REUTERS - A year after Guatemala passed a law banning child marriage, poor families who regard girls as a financial burden are still marrying them off as prolonged drought plunges many into deeper poverty, campaigners say. Guatemala has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Latin America, long driven by poverty and cultural acceptance especially among the country's Maya indigenous commu...

Every country has its culture, its traditions, and its people, and this last element can make a big difference in your impression of a country or in your overall experience, but it is very hard to learn all about the residents of country and their way of living if you are visiting for just a few days, and certainly knowing a few things about a country’s citizens is not only part of the experience,...

An alliance between multinational company Generac and Costa Rican company Alco, will allow the creation of a Training Center for professionals such as electrical engineers, electricity technicians and other professionals in this area. This Training Center in Costa Rica will be the only one of its kind in Central America and the second in Latin America, their current one functions in their 15,00...

Photo Credit: Facebook Bryan Vasquez Costa Rican Boxer. Vasquez signs agreement with Roy Jones Jr. boxing promotions Costa Rican boxer and former interim world champion Bryan “Tiquito” Vasquez signed a promotional agreement with Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions. Vasquez, is 29 years old and a native of Escazu, Costa Rica. He is a former two-time WBA (World Boxing Association) interim Super F...

Image Credit: Facebook Grammy Awards (EFE).- Deceased Mexican singer Juan Gabriel had never won a Latin Grammy before Thursday night, when his album "The Duo 2" was named not only Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, but also Album of the Year - the two biggest categories of the Latin Grammy Awards. The Mexican icon's presence first emerged when he was announced as the winner of Best Tradition...

A “barrio” is a neighborhood, and that’s the topic and inspiration of this year’s edition of Traffic Museum in Costa Rica. Barrio Lujan, Barrio Los Angeles, Barrio Amón, Barrio González Lahmann, Barrio Otoya, Barrio Escalante, Barrio San Bosco and Barrio Aranjuez; are the eight iconic San José neighborhoods chosen, and that with their architecture, tradition, characters, and history inspired te...

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)along with the Morpho Independent Life Center and the Information Committee of the Organizations for Disabled People (COINDIS) organize the II International Seminar for the disabled population under the slogan “Building alliances for the future”. During two days’ participants, will be able to share and reinforce their knowledge with talks, ro...

A group of students of the Technology Institute of Costa Rica (TEC) won the silver medal in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) event, organized by MIT and that took place in Boston, MA, USA, October 27th to the 31st in the category Diagnostics. The Costa Ricans participated with their project Prostal, a system for the diagnosis of prostate cancer through the development of ...

(Reuters Health) - Just because social attitudes toward sex at older ages are more positive than in the past doesn’t mean all older women have positive feelings about sex, according to a new Australian study. Researchers found that nearly 90 percent of women over 70 in the study had low sexual desire and a much smaller proportion were distressed about it. The combination of low desire and relat...

Photo Credit: Gandhi Facebook Costa Rica Promoting company RPMTV announced that Costa Rican band Gandhi will be in charge of opening up the Guns N’ Roses concert in Costa Rica next November 26 at the National Stadium. Abel Guier (bass), Massimo Hernández (drums), Federico Miranda (guitar), and Luis Montalbert-Smith (vocals and piano), are the four members of the Costa Rican rock band formed...

(Reuters) - Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have agreed to join forces and seek support from Mexico to forge a joint strategy in response to Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidency, El Salvador's foreign minister told Reuters on Wednesday. Trump's election upset has sent shockwaves through Mexico and Central America, which rely heavily on U.S. remittances and bilateral trade.President-elec...

According to a study by human resources firm Manpower titled “Shortage of Talent”, the difficulty of Costa Rican employers to fill the different vacancies in their companies has lowered from a 46% to a 35%; the average in the countries evaluated is of 40%, while in some countries like Colombia is close to 50%. In general, the positions that are hard to fill have remained the same in the past el...

A new radiotherapy technique already available in Costa Rica can help cure lung cancer without the need of surgery. The outpatient procedure is ideal for around a 30% of people diagnosed with this form of cancer but for whom surgery is not an option be it because of risks related to age, other health problems, or heart conditions. The application of the radiotherapy using this new technique ca...

