Ten years have gone by with the family of British journalist Michael Dixon, who vanished in Costa Rica on 18 October 2009, still not knowing what happened to him and if he is alive or dead. "I will never stop thinking about Michael and I will never rest until I know what happened to my son. If anyone has any information, it's not too late to speak out," Michael's mother, Lynn Dixon, said. ...

Victor Morales, Minister of Presidency, presented two bills this week to Congress that complete the directive issued by the Executive Branch on the program to help people highly in dept. The bills have the purpose of helping thousands of workers that currently have large debts that affect the well-being of the families and at the same time contribute with the reactivation of the economy. “Prote...

Walmart entered the Costa Rican coffee market by selling high quality coffee under their own brand, Great Value, which is produced in alliance with a PYME (small and medium size company) provider which benefits over 25 producers of the areas of Tarrazú, Naranjo and Tres Ríos . Great Value coffee is being offered in different presentations, which includes gourmet dark and light roast, ground an...

The coasts of Golfito in the South Pacific received “Crystal Symphony” the first cruise of the 2019-2020 season this past weekend with a total of 639 passengers and 590 crew members aboard. The Costa Rican Institute of Ports of the Pacific (INCOP) was in charge of the port operation and receiving the ship. The vessel arrived to the coasts of Golfito the morning of October 13th. Tourists were...

Gary Krause was filming a video in front of the Plaza de la Democracia in San Jose, Costa Rica when he accidentally caught  police chasing and catching a man. The video was being shot by Krause, a native of England who lives in the United States, for a religious show that airs in the United States, as he is giving a little information on the National Museum, in the background police appear chas...

Costa Rican Border Police officers from Guaycará, Golfito, Puntarenas arrested a man that was traveling as a passenger aboard a car towards San José and was carrying fake identification documents. Officers stopped the car which entered the country from Panama, requested the identifications and the man originally provided documents under the name “Michael Dominik John” from California, USA, “e...

The neighbors of Drake Bay finally have a bridge that connects them by ground to the Osa Peninsula, something they had been waiting for for years and that finally gives them more options to commercialize their products and promote tourism. “This is a ground route that will finally allow entry to Drake Bay during any month of the year, both to residents of neighboring communities as well as comm...

A very unusual road accident caused the death of two people the evening of Thursday October 10th in Garabito, Puntarenas. The Fire department reported the accident took place at approximately 7:53 p.m. in front of Nativa Resort on route 34 when a bus that was traveling from Jacó towards Orotina suddenly received the impact through the front windshield of two tractor trailer wheels which went st...

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, a world leader in innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring aimed at patients, expanded its presence in Costa Rica with a $100 million investment and the addition of 500 new jobs by the end of 2020. The brand new facility is located in La Lima Industrial Park in Cartago and has an extension of 274,000 square feet. This new buildi...

Civil Aviation in Costa Rica confirmed that airline Air Europe has presented its formal request to operate in the country. According to information released, the permit to operate the San Jose – Madrid route could be ready by April 2020 if the airline complies with all requirements, the company would compete with Iberia which is currently operating this route. Air Europe is putting its eyes...

The bridge connecting Panama and Costa Rica known as the “Sixaola Binational Bridge” was supposed to be ready in May this year, this did not happen, but the bridge shows an advance of 56%. The move of border posts of each country was already completed, migration, customs, police and supervision of vegetables and animals commerce as well as the dismantling of the old train structure. The new ...

Andrea Vargas made history once again by becoming Costa Rica’s first ever finalist at a World Championships and setting a national record of 12.64 achieving fifth place. Vargas was up against three Jamaican runners, two Americans, a Nigerian and a native of Holland in a competition that took place at the Khalifa Stadium in Qatar. The Costa Rican athlete broke three national records in two da...

The Ministry of Health in Costa Rica issued an alert due to the severity of the cases received this year of young children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Respiratory Syncytial Virus causes more serious health problems in children under 1 year of age, and up to two years of age. A child with a chronic health problem is especially at risk for serious illness. RSV affects small passages of t...

