The Costa Rica Star previously reported on a unique worm powered bio-digester within a home in Costa Rica. Letting nature guide them and adapting to coexisting with it, is the motto of a group of young men who have implemented a system of permaculture and biodynamics in North Esperanza of Nicoya. Brothers Esteban and Felipe Viquez along with Joel Vega, in their early 20s, came from Puntaren...

Today, Friday, a dozen U.S. Universities will make academic presentations at the Crowne Plaza (Coribici) Hotel, in La Sabana, as a part of the International Student Network. Undergraduate presentations will be made from 6pm to 8pm and postgraduate from 7pm to 9pm. Visitors to the fair will find information regarding student fees, admission processes, travel documents needed and possible scholar...

The Costa Rica Star recently reported on the burgeoning unemployment industry in Costa Rica. The latest survey by the Instituto de Estadísticas y Censos (INEC) – statistics and census – shows that the unemployment rate in Costa Rica is in excess of 10%. The specific data for the second quarter of 2013 states that 10.4% of workers in Costa Rica are unemployed. According to the data, 56 out...

The government’s plan to alleviate the chaotic traffic congestion of San José, partly from the temporary closure of the Circunvalación and partly for the lack of forward thinking and growth of Costa Rica’s vehicular fleet, it is proposing promoting car pooling and the start of the intersectoral bus service. On Thursday, all – well almost all – government employees began the day one hour earlier...

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), together with tourism businesses in Costa Rica, have been participating at the International Tourism Fair of Latin America (FIT) to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Then, later this week, ICT officials will attend the International Travel Fair Mark Latin America 2013 to be held in Quito, Ecuador. “The economic boom they are experiencing in cert...

An angry driver shot another in the head Thursday afternoon after a slight collision in Calle Blancos, near the old Durman Esquivel plant. The murdered man was the personal bodyguard of the Ministro de la Presidencia communications minister, Carlos Roverssi. Alonso Romero, 45, was on his way to the Benavides home to “run an errand” and then return to Casa Presidencial to pick up his boss. ...

The Costa Rica Star previously reported in 2011 on the Haciendas of the Rich and Famous, which included Mel Gibson's house for sale. If you have $29.75 million laying around and want to own 500 acres of pristine, private forest in Costa Rica then Mel Gibson wants to hear from you. The controversial actor has listed his ‘Playa Barrigona’ estate that is located on the Nicoya Pennisula. The e...

A plane on its way to Miami International Airport from Costa Rica Thursday had to make an emergency landing after the pilot reported smoke on board. American Airlines flight 1204, which departed Costa Rica around 11 a.m., was diverted from it’s route to MIA, landing safely at the Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andreas, Columbia, according to the Federal Aviation Administrati...

Alajuela, Costa Rica (Sept. 20, 2013) Herediano kept its hopes of reaching the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals alive by registering a 4-2 victory over Valencia in a Group 3 encounter on Wednesday at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto Scotiabank. The Costa Rican club improved to 2-0-1, tying idle Cruz Azul (2-0-0, 6 points), although the Mexican side has a game in hand. Valencia (0-0-3...

This is a guest article from MetalSucks.net. That Sight of Emptiness are from Costa Rica is certainly an interesting footnote — they’ve managed to garner quite a bit of worldwide attention despite geographic isolation from the international metal scene — but their music stands quite well on its own regardless. We’ve had our eye on these guys since 2010, and it’s great to see them not just s...

This article is a press release from the US Embassy in Costa Rica, if you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your announcements, please contact us. The Embassy of the United States in Costa Rica welcomes last night’s strong statement of support from the Government of Costa Rica regarding the Framework Agreement for the Elimination of Syria’s Chemical Weapons. Costa Rica, recognized ...

Costa Rica’s legislators have approved, in first vote, a law that would ensure the rights of domestic service employees in the country. The bill was a result of an agreement between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Government of Costa Rica. Among the regulations of the new law are: -Protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence -A weekly rest period of...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your business press release, please contact us. Ylang Ylang Beach Resort in Costa Rica recently launched a new solar garden project making the resort nearly completely self-sustained when it comes to electricity needs. A collection of solar panels was placed throughout the property to harvest abundant solar energy and convert it to electricity fo...

