By late yesterday afternoon, Costa Rica’s Drug Control Police (known as the PCD, in Spanish) had finished counting the cash hidden in a truck attempting to enter into Costa Rica over the northern Peñas Blancas border with Nicaragua. A whopping US$310,380 was found stacked in 12 neatly wrapped packages, and meticulously placed under the front passenger’s seat in part of the air conditioning syst...

The U.S. State Department’s annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report came out this month. In the Money Laundering and Financial Crimes section, the report's second volume, Costa Rica is noted as being a favorable base for, "transnational criminal organizations to commit financial crimes due to its location and limited enforcement capability.” The report acknowledges that despite t...

The Internet Service Provider Speed ​​Index (ISP) recently released data on which Internet providers offer the best performance when using the Netflix series and movies platform. Five companies in Costa Rica were evaluated for their speed using prime time bit rates reported by users. The best Netflix performance was with Telecable users, who had an average of 2.95 Megabit per second (Mbps) s...

This week the legislature approved in a second and final debate a cooperation agreement between the Republic of Costa Rica and Palestine that supports technical, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation activities, as reported in various Costa Rican media. The original agreement was signed in 2013, but faced some legal hurdles in the legislature. One vocal detractor, National Liberation...

The Costa Rican Judiciary sent out a message yesterday mourning the death of another woman at the hands of her partner. The Observatory on Gender Violence Against Women and Access to Justice is a relatively new judicial agency dedicated to tracking violence against women, making legal and court services available to women who are victims of violence, and to observing the judiciary’s response to...

A landmark conciliation agreement was reached this week in the community of Las Brisas, Upala in northern Costa Rica, said Edgar Araya, Broad Front Party (Frente Amplio) Legislator. A dialogue was held in the Community Hall of Las Brisas, Upala with local residents and representatives of the Las Brisas Agricultural Company to discuss the situation. "After many years of struggle, resistance a...

Monday, the Costa Rican Red Cross sent out a rescue team to locate six members of an 11-member hiking group who apparently became lost during a trek in the southern central mountains of Costa Rica. The group, made up of Mexicans, Canadians, French, as well as a German and a Costa Rica traveler, set out Sunday at 5:00 a.m. on a hike in an area called "Las Torres de Savegre" near San Gerardo de D...

Finding the perfect wave has been called a mystic experience by surfers, many of whom comb the world’s beaches in search of unbeatable breaks. A recent study by Sydney University economist Sam Wills and Thomas McGregor of Oxford University, good waves are a valuable commodity. “We find that surfing waves contribute approximately US$50 billion to global economic activity each year,” said the res...

Costa Rica’s iconic dairy brand, Dos Pinos, just announced a new "helado" with a unique Costa Rican twist: Guayabita ice cream. But, don’t get too excited, the product still needs a month or so before it hits the shelves, said Dos Pinos. Since the company’s acquisition late last year of the Costa Rican candy company, Gallito, consumers have wondered what the buy-out might have in store as fa...

The disappearance of these fish would affect Costa Rica's US$599 million per year sport fishing industry, say experts. The Costa Rican Fisheries Federation (FECOP, its initials in Spanish) called for protecting marlin and sailfish from commercialization based on recent studies that show the large economic benefits reaped from maintaining healthy sea populations of these fish. “The data shows t...

Dozens of young men who are in the La Reforma prison in San Rafael de Alajuela don’t have shoes. After witnessing how the men often go around barefoot, the Ministry of Justice has started a donation campaign to collect footwear for the men who are aged 18 - 24. The ministry says at least 70 of the prison's young adult section’s 151 inmates have nothing but the government- issued sandals to wear...

Costa Rica’s northwestern county of La Cruz in the province of Guanacaste inaugurated a new road connecting various coastal communities which is the result of a novel cooperation between local businesses and government institutions. The project is expected to open further economic development in the remote, underdeveloped region. The National Roadways Council (Conavi) teamed up with Hotel Dream...

The Costa Rican comptroller’s office gave the green light last week to begin to adjudicate the remaining road widening works due to take place over the next two years along the stretch between San Antonio de Belén and Santa Ana (Route 147) to the west of San José, said the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. The expansion of the bridge along that highway will begin in April, and the larger ...