Seven years ago, VMware started operations in Costa Rica with just five employees. Today, it has more than 665 direct jobs and plans to open 130 positions in the near future. The company made the announcement this Thursday in an event that gathered the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez; the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunicat...

The US Embassy in San Jose has announced the upcoming Consular event – routine services for U.S. citizens in Tamarindo and Tilaran, Guanacaste. The Consular staff will be on hand to provide several services in Tamarindo and will be available to answer questions. To RSVP for passport renewals, notary services, and federal benefits inquiries, please indicate your preference by writing to ACSSa...

Costa Rica positions itself among the countries with higher survival rate for breast cancer according to the study “Cancer Facts & Figures 2018” of the American Cancer Society. The revision of the international results, considering the deaths due to breast cancer after five years of receiving diagnosis, reveal that the nations with higher survival rate are between 85% and 90%. Costa Rica...

In an operation carried out by Drug Control Police (PCD), the Ministry of Public Security and the USA Coast Guard authorities a vessel was detained carrying an important amount of cocaine. The US Coast Guard intercepted the boat named “Mahi Mahi” and with a crew of three people 130 nautical miles from Matapalo in the Osa peninsula in Puntarenas. The men arrested of last names Centeno Hernand...

Costa Rican Ronal Gonzalez was elected as the new head coach of the male national soccer team, announced the Costa Rican Soccer Federation the evening of this Monday, September 30th. The executive committee decided on the 49-year-old Gonzalez, a former professional soccer player, he also directed the U20 national soccer team ten years back and managed to achieve a fourth position with the team...

The Minister of Labor, Steven Nuñez, resigned this Friday Sept 27th after the traffic officer that escorted him to Limon died in a car accident in the early hours of that same day. Nuñez apparently requested the escort last minute since he was running behind to attend a meeting in the province of Limon, since traffic is regulated in a segment of Route 32, the Minister made the request for a tra...

Since 2015 Costa Rica has surpassed 98% of clean energy generation, according to data from the National Center of Energy Control (CENCE); this will not be the exception for 2019 despite the dry conditions that have affected the region; so far, this percentage reaches 98.4%. This achievement involves the participation of 100 plants of the national electric park operated by the Costa Rican Electr...

During the United Nations Secretary General's Climate Summit, President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, called for the formation of a High Ambition Coalition of nations to push for a Deal for Nature that will protect 30% of the planet by 2030. The goal will be to finalize the deal at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Kunming, China in 202...

Ocean Park Hotels announced the upcoming launch of its luxury eco-tourism accommodation IGLOO Beach Lodge that is scheduled in December. "An exclusive beach front property in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, IGLOO Beach Lodge is the first ever destination for the company. With the opening of this property, Ocean Park Hotels will also unveil a groundbreaking eco-friendly design concept that has neve...

The National Seismologic Network (RSN) and the Observatory of Volcanic and Seismic Activity in Costa Rica (OVSICORI) confirmed a new eruption of the Poas Volcano with a column that reached 3000 meters above the crater and 5,708 meters above sea level (18722.24 ft). The activity began at 8:59 p.m. and carried on for 25 minutes, it was captured by the thermal cameras located at the National Park....

The National Roads Authority (CONAVI) is planning the closure of La Amistad Bridge over the Tempisque river which connects the Guanacaste counties of Cañas and Nicoya. The closure obeys to the need to do maintenance and repair works and will require the closure of the structure for at least two months and an investment of over one million dollars. Helmut Wenzel, original designer of the stru...

The heavy rainfall from this past Saturday caused a drain to collapse and destroyed the road in front of the Tambor Beach Hotel. The National Emergency Commission (CNE) reported the important damages on this road that communicates the city of Paquera with Cóbano in Puntarenas, this is just one of the over 40 events that required the attention of the CNE this weekend. The Ministry of Public W...

Costa Rica's boarder control police spotted a vessel that ran aground in the area of Punta Burica in the Southern Zone of the country, five people were arrested in relation to this case, the boat was loaded with one ton and nine kilograms of cocaine. Boarder control police received the assistance of the Drug Control Police, Air Surveillance, Public Police Force and National Coast Guard Service....