More than 80 percent of Central Americans feel that prices of basic goods are constantly rising and 73 percent say that they have a limited budget for making purchases, according to a market study by Consumer Watch 2013 released Tuesday. The survey carried out by the Kantar WorldPanel company last February and March among 3,000 homes in the six countries on the isthmus found that the issues of ...

Crocodilians in Costa Rica are being threatened by bananas farmed in the Central American country. Caiman, one of the most common species of crocodilian in Central America, have been found to have high levels of pesticide in their blood, which causes health problems in the predator. The reason for these high levels is the increased demand for bananas across the globe. Over $12bn is spent ...

200 environment volunteers of the Costasverdes organization have reforested 20 hectares of the terrestrial maritime zone in Playa Hermosa near Jaco on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This project is an initiative that started five years ago and involves educational centers, communities, local authorities and businesses, all of which participate in reforesting this beach as part of the Playa He...

When German Alberto Jimenez Paniagua started delivering fruits and vegetables around Nosara seven years ago, he did so in a pickup truck. Then he upgraded to a small “camion” truck, and now he is driving around in an innovative bus, which allows him to expand his route to include Ostional and San Juanillo. Jimenez bought the bus on July 23rd from a man in Nicoya, and just two days later he had ...

The teak wood plantation of Panamerican Woods, located in the mountains of Santo Domingo between Samara and Carrillo Beach, is out of mature trees and has dismissed some of its employees while waiting for more trees to mature. Martin Barquero Perez, manager of the plantation, assured that the project is sustainable and continues but that they will have to wait four or five years for more trees ...

With World Championship dreams. In this way the Samareño Alex "Choco" Gómez, ranked second in national standings in the longboard category, departs to participate in the next World Longboard Championship 2013, organized by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and held in Peru from September 22nd to the 28th. Gómez , who will turn 38 next Monday just as the tournament starts, gives surfin...

The Costa Rica Star recently reported on how Costa Rica views the conflict in Syria. Not surprisingly, former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has a somewhat different view of U.S. President Barack Obama's acceptance of a Russian proposal to act as negotiator in the poison gas elimination in Syria. Arias gave the Spanish press an earful Friday. Arias claims it was not just Russia and China ...

Personnel at 45 EBAIS clinics in Montes de Oca, La Union and Curridabat intend to go out on strike Thursday, to protest the transfer of administration from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) to that of Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE). EBAIS are clinics set up by the Social Security system (Caja) and contracted out to private sources for their administration. They attend chronic and routine m...

Deportivo Saprissa remain top of the Costa Rica Primera Division with a game in hand after a 2-1 win at Santos de Guapiles. Midfielder Diego Estrada secured a 30th minute lead for Saprissa, which they held until the half-time break. Three minutes after the restart, Santos levelled the game as Cristan Lagos scored this third goal of the campaign. But the division strugglers could not hold ...

Update: Jamie Panas, a PR Manager from Guinness World Records recently emailed The Costa Rica Star to correct some of the information within this article: "Fees are only incurred if an application needs to be expedited or an organization requests the onsite presence of an adjudicator to verify the record on the spot. Any organization or record hopeful may send their evidence in manually. There is ...

The National Emergency Commission – Comisión Nacional de Emergencia (CNE) – has declared a “green alert” for the areas of Sarapiquí (Caribbean coast), north Pacific and the Central Valley, that is affected by a low pressure system dumping large amounts of rain in those areas. The alert follows a forecast by the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – national weather service – to expect some 6...

A Nicaraguan representative, Carlos Arguello, came before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and formalized the new lawsuit against Colombia to declare the “exact path” of the maritime boundary between the two countries. “This lawsuit is intended finish defining the maritime areas of Nicaragua bordering Colombia in the Caribbean,” the Nicaraguan executive said in a statement. ...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your business press release, please contact us. Santa Teresa, Puntarenas — Pollo Pass is a new discount service for travelers to the Santa Teresa area in Costa Rica. Pollo Pass is a discount bracelet that entitles the customer to discounts at local businesses including restaurants, bars, horseback riding, Spanish lessons, surf lessons, spas, yoga...

Three years is the prison sentence handed down to former legislator Maureen Ballestero Vargas (photo right) for personal use on two separate occasions of airplanes from the Ministry of Security. However, the former PLN legislator won’t see a day behind bars. The sentenced was handed down by the judge Hugo Porter of the Tribunal Unipersonal de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance Court), but commuted t...

