The Costa Rica Star has recently published information about receiving your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid border runs, wasting time, and money. Author's Note: This article is being written in response to a dear reader named Jane, who is from the United States and is planning on moving to the town of Puerto Viejo in the Talamanca Region, province of Limon. Parts of her e-mail to the...

With an official communique issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Costa Rica joined the international community in the collective disappointment of North Korea. "Costa Rica vehemently decries the rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and joins the clamor of the international community to once again take up, this time with greater urgency than before, high-level dialog ...

It is a case of the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. When Costa Rica began construction of the Juan Rafael Mora highway parallel to Nicaragua's San Juan river in our northern border region, the Daniel Ortega administration was quick to claim that the road construction caused environmental damage to the river and filed a complaint before the Central American Court of Justice. Now ...

Author’s Note: This is the eighth item in a series of articles that touch on the subject of sustainable practices in Costa Rica. There is a high degree of innovation and street smarts involved in sustainability; if you happen to know of a good sustainability tip, please feel free to share it with The Costa Rica Star. Massive industrialized farming is a double-edged sword. On one hand it has...

"We are not willing to be dragged into a convoy of destruction, of militarism, of exorbitant costs that distracts nations from their investment efforts into social issues." Such were the words of President Laura Chinchilla in an interview with Colombian newspaper El Tiempo on the eve of her participation in the Sixth Summit of the Americas. Our President arrived in Cartagena with an agenda t...

She is a 21-year old pharmaceutical sciences student from El Tambor of Alajuela, who at 5'8" stands taller than the average Tica. Nazareth Cascante Madrigal became our new beauty queen after she consistently scored 9.5 on the judges' scorecards at the 2012 Miss Costa Rica pageant held at Teletica's studios last night. Among the musical guests at the pageant was Debi Nova. Contestants at 59t...

There is no doubt that the love for peace and democracy that Ticos share makes Costa Rica a special place. Unfortunately, the arcane body of laws, codes, statutes, and regulations in our country sometimes contradicts the will and sentiment of the citizenry. Given our political and civic history, Costa Rica should be a shelter for press freedom and whistleblowers, but according to a recent news ...

The French Republic has removed eleven sovereign jurisdictions from its closely-watched list of offshore tax and financial havens. Within the Central American region, Costa Rica, Belize and Panama have been removed from the list, although the Finance Minister of the French Republic warned that the eleven nations will still be monitored for loopholes that may attract unscrupulous business. One C...

Australian-born actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson, whose palatial Hacienda Dorada in Nicoya was recently listed for sale, is once again making the rounds of the tabloid and celebrity gossip media. The issue this time involves a falling out between him and Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, whose writing credits include blockbuster films like Flashdance and Basic Instinct -as well as critically...

Tickets are now on sale for the first-ever Craft Beer Festival in Costa Rica, which will take place at Avenida Escazu on Saturday, April 21st at 11:00 am. The festival will feature the best that our microbreweries have to offer, tastings, workshops, presentations, music, and a brew-off between craft beer makers based in Costa Rica. The cost of a VIP ticket is 15,000 colones. A VIP ticket gi...

SAN JOSE – Alert police officers assigned to a foot patrol around the Cathedral District in the Downtown area of the capital city noticed something strange about a man carrying three burlap sacks. After observing what seemed like movement of the contents in the bags, the Fuerza Publica members approached the man and asked to search the sacks. The bags were filled with ten iguanas: nine were ali...

"The longterm goal of SpaceX is to develop the technology necessary to make life multi-planetary, so to enable a self-sustaining civilization on Mars." Such were the words of Elon Musk, the co-founder of several successful and innovative ventures such as PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX – the first commercial space exploration enterprise to achieve round-trip space flight, a feat previously rese...

From afar, they look like snowflakes accumulated on the coffee plants. Up close, you see the small white flowers and smell the strong perfume. Coffee blossoms put a smile on farmers, growers, exporters, and commodities traders. This time the blossoms are early, thanks to premature spring rains that have fallen on the fields. The early blossoms signal a good start for the harvest later this year...

La Caja, our beloved public health and welfare system, is in the sights of many individuals and organizations -and not just in Costa Rica, but also around the world. La Caja is not in the best state in terms of financial solvency, and this comes at a time when the Tico population is showing clear signs of aging and a decreased birthrate. Several international news and research organizations ha...

