Note: This is a creative writing article by the contributing author, graphic content, reader discretion is advised. The OIJ and other Costa Rican authorities have finally found a semblance of facts as to the cause of the bizarre zombielike and suicidal behavior which occurred in Jacó two weeks ago. A suitcase full of “Bath Salts”, the confusingly named Mephadrone and Methylenedioxypyrovalero...

To have a dog is a privilege. A privilege that can greatly improves one’s quality of life. Your dog can be the reason to drag yourself out of bed in the morning and get outside. He or she can be the reason to hurry home after work or after you run your errands. After all, you have someone waiting for you, someone depending on you. There really is nothing like having a friend in your life who loves...

Note: This article is written by someone who has worked as a bartender in Jaco Beach for many years, sharing his thoughts and experiences. It contains opinion and is meant to offer you a different perspective on your trip to Jaco. Behind the shadows of the nearly ever present sun and underneath the grains of beach sand, in the eyes of the smiling faces that try to sell you a fishing trip or a 4...

Ssang Yong is back in Costa Rica again. The South Korean company utilizes Mercedes Benz drive-train technology to build off-road vehicles. In 2009-2010 Ssang Yong ceased operations in Latin America due to the global recession. Now it seems that the Korean company has reorganized its Latin American department. First they returned to their most productive foreign market (Chile) in 2011. Then, the...

More than 1,000 people turned out for Costa Rica’s only Caribbean Coast professional surf contest, “The Puerto Viejo Open Pro / Kolbi Cup” last Saturday in Puerto Viejo. Not only did loads of surf fans show up to watch, but tons of talent came as well. Puerto Viejo local legend and surf champion Gilbert Brown showed, along with Jordan Hernandez, Kemba, and his little brother Ronald Brown. Big n...

Quattro, among others, will play Credomatic’s 22nd music festival from August 4th -19th. The music will be ringing this year from various different venues throughout Costa Rica. In addition to the concerts, there will also be workshops held for aspiring musicians. Though the final program has yet to be decided, the group everyone is talking about is Quattro. The U.S. Latin, Jazz, pop fusion ban...

One of Latin America’s most notorious drug cartels, Los Charros, have been using Costa Rica as a bridge for drug transportation. In San José, Costa Rica’s capitol city, members of Los Charros collect cocaine that is brought into the country through as of yet unidentified methods and transfer the drugs north. The drug cartel normally runs cocaine from Costa Rica up to Nicaragua. Then, in convoys...

“Yo Emprendedor” (I Entrepreneur) has started its 5th annual initiative in Costa Rica to give opportunity to future entrepreneurs. The initiative helps business developers showcase their plans and aids them in gaining the resources that will increase the probability of success in their enterprises. “It’s the person who makes and enables technological and scientific progress. We need a nation of...

Video Juegos Costa Rica (VJCR) may possibly be the largest video gamer’s community in the country. Their slogan shouts it out loud and clear, "We Are Gamers." The richly designed website lets you know what it is right off the bat. Directly under the VJCR logo, 8-bit versions of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Sue are peeking out from the background and Mario, Yoshi and the Halo bio-suit roll down the r...

Prayag United publicized yesterday their signing of Carlos Hernandez, a world class midfielder from Costa Rica. The Kolkata soccer club finished 7th last season, but have been spending some cash to make sure that they are challengers for a league title and a cup spot. Club Manager Sanjoy Sen, has already acquired the power-houses: Ranti Matins, Gouramangi Moirangthem and Subrata Paul. The addit...

IDB (The Inter-American Development Bank) has granted the approval of a $250 million loan for Costa Rica’s electricity sector. The money will be used to meet the projected 5.1% yearly increase in electricity demands and to raise standards of living. The plan proposes to add 1,714 MW of installed energy capacity over twelve years (2012 to 2024). 77% of the current capacity is created by renewabl...

Representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Peoples Republic of China (PCR) and of Costa Rica’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT) held a meeting this Monday to renew the convention signed by both countries in the year 2007. Cao Jianlin, Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology, along with the Chinese Ambassador to Costa Rica and other delegates from the Inte...

Move over Globe Trotters, the “Legends of Basketball Latin America Tour 2012” is coming to Costa Rica this July for an exhibition match of former greats. The NBA stars will tip-off and then go head to head at the Palacio de los Deportes in Heredia on July 28th. The show will feature some of the NBA’s true legends of the game. Scheduled to be in attendance: Dennis Rodman: Basketball’s bad boy...