Spurred by the closure of the Circunvalación between Hatillo 8 and Pavas, the government has put forth a plan to ease the traffic chaos of San José, with flexible work hours for all government employees. Starting Thursday (19th) all public servants – save for hospital, police and emergency response units like the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and Bomberos (fire department) – will work from 7am to 3pm, ...

The Costa Rica Star recently reported on how the closure of the Circunvalacion is crippling traffic flow in San Jose during the next 2 months. The high command of the Ministry of Public Works (MOPT) and the highway agency CONAVI have decided to ignore the advice of their own expert engineers and two outside bodies that merely replacing the culverts under the road is inadequate, reported La...

While Costa Rica’s tourism officials spend millions telling the world how “esencial” Costa Rica is, images like the above published in the New York Times have a greater impact. Published on Thursday Sept 5 in the New York Times Travel section, is the story about Santa Teresa’s unpaved roads by Dave Seminara, titled “In a Costa Rican Beach Town, the Road Less Paved”. In the article, S...

The Costa Rica Star previously reported on how the proposed Chinese funded oil refinery clashes with Costa Rica's climate policy. Costa Rica’s legislative assembly is considering a new climate change law introduced by MP Alfonso Pérez Gómez. The proposed law aims to establish the country’s goal of carbon neutrality, reduce the economy’s carbon footprint and improve measuring and reporting sy...

This is a guest article by Sys-Con Media. The Costa Rica Star has previously reported extensively on all areas related to Costa Rica technology and business outsourcing. In our research over the past couple of years, we've looked at 14 countries in Latin America. The three top performers are Chile, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. The first two of these also rank ahead of the United States. Chile also ...

The questions is: How is it that the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Sea Turtle has come back into the Gulf of Fonseca, a species that many scientists considered virtually extinct? The answer to that question, for now, is unknown. This amazing discovery is being investigated by the Scientific Committee of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC), which ju...

Why do most expats form a corporation (sociedad anonima or S.A.) in Costa Rica? Is it just because attorneys want to make extra legal fees? The truth is that a large percentage of the assets and bank accounts controlled by foreigners are owned by their local corporations that mostly act as holding companies, but is it really necessary? Let’s first look at the pros that would justify creating a ...

The Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Anabel Gonzalez, said the Special Economic Zone (EEZ) that China and Costa Rica are implementing in Costa Rica, could be underway “in under a year.” This was stated by Gonzalez in an interview with EFE in Beijing, after inaugurating the Forum ‘Foreign investment and Tourism Opportunities in Costa Rica’. The minister is visiting in China to promote...

Every country has its own anthem. It's a song of pride, unity and strength. It brings neighbors together and reminds them that they're all equals abiding by the same set of rules and guidelines. It's mark, a highly esteemed symbol of identity, unique to every country in message and origin, particularly Costa Rica's. In the mid 19th Century, ambassadors from Great Britain and the United States a...

The National Federation of the Fisheries Sector (FENAPES) and the Costa Rican Fisheries Federation (FECOP), launched a campaign to collect signatures to back a proposal to regulate tuna fishing with purse-seine nets in the first 370 nautical miles (662 km) of Costa Rica’s territorial waters. Under the concept of “Costa Rican Tuna for Costa Rican Fishers”, the Office of the President of the Repu...

Dressed in white gloves, pants in the style of the Prince of Wales and a cap with a gold Costa Rica coat of arms, tailored by Marlow White, who has been making uniforms for the US Armed Forces since 1879, is the Guardia de Honor (Honour Guard of Costa Rica). The special unit is made of 40 men and women of the Fuerza Pública (police) that have been for the past decade the special escort of the P...

We are starting a new article series as of today (1 hour from now), sharing songs and music videos that inspire us. Enjoy. Happy Music Monday, and you can expect many more selections in the coming weeks and months, each Monday morning. If you want to suggest some music for this article series, contact us. Turn it up loud. Pow! *Hero cookie if you can make it through this playlist without gettin...

Child at the Independence Day parade in Jacó, Costa Rica.A friend of mine invited me to some big parade that was going on today here in town so I decided to check it out. Did not know until the last minute that it was to celebrate Independence for Central America! Very cool. While I am pretty easily entertained, this was going to be something substantial to see, so I was pretty excited to wa...