The National Museum, in conjunction with community associations of the Osa, Palmar and the Diquis Delta region, invite you to the VII Festival of the Stone Spheres this weekend. This is a cultural and festive event that will serve as a warm up for the future UNESCO candidacy of the magnificent National Park of the Stone Spheres of Costa Rica. The activities will start at 9:00 AM and will wrap u...

This coming June, Costa Rica will celebrate a few events dedicated to environmental protection. One is World Environment Day, which this year will be centered on Green Economies. A more important and localized event will focus on the health of our rivers, particularly in the Central Valley and the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (GAM in Spanish). Minister of the Environment Rene Castro spoke...

The National Football Teams of Costa Rica and Honduras did not disappoint fans last night at the National Stadium in La Sabana. The Central American classic between the two strongest teams in the region and consistent performers at the CONCACAF level ended in a tied score of one goal each. The teams were evenly matched throughout the game, but one player stood out among all. Legionnaire Tico le...

A new bill making its way through the United States legislature may impede travel for American passport holders who owe taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Costa Rica’s proposed Fiscal Reform Plan, which was recently sent back to the National Assembly by Sala Cuarta (Constitutional Hall), is just one example of legislative efforts in several nations to increase revenues with the goal o...

A promising baseball team, a radical new look, a brand-new stadium in a major American metropolis, Miami Marlins Manager Ozzie Guillen seemingly has it all -except the right choice of words and role models. In an interview with Time magazine, Mr. Guillen exercised his right to free expression by professing his admiration for Fidel Castro and his perseverance in holding on to power for so long....

As Ticos celebrate the ultimate sacrifice of Costa Rica's favorite son and National Hero, Juan "El Erizo" Santamaria, it is important to look beyond the nice summer day off from work, the lack of vehicular restriction in downtown San Jose, and the fact that Juan Santamaria volunteered for the most noble of all patriotic endeavors. Juan Santamaria did not just stop filibuster William Walker and ...

Roger Soto Zotela, a 35-year Costa Rican citizen, was shot and killed by an undercover agent of Panama's Direction of Judicial Investigations (Spanish acronym: DIJ) last Wednesday, according to news sources in that country. Newspaper El Siglo reported that undercover policemen from the Chiriqui region of Panama were conducting a sting operation in the border region of Paso Canoas when Mr. S...

A tsunami warning is currently in effect (11:58 GMT) for the western coast of Indonesia and the islands of Sumatra and Mentawai after a strong earthquake and equally strong aftershock were felt in the populous Aceh province. The magnitude of the first earthquake was 8.6 on the Richter scale, and its epicenter was more than 400 kilometers away from the city of Banda Aceh. Residents still sca...

SAN JOSE – The headlines on all major news outlets in Costa Rica last night were dominated by the unanimous ruling of Sala Cuarta (Constitutional Hall), the country's highest court, on the highly-debated Fiscal Reform Plan. The response by the government was limited to a brief communique issued by the Executive: "The Government respects the ruling by Constitutional Hall with regard to the compl...

Costa Rica is blessed with some of the most benevolent weather in the world. Our abundant microclimates allow residents of the Central Valley to walk around in shirt sleeves during most days of the year, travel southeast towards the Orosi Valley and Cartago to put a sweater on, and enjoy a perfect day in our beaches along the Pacific coast most of the year. Over the last decade, the Nationa...

English language learning in Costa Rica has become a priority for many Ticos who want to broaden their financial and cultural horizons. Foreigners visiting and relocating to Costa Rica find out that although about 10 percent of the population speaks English (mostly in the Central Valley, Limon and tourist areas), learning Spanish is key in terms of assimilation. For many of us raised in a mostl...

Three years ago, the National Tourism Board (Spanish acronym: ICT) launched an initiative to provide clear warnings to foreign and domestic tourists about certain risks they may face during their relaxing or adventurous activities in Costa Rica. The initiative called for a closer involvement by Fuerza Publica in looking after the safety of visitors to our country. The first stage of the project c...

If you miss the colorful doves that formed part of the Peace Parade in San Jose over the last few months, you'll have a chance at keeping one (or more of them) at your house when the prettiest 40 doves go on auction a week from today, on April 17th. According to national newspaper La Nacion, bidding on these doves is more than just taking home a part of Costa Rica's recent history, but also a c...