The Four Seasons Costa Rica Resort, located on the Papagayo Peninsula in the province of Guanacaste, was awarded Best Hotel in Central and South America in the 2016 Gallivanter’s Guide. Four Seasons Costa Rica is co-owned by Saudi businessman, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, through his company Kingdom Holding Company (47.5 percent); Cascade Investments (47.5 percent) which is controlled by Bill Ga...

Despite persistent areas of concern, Costa Rica has consistently improved on its human development indicators since 1990. Over the past 25 years, the average years of schooling have increased by 44 percent and its income has doubled, according to the most recent United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report (UNDP) released last week. Likewise, life expectancy in Costa Rica has i...

The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) have drafted a joint regulation to restrict the importation and sale of baby walkers in Costa Rica due to safety concerns, said the Health Ministry last week. Health Minister Fernando Llorca Castro said, “The initiative is driven by a large number of specialists at the National Children's Hospital … and is another ...

More than one-tenth of people residing in Costa Rica’s indigenous territories can not read or write, and almost 1/5 of people of African descent do not have access to social security, reports the UN. "It is fundamental to improve human development for women, Afro-descendants, indigenous people, people with disabilities, rural dwellers, among other groups," said the United Nations Develop...

AOC, the world leader in display technologies, announced the availability in Costa Rica of the G2460PQU, a super professional 24-inch monitor designed especially for gamers who want accurate colors, striking graphics, and a fluid gaming experience. The AOC G2460PQU provides a refresh rate of 144 Hz and a 1 ms response time that allows gamers to enjoy super fast action without distorted images w...

The recent trial of a Lebanese man by the last name of Anis led to him receiving a 12-year prison sentence for smuggling migrants, reported the judiciary press office today. His trial was held earlier this month in the Criminal Court of Corredores, Puntarenas province,in the southern border region with Panama. He was sentenced to “aggravated illicit trafficking of persons” for his activities...

A new campaign has been launched to draw attention to child disappearances in Costa Rica, reported the state Electrical and Telecommunications Institute (ICE) yesterday. In January and February of this year, the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) Alert Unit received 146 reports of missing minors throughout the country. Fortunately, in all but one of these cases, the minors were located. The...

Although Costa Rica has obtained a high level of human development, there is a notable gap experienced by women as far as economic benefits, ​​and women also lag behind in other areas, said the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) this week. For example, on the positive side, women in Costa Rica live on average five years longer than men and average a year more formal education than men, a...

This morning at 5:20 a.m. police responded to a report of a man being shot in Sabana Sur, a residential neighborhood on the southern side of San José's La Sabana Metropolitan Park. The man, identified as Michael Chain Caspi (48) and of Israeli nationality, was here on one of his occasional visits to the country, said Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) in a press conference this morning. Acc...

The Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security confirmed today the capture of a Somalian man suspected of international terrorism. Police arrested last night the African suspect at the Temporary Assistance Center for Migrants (CATEM) in El Cruce de Santa Cecilia, in the county of La Cruz, Guanacaste province, said the ministry. The Somalian is identified as 25-year-old Ibrahim Qoordheen. Police...

Costa Rica shows steady overall improvement in human development, with increasing educational opportunities and income rates, but with nagging concerns over gender equity and growing economic inequality. This was revealed in the latest Human Development Index (HDI) published this week by the United Nations Development Program. Costa Rica is currently situated in 9th place in human developmen...

Every year, Costa Rica's Blue Flag Program receives applications for their "Blue Flag" ecological recognition which rewards community efforts towards sustainable development. The program is a joint effort of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and the Ecological Blue Flag National Commission, known in Costa Rica simply as the "Bandera Azul" program. The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) anno...

Global technology experts met this week in Guatemala to call for a collaborative, multisectoral approach to the continued development of a more open, stable and secure Internet in Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Costa Rica has found itself lagging behind on Internet speed. “For Internet users in many Central American societies, the Internet affects many aspects of our quality of l...

 - Police aid Italian woman recover her purse in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca A heightened police presence in the Caribbean tourist town of Puerto Viejo, south of the post city of Limón, has allowed police to prevent crime and also intervene successfully in some recent incidents. The increase in police came on the heels of the murder of a Canadian teacher who had left his hotel to take photographs e...