Press Release / The Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy, Edgar Gutierrez Espeleta, and his counterpart of the Principality of Andorra, Silvia Calvo Armengol, signed this Monday in Marrakech, Morocco, the memorandum of understanding on Environment and Protection of Biodiversity. With this agreement both countries will exchange experiences in areas like the implementation of a carbon ...

Montaña Azul 2017 by Ismael Cala, will take place March 22-26, 2017. It is described as "An inspirational encounter, a program that includes exclusive activities to detox, balance and revitalize the energy of our mind, body and soul". The event will take place at the retreat center of the same name "Montaña Azul" located in Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica. Cala's previous presentation in Costa Rica was ...

Costa Rica secured the 6 points in the first two games of the hex stage of CONCACAF Russia World Cup 2018. La Sele playing at home, defeated the U.S. MNT 4-0. The first 45 minutes of the game were full of action from the moment the whistle announced the beginning of the match, Costa Rica came out aggressive but disorganized, lacking the control that we saw in the match against Trinidad & Tobag...

The Central American Surfing Games came to an end today in Jaco, and Costa Rica’s team took the crown for the 11th time with 15,503 points followed by Guatemala with a total of 10,770 points. In the individual categories Costa Rica achieved four gold medals in: Open Male, Open Female, Junior Male and Male U16. Nicaragua took home two gold medals in categories Junior Female and Female U16 while S...

December comes this year with a full agenda of entertainment in Costa Rica. The Municipality of San Jose, already confirmed the 21st edition of the now traditional Festival de la Luz (Parade of Light) which this year will take place Saturday, December 17 starting at 6 p.m. The Festival de la Luz will have the participation of 14 decorated floats, 15 bands and several cheer-leading groups, in 20...

San Lucas Island is located off the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica, 5.4 miles from Puntarenas, and has an area of less than 500 hectares.  This island is famous in Costa Rica because it used to be a prison, at first just for thieves and other petty crime offenders but later for more dangerous criminals. The San Lucas prison functioned from 1873 to 1991 when it was permanently closed, what used to...

Reuters - Governments should invest at least 20 percent of their transport budgets in infrastructure that promotes walking and cycling, to save lives, curb pollution and cut climate-changing emissions from vehicles, the United Nations' environment agency said. Almost half of the 1.3 million people who die each year from traffic accidents are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, the U.N. Env...

(EFE).- A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the South Island of New Zealand on Sunday, without reports on casualties or declaring a tsunami alert by the authorities. The tremor occurred at 23:02 local time (11:02 GMT) and had its epicenter at the depth of 10 kilometers (6.21 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey which records seismic activity worldwide. Incident re...

The Central American Surfing Games concluded its second day of competition and will come to an end this Sunday, November 13. Costa Rica’s National Surfing Team has had a great performance so far and is very close to archiving their eleventh consecutive title with 17 out of 20 members still in competition. Panama has 9 competitors still in participation, Nicaragua 5, Guatemala 3 and El Salvador 2....

It’s always fun to get out of the house and spend the day doing something different, but we don’t always have time or feel like traveling long distances, so if you are looking for some adventure and adrenaline close to San Jose, here are some adventure parks that may be just what you are looking for: Turu Ba Ri:  Located in Turrubares, Alajuela, less than an hour drive from San Jose, Turu Ba Ri...

Guanacaste is not just about the beaches, here are some great options of places maybe you didn't know existed in this wonderful province: Buena Vista Lodge: At the foothills of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, you will find a property dedicated to forest regeneration. The hacienda has 5 different natural hot spring pools, a delicious way to relax surrounded by beautiful nature. The hotel also of...

3M 3M inaugurated new global service center in Costa Rica, increasing its presence in the country. This center will provide support to the company’s operations in conjunction with two other service centers located in Philippines and Poland. The new operation will focus in providing financial services, human resources services, technology information, optimization of processes, data use and se...

This past Thursday, November 10, the government of Costa Rica officially launched the campaign “Blue Heart against Human Trafficking”, an initiative that aims to influence the Costa Rican institutions and different sectors to raise awareness among the population about this scourge. The campaign also empowers society to express its solidarity with the people affected by this network of organized...

The “Plaza de la Cultura” (Culture Plaza) in the Central Avenue of San José will reopen on Monday, November 14 after 7 months. The famous plaza in downtown San Jose was closed back in April of this year, with the purpose of remodeling the area and doing maintenance work to some infrastructure in the underground building where the Central Bank Museums are located. The construction worked invo...

