IOM’s virtual learning platform on migration addresses human trafficking. Photo: IOM/ María del Mar Gonzalez 2016Costa Rica - IOM has trained a group of 35 Mesoamerican counter trafficking specialists as trainers for its Virtual Course on Trafficking in Persons (TiP) developed for the region. The training, which took place in Costa Rica on 20 and 21 July ahead of the World Day Against Traffick...

Wikimedia CommonsThis afternoon, following a two week trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, returned a guilty verdict against Gregorio and Angelo Gigliotti for their operation of a transnational cocaine trafficking operation that stretched from Italy, to Queens and to Costa Rica. Gregorio Gigliotti was also convicted of possessing a stash of firearms in connection with the operation. Whe...

Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solis tours the Reventazon hydroelectric plant while still under construction in 2014. (Casa Presidencial)Fitch Ratings has affirmed Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad y Subsidiarias' (Grupo ICE) foreign- and local-currency Issuer Default Ratings (FC/LC IDRs) at 'BB+' and its National Scale ratings at 'AAA(cri)' and 'AAA(slv)'. The Rating Outlook remains...

Areli Arevalo FacebookA powerful mid-afternoon eruption of the Turrialba volcano, currently the most active in Costa Rica, opened new vents in the crater, which suggests that a new caldera could form in the future. According to geologists from the Observatory of Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI), the eruption took place at 3:42 pm on a cloudy Friday afternoon...

Source: MSPOfficers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, evacuated a section of Tamarindo Beach after a visitor from the United States was mutilated by a terrible bite from a large reptile. The incident took place on Monday morning near the estuary of this Costa Rica coastal community, which is very popular among North American and European tourists and expats. The vi...

Source:; Getinge GroupSan Jose, July 21st 2016. Getinge Group announced the establishment of its new Shared Services Center (SSC) in Costa Rica. The new office, located in Avenida Escazu, employs 59 associates who provide services to partners and customers in United States and Canada. The services provided are in Finance and Accounting, with the possibility of expanding into other areas such a...

Wikimedia CommonsIf the Panama Canal is on your bucket list there is no better time to sail than on Saga Sapphire in 2017. The 700-passenger ship will sail through the canal on January 30 and again on February 17 for the return leg of her 66-night Central American Discovery cruise. The grand voyage to Latin America departs on January 11, 2017 and will offer guests the chance to view Mayan r...

Source: ECSUIn the wee hours of May 22, 13 Eastern biology students and biology professors Patricia Szczys and Matthew Graham trekked to the rainforest of Costa Rica to experience a 12-day trip they had been preparing for since January. The students had spent the spring semester in groups of three and four students each reading scientific literature and preparing research proposals for studies...

Flickr CommonsThe 2016 United States Republican National Convention (RNC) continues today in Cleveland, Ohio. The speakers participating in the evening program will expand upon the theme: "Make America First Again." One of the very few Hispanic American faces at the RNC is Senator Ralph Alvarado from the Kentucky Legislature. He has been in service to the people of Senate District 38 since 201...

Although most of the terrestrial world is covered in trees, there are precious few vertebrates that make the canopy their home and subsist solely on a diet of leaves. Tree sloths are among the most emblematic tree-dwelling mammals. However, they are best known for their pokey demeanor rather than the fact that they spend the majority of their lives in trees munching leaves. But the slow motion...

Screenshot of KAT.crCHICAGO — Federal authorities in Chicago have charged the alleged owner of today’s most-visited illegal file-sharing website with criminal copyright infringement and have seized domain names associated with the website. ARTEM VAULIN, 30, of Kharkiv, Ukraine, allegedly owns and operates Kickass Torrents, or KAT, a commercial website that since 2008 has enabled users to illeg...

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons)Bismarck, N.D.— The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) has confirmed a second case of Zika virus illness reported in a North Dakota resident. The individual who tested positive for Zika virus is a man who traveled to Costa Rica. This case was not hospitalized for his illness. As reported by Th...

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. ("Bladex" or "the Bank"; NYSE: BLX) announced the recent closing of a US$125 million, dual tranche (2 years and 3 years), senior unsecured amortizing term loan facility in favor of Scotiabank de Costa Rica S.A. ("Scotiabank Costa Rica"), the second largest privately-owned bank in Costa Rica. Scotiabank Costa Rica is ultimately owned by the Bank o...

