitate contracting field hands from Nicaragua and Panama, said a report in Costa Rica's agricultural industry's magazine, ProAgro. The Costa Rican National Chamber of Agriculture and Agroindustry (CNAA) says that current legislation does not coincide with the reality of the agricultural, aquaculture, and agr...

So far this year, Costa Rica's police forces have captured over 17.5 tons of cocaine, both in land and sea operations, informed the Public Security Ministry in the wake of an incident at the Moín, Limón port on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. On Thursday August 17, drug control police detained and inspected a ship where they discovered 50 kilos of cocaine attached to its hull, said the ministry. ...

The Costa Rican Frontier Police located this Saturday a truck used for the transportation of pineapple carrying 50 Nicaraguan citizens with irregular migratory status. The driver of the truck was a Costa Rican with last name Pérez, he has apprehended and presented to the district attorney’s office in San Carlos charged with presumed human smuggling. The truck entered the country from Nicarag...

It's no coincidence that Costa Rica's rainiest months are August-October, with these corresponding to the Atlantic hurricane season, whose influence can often spread throughout the country. Right now on the horizon is Tropical Storm Harvey, making its way steadily westward. Forecasters are uncertain whether the system will gain or diminish strength over the weekend as it enters the Caribbean. ...

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) today announced Global Projects For All, a university-wide initiative that will provide all students with access to an off-campus project experience. To serve the growing demand for off-campus projects, the Global Projects Program has added 18 new project centers since 2009. This year WPI will add programs in Massachusetts, Costa Rica, Japan, and Switzerlan...

A shopper in Scotland brought home something unexpected with his purchase of a Costa Rican pineapple this week. The pineapple was shipped from Costa Rica as are all fresh pineapples with the crown, or green leaves attached to the top, to keep them from ripening too quickly. And this adventurous snake found that a convenient place to hide. The Edinburgh grocery shopper called the Scottish Soc...

On July 26, 2010, an American couple was arrested when trying to enter Nicaragua from Costa Rica over land; according to reports in local and international media. They were William Dathan Holbert (b. September 12, 1979), also known as Wild Bill, described by Wikipedia as a self-confessed murderer from Hendersonville, North Carolina,and his ex-wife, Laura Michelle Reese. They have been held i...

Costa Rican producers and exporters are in Colombia this month for a round of visits and talks to search out new markets for their products, reported the Costa Rican foreign trade promotion agency, Procomer. A recent market study conducted by Procomer, "Colombia: analysis for the marketing of pastas, snacks, cookies, and sauces," has been a tool for businesses in Costa Rica over the past year t...

The First Encounter of World Marine Heritage Sites of the East Pacific took place from Wednesday to Friday this week in the Guanacaste Conservation Area in Costa Rica. Representatives from the different Marine World Heritage Sites gathered in the country in the event organized by the Pacifico Foundation, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the UNESCO field office in Costa Rica in respons...

Foreign direct investment in the region continues downward trend for a total of US$167.043 billion in 2016. In its annual report, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) projects a fresh decline in 2017, of around 5 percent, and calls on countries to create policies to attract flows that support national processes of sustainable development. The flo...

  The low-cost airline, Volaris Costa Rica, announced this week the launch of a new route connecting  San José, Costa Rica (SJO) with Mexico City (MEX). "In addition to strengthening its connectivity in the region, the service will encourage social, cultural and economic exchange between both nations," the company said in a statement. Starting September 14, the service will operate three...

Yesterday, some 80 migrants entered Costa Rica through Paso Canoas on the southern border with Panama, reported the Public Security Ministry. The men, women, and some children, who are in transit to the United States by foot, are from a number of African and Asian countries, said officials. According to immigration authorities, the migrants are from Nepal (43), Eritrea (21), Congo (8), Angola (...

Costa Rican authorities yesterday reported the discovery at the Pacific port of Caldera of 1.3 tons of cocaine in a container hailing from Buenaventura, Colombia. Costa Rican security minister Gustavo Mata said Monday at a press conference that the seizure occurred on Sunday during a routine container inspection, and that it is the first time that drug has been found at the Caldera port in the ...

The Central American Electricity Interconnection System (SIEPAC) contracted the Costa Rican Electric Institute (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, better known as ICE) to conduct a feasibility study for the connection of a second circuit in 13 substations located in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, thus improving the region's interconnectivity. SIEPAC co...

Costa Ricans and Panamanians marched Friday along their shared border to bring awareness to the problem of human trafficking, reported the Spanish news agency EFE. The event came on the heels of the arrest of a Dominican man in Paso Canoas for alleged drug and human trafficking. He is accused of trafficking three Ecuadorian migrants who appear to have paid him to take them to the U.S. The fi...

According to a special report by Reuters yesterday, Australia will be going ahead with a proposal they put forth last year about receiving Central American refugees in exchange for some help from the United States. The transfer of the refugees down under will occur over the next few months, starting with an estimated 30 El Salvadoran refugees currently being held in Costa Rica. The Australian go...

If your travel plans in and out of Costa Rica include any of these South American countries, be advised that to get back into Costa Rica you will need to have an official document attesting to having received a yellow fever vaccine. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela have yellow fever risk areas in many parts of their territories, and you will be required to present proof of yo...

The Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE) is taking measures to protect the National Electric System from being affected again by a failure in the regional interconnected system, like the one that caused the nationwide blackout in July 1st. Costa Rica is part of a regional interconnected system of 1,820 kilometers of transmission lines. The production systems the country has allows its isolat...

US ambassador in Costa Rica Stafford Fitzgerald Haney said goodbye through the Embassy’s Facebook page in his last day in this position. “Representing my nation in this beautiful country has been one of the greatest honors of my life, since my arrival in June of 2015 and to date. I am still amazed by the strong relationship between both countries and the warmth and hospitality that Costa Rica h...

Shared work between humans and robots is on the horizon as a way to potentially reduce costs and errors, and to improve productivity and quality. Are service centers in Latin America ready to make this leap? This is one of the central themes being discussed at a regional meeting this week in San José of Latin American shared services center leaders. The event, organized for the fifth cons...

--Study will evaluate NIH’s experimental DNA vaccine. Vaccinations have begun in a multi-site Phase 2/2b clinical trial testing an experimental DNA vaccine designed to protect against disease caused by Zika infection. The vaccine was developed by U.S. government scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)....

A transnational effort to combat organized crime is taking off with leadership from the European Union. A 3-day meeting this week in San José marks the kick-off with representatives from 18 Latin American countries joining the new effort: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela an...

Costa Rica ranks highest in Latin America for its investment in public education, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). According to the commission's recent report, Costa Rica led the region in the proportion of resources allocated by the central government for public education, with 7.16 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) dedicated...

The United Nations' International Court of Justice on Monday began hearings over a maritime and land boundary dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Costa Rica presented its case to the court in The Hague on Monday, while Nicaragua is set to present its case on Thursday. There are two cases -- Costa Rica vs. Nicaragua: Maritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, as w...