Costa Rica’s male national soccer team, scored a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in their first qualifier game of the hexagonal stage of the CONCACAF Russia World Cup 2018. “La Sele” had a good performance at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, in a game that was controlled by the Costa Ricans; starting the hex off with a road win was essential as Costa Rica hopes ...

Thomson Reuters Foundation / Sixty percent of the world's 5.9 million children who died before their fifth birthday last year were in 10 countries in Asia and Africa, said a study published on Friday, prompting calls for action to reduce the mortality. The study published in The Lancet medical journal said the latest data highlights the inequality in children's death among the 194 countries it ...

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Volaris, the ultra-low-cost carrier serving Mexico, the United States and Central America, informs that today its subsidiary Vuela Aviación S.A. (Volaris Costa Rica), received its air operator certificate from the Costa Rican Civil Aeronautic Authority to start providing commercial air transportation services. With the launch of this new airline, Volaris strengthens and takes a...

Ten kids will have the opportunity of a lifetime; playing with the best basketball player of all times, number 23, Michael Jordan. The “Copa Vuela Conmigo” (Fly with me Cup), will be disputed during this month of November (November 5th through December 04) and will gather over 200 boys and girls of 15 different teams of private and public schools as well as sports associations. This event will...

(Reuters) - Leonard Cohen, rock music's man of letters whose songs fused religious imagery with themes of redemption and sexual desire, earning him critical and popular acclaim, has died at age 82, said a statement on his Facebook page. "It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away," a statement on the Facebook page said. "We hav...

Jurgen Klinsmann head coach of the U.S.A. male National Soccer Team (U.S. MNT), announced the list of players summoned for the upcoming CONCACAF hexagonal games against Mexico and Costa Rica. Midfielder Jermaine Jones was called to join the team, and will be evaluated to ensure he is in good physical condition; other young figures such as Cameron Carter-Vickers, Lynden Gooch and Caleb Stanko a...

The sport of boxing and Nicaragua mourns the death today of boxing trainer Arnulfo Obando, the longtime coach of Roman “Chocolatito” González. Obando passed away this Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 9:15 A.M. in the Vivian Pellas Hospital in Nicaragua. Obando had to be rushed to the hospital on Monday, October 31st after suffering a stroke; reportedly he had complained of weakness in his arms, a...

The Legatum Institute published its 2016 Prosperity Index; this study evaluates 149 countries based on several variables such as the per capita GDP, the wellbeing of the population and even the internet access. The Index ranks nations over nine areas: Economic Quality, Business Environment, Governance, Education, Health, Safety and Security, Personal Freedom, Social Capital and Natural Environment...

The Central American Surfing Games kick off today with the opening ceremony that will take place at the Jaco Beach Best Western Hotel, this private event will be hosted by the Costa Rican Surfing Federation represented by its President, Randall Chaves. Competitions will begin Friday at 7 a.m. and will extend through the weekend with the participation of the delegations of: Nicaragua, Panama, E...

(Reuters) - Swiss scientists have helped monkeys with spinal cord injuries regain control of non-functioning limbs in research which might one day lead to paralyzed people being able to walk again. The scientists, who treated the monkeys with a neuroprosthetic interface that acted as a wireless bridge between the brain and spine, say they have started small feasibility studies in humans to tria...

Who hasn’t heard of Roberto Durán “Hands of Stone”? the famous Panamanian boxer, a former four weight class World Champion regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. His story, will be in the big screen as of November 10. “Hands of Stone” (trailer at the end of the article), is directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz and produced by Costa Rican Jay Weisleder. The cast includes: Robert De Niro,...

Motocross: Sixteen-year old María Paula Saborío is the first Costa Rican female to win the Motocross Latin American Championship that took place in La Quebradora, Michoacán, Mexico this past weekend and that is organized by the Mexican Motocross Federation with the backing of the Latin America FIM (International Motocross Federation). Saborío totaled 47 points in the competition, finishing ...

If there’s one thing Costa Rica is famous for is having some of the most idyllic beaches in the world; but besides being beautiful, some of them are also dangerous. The beaches in the Pacific Coast are more dangerous in comparison to those in the Atlantic Coast, this obeys to the rip currents. Take note of some of the most dangerous beaches in Costa Rica, and stay safe during your next vaca...