A team of searchers and scientists from Costa Rica and Argentina will once again look for evidence of the crash of the TC-48, one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in the history of aviation. The events surrounding the tragic flight of the TC-48 were covered in greater length in a previous article by The Costa Rica Star. On November 3rd of 1965, a military aircraft from the Argentin...

Daily newspaper El Universal in Venezuela reports that 59-year old diplomatic attache Guillermo Cholele, who was reported missing and kidnapped yesterday, was released by his captors in Charavalle, a district in the populous state of Miranda. According to the newspaper report, the Tico diplomat went to a coffee kiosk to ask for help around 2:00 in the morning. When local police arrived, Mr....

Economically speaking, the People's Republic of China is the most imposing of the BRIC nations. In the last two decades, the rate of growth of China on the world's economic stage has been dizzying, and the list of Chinese billionaires is now the second longest in the world, right after the United States. Many of these billionaires from China are in their forties, and they are helping their coun...

Surf fishermen in Peru are worried about the high number of dolphins they are finding dead in the water and on the beach. According to statistics compiled by Peru21, an online news portal in the Andean nation, 2012 has been a deadly year for dolphins. About 3,000 dolphin carcasses have washed up on the beach since the beginning of the year, and some experts believe it may be related to increased s...

The University of Costa Rica (UCR) recently screened two documentaries that deal with significant environmental issues in our country. One film focuses on the impact of pesticides and other agrochemical products on the environment and subsequently on the health of human communities, while the other documentary looks at the legislative debate surrounding hydrocarbon gas exploration in Costa Ric...

Four-legged members of the Distinguished Firefighting Corps of Costa Rica and their human handlers will travel to Bolivia later this year to take part in a special training course. The Bolivian Police University and special law enforcement units will train rescue dogs from more than 20 different nations, including Costa Rica, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua and more. The K-9 officers and their...

The recent imbroglio over undeclared home values and unpaid taxes that resulted in the resignations of the Minister of the Treasury and the Chief Tax Collector is threatening to derail the Fiscal Reform plan backed by the administration of President Laura Chinchilla. Not surprisingly, the different political factions at the National Assembly are weighing in with their own fiscal reform ideas. ...

The Office of the Chancellor has confirmed that a member of our diplomatic corps has been kidnapped in the Republic of Venezuela. The victim in question is Guillermo Cholele, who is an attaché and counsel to Nazareth Avendano, Ambassador of Costa Rica in the Republic of Venezuela. According to an official communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Avendano explained that Mr....

Seven new casual dining franchises will open their doors to hungry Ticos this year, while three existing chains will expand their operations, according to online financial news site El Financiero. Many Ticos may not be familiar with brand names like Cosi, Moe's, Mo Joe's, Pollo Tropical, Smash Burger, Spoleto, or Whopper Bar -but they will get to know those franchises in 2012. Ticos are already...

The 19th round of the summer tournament ended with victories from the leader Perez Zeledon, along with Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA), Deportivo Saprissa, Club Sport Herediano, and Club Sport Cartagines (CSC). This means that the powerhouse football teams LDA, Saprissa, Herediano and CSC still have a shot at qualifying for the quarter finals. The reigning league champions are looking better a...

Math does not have to be a boring subject of study limited to memorizing formulas and solving equations. According to Professor Edward Parra Salazar of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) – Pacific Region, mathematics is a discipline filled with interesting tidbits that can entertain and even stimulate other areas of learning. A new book by Professor Parra, entitled Sumario de curiosidades matemát...

Electric rice cookers are present in most kitchens in Costa Rica. A few staunch traditionalists who favor wood burning stoves and earthenware pottery may disagree, but one thing that Ticos who keep households or spend considerable time in the kitchen know is that rice cookers can easily adopt to our cuisine and meal patterns. In a recent article published by Panasonic for its web series "Around...

It's mating season for the yiguirros (Turdus grayi) and their melodious songs are getting stronger, which means that the beginning of the rainy season is upon us. For the eight communities surrounding the Agujas river in the Garabito canton -including Quebrada Ganado, Cementerio, Puente, Quebrada Margarita, Las Castanas, Playa Bochinche, and Playa Agujas- the yiguirro songs used to be received ...