Coast guard officials yesterday confiscated an estimated 30 kilos of marine life and arrested five Spaniards in connection with violating several fishing laws, reported the Public Security Ministry. The men were found in an overloaded fishing boat near the Gulf of Nicoya off the Pacific port town of Puntarenas, using prohibited fishing gear, among other irregularities, by officers of the Calder...

Companies and individuals engaged in legal, real estate, agricultural, commercial and advisory services and consultancies are among the first 120 to be investigated by the Costa Rican tax administration, said the treasury department today. The names were identified in a publicly searchable database released last April during the Panama Papers scandal by the International Consortium of Investiga...

In light of the country’s growing deficit and difficulties in funding its public budget, Costa Rica’s treasury is working on a number of fronts to tighten up controls and increase accurate tax payments throughout the country. As part of this effort, they teamed up with the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry (MAG) to provide local governments with a tool that will allow them to enforce Law No. 9...

Residents of Playa Tamarindo in Costa Rica’s northern Pacific Guanacaste province are opposing the construction of a restaurant and cafeteria in an area declared for public use by the Santa Cruz Municipal Council, which has jurisdiction over Tamarindo Beach. On Sunday, March 19, 223 residents were on the site of a planned park along Playa Tamarindo which suffered some damages and tree removals ...

In a country riddled with waterfalls and rainforests, and bounded by sparkling oceans, the dry northern region of Guanacaste, Costa Rica which borders Nicaragua, often suffers from water shortages. The rapid growth of tourism and construction have stressed the low-lying water tables, and caused some aquifers to become salinized and the water unfit for human consumption, such as in Playa Panama....

One of Costa Rica’s cornerstone programs for addressing hunger and poverty may not sound glitzy, but it does seem to get the job done. There’s no catchy slogan or matching corporate funder, but the country’s 616 Centers for Education, Nutrition and Comprehensive Child Care (CEN-CINAI) have been recognized by the region’s foremost nutrition agency for their work. The pioneering regional leade...

After clearing the constitutional court for any potential anomalies, Costa Rican legislators voted last week to approve the return of the annual corporate tax. Every year in July, those holding any type of S.A., limited liability corporation, including foreign companies, registered in the National Registry in Costa Rica must pay an annual fee for each corporation which ranges from about US$119 ...

Costa Rica’s Short Film Festival invites local producers to submit their works from now until Saturday, March 25. Costa Rican nationals and residents alike are invited to submit their short films to the event which is quickly growing in popularity. The festival’s second edition will hold screenings from June 23-25 at the Costa Rican Journalists Association office across from Parque La Sabana an...

Friday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) published an article on a 21-year-old woman from Corner Brook, Newfoundland who was declared missing by her family in early March. After the young woman, Kayla Jean Reid, had allegedly gone to a church retreat at the end of February and never returned home, her family contacted the Newfoundland police. As her family scoured the Internet for po...

Encuentra24.com is changing the way consumers in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua find essential goods and services. The company's founders say their work to establish the digital platform is, "A story about vision, growth, perseverance and love for dreams, which we achieved with a clear business focus and a commitment to the countries where we operate." Back in 2005, when Encuentra24 founde...

Have you witnessed corruption in a court or judicial setting? Do you sense foul play and think you know who might be responsible? To aid the Costa Rican judiciary in fighting corruption within its ranks, there is now a free, confidential, 24-hour hotline where you can report your concerns. The resource is part of the Costa Rica Supreme Court of Justice's anti-corruption policy, said the judi...

WASHINGTON, DC — Yesterday the White House issued the following statement following a meeting between Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence: "The Vice President met today with President Luis Guillermo Solís of Costa Rica at the White House. The Vice President praised Costa Rica's role as a key partner of the United States in promoting regional economic pr...

Costa Rica's "México" Hospital announced this week they successful conducted a state-of-the art heart valve replacement therapy called "valve in valve." This is the first time the procedure has been conducted in the country, and the first in all of Central America, said the hospital's press office. The patient, referred to as "Elizabeth" felt immediate improvements when on Wednesday she beca...