Helthgauge.com - Flickr CommonsCHICAGO – 20 July 2016 – Tate & Lyle, a leading global provider of food ingredients and solutions, is pleased to announce the winner of this year’s Institute of Food Technologists Student Association (IFTSA) Developing Solutions for Developing Countries (DSDC) competition, McGill University. “Tate & Lyle is honored to be the new sponsor of this program,” said Sa...

Source: Villa ThogaCould you make it on less than $1,000 per month in Tamarindo Beach, one of the most desirable and upscale real estate markets in Costa Rica? According to a recent article by Jackie Minchillo of International Living, there is a Canadian expat in Tamarindo whose monthly household payments, including rent, are between $400 and $450 per month. Graham Cooper was born in Englan...

Source: Pura Vida BraceletsBJI, a leading fashion events organizer in New York and Las Vegas featuring marquee properties such as Accessories The Show, FAME, Moda, Stitch, and MRKet, announces a comprehensive August New York Market July 31-August 2, 2016 at The Javits Center in New York City. Among the designers and retailers in attendance, Pura Vida Bracelets stands out from Costa Rica. The h...

A revolving door cabinet has been an unfortunate staple of the administration of President Luis Guillermo Solis, but the latest departure of a top-level official has shaken Costa Rica in a most unusual manner. For 26 months, Guillermo Santana did a less-than-stellar job as the director of the Rail Institute of Costa Rica. There were a few commuter train crashes, and there was also the dubious h...

By Noah Salzman - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia CommonsMajor League Soccer's best is set to take on English club Arsenal FC in the 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Game as the MLS All-Star Gameday Roster including two Commissioner's Picks were unveiled today. The standout collection of world-renowned talent, domestic stars and young up-and-comers will represent MLS in the summer showcase at Avaya Stadi...

Miss Costa Rica 2015 Brenda Castro smiles as she arrives at a charitable event. FacebookFor many health travelers who arrive in Costa Rica for the purpose of dental tourism, the ultimate goal is to receive treatments that will restore their smile as well as their sex appeal. At leading dental tourism practices such as the Flikier Institute of Dental Rehabilitation, patients often tell stories ...

Source: LigaPokemonCR FacebookCosta Rica is so enthralled with Pokemon GO, the latest mobile app by Nintendo and Niantic, that smartphone users are going online to research the game more so than they are viewing pornography. A few days ago, a news report filed by Cory McNutt of Android Headlines indicated that 4.6 percent of compatible Android devices in Costa Rica had installed Pokemon GO, th...

Source: OIJOn Friday afternoon, agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) arrested a 31-year old male expat who is alleged to have run a sexual extortion scheme against his lover. The suspect is from Panama and has been residing in Costa Rica for a few years. A couple of years ago, he met a 35-year old woman with whom he established a romantic and sexual relatio...

Source: EurekAlert and University of Central FloridaAn international team of scientists has solved a case of mistaken identity and discovered a new species of venomous snake, according to a recent press release by EurekAlert. The newly discovered Talamancan Palm-Pitviper is a striking green-and-black snake living in some of the most remote regions of Costa Rica. The coloring is a characterist...

Rio de JaneiroBy Alba Santandreu The drop in the dollar and higher prices for some services, such as hotels, will make Rio de Janeiro a more expensive city to visit during the Summer Olympics next month, but tourists will find the "Ciudad Maravilhosa" more affordable than during the 2014 World Cup. Visitors arriving in August will find that the Brazilian real is up about 20 percent against ...

Daryl Strawberry, left. By slgckgc - Darryl Strawberry and Jeff Francouer, CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia CommonsThe national pastime of the United States is getting even more interesting after a spicy radio interview with the legendary and controversial right fielder Daryl Strawberry. According to a recent news report filed by Damon Salvadore of the New York Daily News, Strawberry revealed quite a bit o...

Source: MSPA disarmingly cute newborn jaguarundi, sometimes called an eyra cat, was rescued by officers from Fuerza Publica (the national police force of Costa Rica) on Friday afternoon. The rescue took place in Gamalotal, a rural district of Nicoya in the province of Guanacaste. According to an official press released issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the wild kitten was actually fo...

Villa Punto de VistaVilla Punto de Vista, a 10-bedroom luxury private villa situated on 2 1/2 acres of tropical reserve in Costa Rica, will be featured in the upcoming broadcast of Life's A Beach on Travel Channel. Life's A Beach focuses on real-life stories of people who left their workaday life to pursue their dream of owning a slice of heaven in a beach paradise. Viewers get an inside look at ...