Costa Rica has received a 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honor, for its role in the protection of nature and its commitment to ambitious policies to combat climate change. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized Costa Rica in the policy leadership category. Costa Rica has drafted a detailed plan to decarbonize its economy by 2050, in line...

The National Customs Service and the Ozone Office of the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, received an international award for their joint work in the prevention of illegal traffic of substances that depletes the ozone layer; the announcement was made this week in view of the celebration of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, September 16, date in which t...

President Carlos Alvarado has officially signed the work-from-home bill into law, which allows telecommuting as an alternative work arrangement for employees in the public and private sector. The new law sets the standards for the work from home policy, strengthening Costa Rica’s competitiveness to develop business and Foreign Direct Investment. The Congress passed the 21.141 bill on August ...

Carlos Roldán an investigator of the Costa Rican Technology Institute is promoting a referendum to vote the “Law of Exploitation of National Energy Resources” which would allow the exploration and exploitation of petroleum and natural gas in Costa Rica. The recollection of signatures began this week. A total of 5% of the electoral registry, 168,667 signatures are needed to call the national ref...

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in its mission to defend, conserve and protect the seas and marine wildlife, announced that it is launching Operation Treasured Islands late this fall. The campaign focuses on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, a two million square kilometer area extending along the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to P...

MicroPort , a multinational orthopedics company, will establish a new services center in Costa Rica in addition to its current R&D operation for orthopedic medical devices. The company started operations with 30 people this year and will grow to approximately 70 employees by the end of 2020. MicroPort is located at Oficentro Torre La Sabana part of Improsa SAFI real estate fund. Currentl...

Between displeased sectors, threats of more protests, a difficult economy, Costa Rica celebrates this September 15, 198 years of independent life. “We are capable of doing great things working with discipline and strength. It won’t be something external what leads us to development, it won’t be a gift from anyone, and it certainly won’t be the laziness and the privileges what will make us a de...

Conde Nast Traveler published it’s ranking of “The 40 Most Beautiful Countries in the World” and Costa Rica tops the list. CN Traveler took the top 30 countries listed in the “attractiveness” section of the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report and polled their editors for their personal picks to come up with a final list. “It's easy to sink into the pura vida (pur...

Clothing store Forever 21 plans to declare bankruptcy this Sunday, September 15 according to The Wall Street Journal. The retailer apparently has been affected by the change of consumer habits which has brought low sales. Many people now prefer to shop online and the competition is very strong. According to a statement released by Forever 21 the stores are currently operating normally, and t...

Medtronic, the largest employer of precision mechanics in Costa Rica inaugurated this week its new manufacturing facility in Coyol, Alajuela. Medtronic has had a commercial presence in Costa Rica since 2015. The company established its manufacturing facility in 2017 with over 100 employees and has subsequently grown to more than 500 professionals in 2019. The facility manufactures components gl...

Tourism and economic reactivation of the district of Drake in the Osa Península begins to show growth after an increase in the number of flights and passengers since the Drake airfield started operations in January. According to Guillermo Hoppe, General Director of Civil Aviation, the number of passengers using the new airfield during the first seven months of this year is of 12,727 almost doub...

A Romanian Expat by the name of Ionut-George Otelac and a Costa Rican model by name Raquel Gamboa Mora, were shot to death inside their vehicle near the Alajuelita park this Tuesday, September 10. The two victims were aboard a Suzuki driving on the main street of the San José county of Alajuelita at noon time when two people on a motorcycle shot them. The Romanian was 38 years-old and had a ...

The Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) in Costa Rica confirmed the arrest of two Jamaican brothers suspects of fraud and wanted by the Interpol. According to information released by OIJ the two men of last name Levy apparently setup a call center in Costa Rica to function as a sweepstake scam where the victims were elderly American citizens. In total the victims were scammed closed to $350...

Costa Rican authorities intercepted a vessel 16 nautical miles from Golfito, Puntarenas close to Golfo Dulce carrying almost half a ton of cocaine. The National Coast Guard Service, Air Surveillance, Public Police Force, Border Control Police and the Drug Control Police took part of this operation; aboard the boat, with the name “Hish Tide” were two men, a Costa Rican of surname García and a Co...