Nazira Maria Cross is on the FBI's most wanted list. Please contact the US Embassy, Consulate or FBI if you have any information regarding Nazira Maria Cross. A $1,000,000 (One Million Dollar) reward has been issued for information that leads to the capture of Nazira Maria Cross, a Costa Rican National who may be hiding from United States Law in Costa Rica or Peru with her two children Runar an...

On June 23rd the Live Your Goals campaign kicked off an initiative for the girls of Costa Rica. The program gathered more than 150 young women who want to pursue their dreams of playing soccer. Out on the grounds of the Estadio Nacional, government officials and Costa Rica Woman’s National Team members Raquel Rodriguez and team captain Shirley Cruz, as well as other well-known names in Costa Ri...

Working hand in hand with the Earthwatch Institute, Ernst & Young are sending 30 skilled volunteers to Costa Rica and Brazil. Their job is to research and recommend methods of sustainable development and practices, both environmental and economic. For four years in a row, Ernst & Young has been sending volunteers on weeklong excursions with Earthwatch. The Earthwatch Institute is a scientific o...

An official source informed the press yesterday that Japan has donated $9 Million to Costa Rica, intended for national park protection and forest fire prevention. The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) and Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAET) announced in a communication and confirmed that the donation “will be utilized for the protection of national parks and protected wild-land areas....

If you have to travel through San José today, it might be better to take a detoured route. Public sector unions have scheduled a protest march in the “center” of downtown San José. The group will move down avenida 2 and head towards the legislative assembly building. The protesters will be voicing their disapproval of “Plan B”, the legislative change that has increased taxes on food items an...

Costa Rican Police destroyed over 500,000 marijuana plants over the last two weeks in the remote region of the Talamanca. According to the Minister of Security, no arrests were made during the operation. Talamanca holds some of the most inaccessible areas in Costa Rica. The country’s highest mountains lie thickly forested without much development. This makes traveling into Talamanca’s interior ...

Former D.C. United player Richie Williams is head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team in an international tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica. The Tournament started on the 23rd of June after a training session in Florida. On the match schedule is Linafa U-17 Select, Honduras, Chorrillo FC (of Panama) and Costa Rica Under- 17, who the U.S. team will play today at 1pm. The teams are...

As taxes continue to rise in the United States, the upcoming expiration of the Bush Administration tax cuts and a proposed 55 percent tax increase on the horizon for the wealthy, an increasing amount of the United States’ wealthier population is disillusioned. They are deciding to jump ship at record numbers. One of the co-founders of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin, also made the same choice recently. ...

This week, TACA Airlines, Copa Airlines and Avianca joined the Star Alliance. If you are unfamiliar with the major Global Airline Alliances, they are: Star Alliance (United and US Airways), SkyTeam (Delta), and oneworld (American Airlines). What the alliances do is increase your ability to have better coordination of scheduling between different airlines. This results in efficient connection ti...

In vetro fertilization (IVF) is an assisted reproduction technology normally used as a treatment for infertility. In the process, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and then fertilized with sperm in the controlled environment of a laboratory. When the egg has taken fertilization and become a zygote, it is entered back into the patient’s body (the uterus) with the hope of establishing a suc...

Teatro Jacó in Jacó Beach, Costa Rica will be holding a festival of insanely funny comedy productions from Texas, New York, and San José from July 5th through July 28th. There will also be comedy workshops available in English and Spanish, so take the hour drive from the central valley and make an appearance to support the art of laughter. Production showcases: July 5th- 9th at 8pm: Faye...

The results of bioprospecting are blatantly beneficial to the medical world. A prime example of these benefits is the advances that have been made in lymphoma and chemotherapy treatments. The advancements stemmed from chemicals found in the Madagascar Rosy Periwinkle. What is bioprospecting? Bioprospecting is an umbrella term describing the process of discovery and commercialization of new p...

A good thing happened for seminary students this June. The Seminario Nazareno de las Americas or SENDAS (the Nazerene Seminary of the Americas) came to an accord with the Bible Society of Costa Rica over the podcasting of a relevant radio program that features some of Costa Rica’s most well-known Theologians. The program is called “God speaks today”. The Bible Society of Costa Rica and other e...

Walmart is doing its part as a major corporation for sustainable efforts while minimizing waste. In 2011 alone, the Walmart recycling program helped to avoid the usage of over 45 thousand cubic meters of landfill area. This was achieved by their waste management and recycling program’s ability to save and recycle 6272 tons of cardboard and around 900 tons of plastic. These numbers are presented...