July 15, 2016 Costa Rica – Breakout Gaming, the online gaming entertainment company offering poker, sports wagering, casino games, fantasy sports and other gaming options from Costa Rica will soon be launching two new platforms powered by the company’s own Breakout Coin. The launch of Breakout PVP and its upcoming ‘Breakout Game Store’ follows the recent launch of its successful online poker games...

Luke Lehrer - Flickr CommonsDental implants are the most frequently sought procedures by dental tourists in Costa Rica, but not every patient will be a good implantology candidate. Dental tourists who suffer from osteoporosis are generally thought to be at risk with regard to dental implants, but this will not always be the case. Patients evaluated for dental implants by the staff of the Fliki...

Instagram photoAtsushi Yamanaka, a talented play-making midfielder from Japan, recently made professional football history in Costa Rica by signing with Club Sport Uruguay (CSU) of Coronado. Mr. Yamanaka is the first Japanese player to sign with a professional football club in Costa Rica. Previously, Mr. Yamanaka played at the pro level in the Dominican Republic, where he was signed with the S...

Billy Geno and Christi Carr A visitor from the United States enjoying his honeymoon in Costa Rica made a daring water rescue to save a man from drowning. According to the Facebook Timeline of the Volusia Surf Lifesaving Association, the rescue took place recently while Billy Geno and Christi Carr, newlyweds from Florida, were celebrating their honeymoon at a beach resort in Costa Rica. A c...

Manziel at Cabo San Lucas. InstagramIn the world of sports betting, wagers are not limited to outright championship titles, game outcomes, spreads, or proposition bets (also known as live betting). Just about any event related to professional sports can be turned into a wager, and this extends to player transfers, draft picks and even the future of athletes as it relates to their lifestyles. E...

AuxisAuxis, a leading management consulting and outsourcing firm providing both IT and business process services, is pleased to announce that it has been named by IAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Professionals) as a “Top Company” for two categories—Customer References and Overall Revenue As Rising Star. “We are honored by this listing and humbled to be in such great company with ...

Taza AguaTaza Agua, the world’s only supplier of premium water bottled at the source in the Juan Castro Blanco region in northern Costa Rica specifically for brewing coffee and tea, has officially entered the Mexican hospitality and tourism markets. From its global headquarters and newly built bottling plant in Costa Rica, Taza Agua was recently endorsed by internationally certified coffee jud...

Source: Wikimedia CommonsTwo U.S. citizens and a Canadian citizen have pleaded guilty for their roles in a $9 million “sweepstakes fraud” scheme to defraud hundreds of U.S. residents, many of them elderly, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina. Jeff...

Wikimedia CommonsDrug interdiction agents in Panama seized a major shipment of pink cocaine that was intended to reach Costa Rica before being repackaged and smuggled to the United States and Europe. According to a news report filed by Manuel Estrada of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the National Police of Colombia worked together with Panamanian law enforcement to arrest Alejandro Arboleda Uribe...

Source: MicrosoftStockholm – July 13th, 2016 – Millicom’s Tigo Business brand and Microsoft today announce a Microsoft Cloud OS Network (COSN) partnership to deliver cloud computing benefits to businesses in the Latam region. The partnership will enable the delivery of innovative applications and cloud services to the business community in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador...

Star goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who mostly resides in Spain by virtue of his contract with the stellar Real Madrid football club, recently explained during an interview that he feels less freedom in Costa Rica. Mr. Navas is currently on vacation in his native Costa Rica after recovering from a surgical procedure that was performed shortly after the Real Madrid obtained the UEFA Champions League t...

EZ Waves Google PlayEZ Waves, an online charter booking service for fishing, sailing, kayaking and all other water-based activities, announces its launch today with nearly 500 captains available for bookings in the United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada and Norway. EZ Waves is the only program that streamlines the maritime booking process, providing live scheduling that allows guests to book o...

Villa ParaisoWhen captain of industry Mickey Novak decided to sell his business and build his dream vacation home, he approached the project with his signature brand of intense focus. “We knew the kind of life we wanted” Novak explains. “The bigger question was, where did that lifestyle exist.” Having globe-trotted through 86 countries and after eschewing Hawaii, passing on several Caribbean ...

Source: Gun N' Roses Legendary rock band Guns N' Roses has officially announced its Latin American reunion tour, and the band's website lists Costa Rica as its final stop. Guns N' Roses fans from Costa Rica were excited to find the Chinese-donated National Stadium, located in La Sabana Metropolitan Park, listed for a concert appearance on November 26th, following a few dates in Brazil. I...