Marcos Adolfo and Christopher Zelaya, electric utility technicians from Coopeguanacaste, got to take advantage of a training program with the Georgia electric co-op Coweta-Fayette EMC. The 14 day training session focused on the safe construction of lines and working with live lines (lines that have energy running through them). Marcos and Christopher can now take the information and skills that...

Miguel Gamboa of Costa Rica was in Oxford, North Carolina this June 14th through 16th to represent himself and his country in The International Defensive Pistol Association sanctioned 2012 Carolina Cup. “The Range” in Oxford, held 359 excellent shooters from 24 of the United States, Puerto Rico, Finland, Austria, Italy, Venezuela and Costa Rica. In squads of 12, the competitors tested their ner...

Conservationists from Paso Robles, California are riding their bicycles across five of the more centralized United States to raise funds and spread awareness against the slaughter of oceanic top predators (sharks), which is throwing our marine eco-systems out of balance. Devon Lambert, a conservation biology major and his former teacher Mark DiMaggio are taking a twelve hundred mile bike ride f...

ReFLEXion YOGA Tamarindo is offering a Kindergarten through 12th grade Yoga Camp in Playa Tamarindo throughout the month of July. The program has youth in goal and is designed to be wonderful for your child’s mind body and soul. "Energy creating, running wild yoga with a side of meditation." WHO? Your kids and ReFLEXion YOGA Tamarindo. WHAT? K – 12 Yoga Camp. WHEN? 2pm – 4pm all month ...

Law enforcement may get a little bit better here in Costa Rica. The European Union has donated €13 million ($16 million) to the Costa Rican Ministerio de Seguridad Publica (Ministry of Public Security). The funds are supposed to go to the construction and equipment of a new National Police Academy (Escuela Nacional de Policia) in Guapalis. Reports say that the new academy should be ready to tra...

It has finally happened, as of 8AM this morning you can get a hot cup of Starbucks Coffee at Avenida Escazu Costa Rica. The hours of operation for the new store are planned to be 7am to 11pm on Sunday to Thursday and 7am to midnight on Friday and Saturday. But for the first few business days the famously named coffee shop will remain open after hours until the last person leaves. According to V...

Minimum wage increase negotiations have begun here in Costa Rica. And now, after furious union representatives gawked in anger at the 5,000.00 colon raise that President Laura Chinchilla Miranda proposed during negotiations in the first half of the year, Public and Private sector union officials finally submitted their salary increase proposal. The union group gave two proposals, one of 4.95% a...

“Costa Rica has taken advantage of the favorable trade agreements that it has signed” Says Anabel Gonzolez, Cost Rica’s Foreign Trade Minister of the recent growth of the country’s exported goods. Costa Rica has almost doubled its gross export revenue over the last ten years. Exports went up to $10.5 billion in 2011. In 2002, out bound Costa Rican products only amounted to $5.2 billion. This...

The Anti-corruption act of 2004 was set into force to stem dishonesty within Costa Rican seats of power. The idea is a simple one. To add a measure of control and accountability, persons such as Mayors, Deputies, government executives, municipal councilmen, etc. are to report their worth to the office of the Comptroller General. If an official has a much higher net worth (shown by liquid as...

On November 1st of 2002, the first Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (CCRFTA) went into effect. The objectives of the FTA were mainly: creating economic development establishing free trade eliminating trade barriers promoting fair competition The agreement showed almost immediate positive results and within three years trade between the two countries jumped from 324 million to 44...

It was another relaxing grey day, with waist to head-high surf for the FSC 2012 Olympus National Circuit’s second day of the competition event in Jacó. Saturday and Sunday’s event rounded off the fifth of seven weekend surf competitions that will decide who are Costa Rica’s FSC 2012 National Circuit champions in two months. The surfers ripped their boards across the waves and onto the judges’ s...

The Costa Rican Ambassador to India was in Kolkata, Bengal this past Saturday. Along with eight other ambassadors from Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru. The Ambassador expressed interest in investing in the Indian state. Most of the investment talk from the nine Latin American countries was about Bengal’s Information Technology, Tourism and Food Processing m...

One thing that most major cities throughout the world have in common is the cultural enclave known as Chinatown. Areas known as Chinatown normally offer many restaurants, hotels, services, Chinese food and supply markets and products. Not only is it an ethnic comfort area for Chinese people to run or start their businesses, but Chinatowns are commonly sought out by tourists for their goods and cul...