Three Americans with legal residency status in Costa Rica were rejected entry on Thursday, after arriving on the first commercial flight from the US to Costa Rica since the borders reopened to Americans. They arrived on Thursday morning at 11:30AM at Juan Santamaria Airport, flying in from Newark International Airport in New Jersey. The flight was United UAL1080, and had 146 passengers onboard. Th...

Costa Rica’s Central Bank announced on Wednesday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $508 Million in emergency financing for Costa Rica to help alleviate the impact of the coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic. The five-year loan was granted through the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument, and carries a spread of 150 basis points over the IMF’s special drawing rights (SDRs), equal to an ...

On Friday Costa Rica broke a new record for COVID-19 cases with a count of 1193 new cases, the highest since the pandemic began, and surpassing the August 13th total of 1072 new cases. The continual increase in cases is worrisome, especially given the country’s plan to enter a new phase of economic reopening on September 9, and the gradual return of tourists in recent weeks. Minister of Health Dan...

Doctors and patients have been wondering for months if it was possible to contract the coronavirus twice. We now know the answer is – YES. A 33-year old man, young and healthy, was re-infected with the virus 4.5 months after the first episode, according to University of Hong Kong researchers and reported to the New York Times and Japan Times. The first time his symptoms were mild, and the second t...

Did you know that meteorites are rarer than gold, platinum, diamonds or emeralds? They are worth as much as $1,000 a gram, meaning one weighing one pound could be worth one million dollars. Last year, a meteorite fell to earth in Aguas Zarcas, San Carlos, and this week the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science predicted that same meteorite could hold the secret to how the...

The third man accused of the murder of CIMA Hospital doctor Maria Luisa Cadeno, Dutch millionaire Harry Bodaan, is now under house arrest for the July 20 murder of Dra. Cedeno. On Friday, Bodaan surrendered his passport, relinquished his cell phone, has been barred from all travel, and will be wearing a “tobillera electronica”, a monitoring ankle bracelet. He has been forbidden to speak with the o...

The tagline of the 5-Star resort La Mansion Inn is “You come as a guest, but leave as a friend.” Dra. Maria Luisa Cedeno Quesada (43), wasn’t even able to leave alive. Three men are in custody for her murder, including the owner of the hotel, Harry J. Bodaan, a longtime fixture on the Manuel Antonio social scene, often referred to as the Ambassador of Quepos. Bodaan (69), was taken into police cus...

Over 5,800 Americans gave up their citizenship in the first half of 2020, compared to 2,072 Americans who renounced their citizenship in ALL of 2019. How many of them are heading to Costa Rica? Why did they decide to leave? CNN, Newsweek, NY Times and Fortune Magazine have all reported recently that Americans seem to be leaving the US in droves. Many are permanently giving up their citizenship,...

Beach restrictions had been relaxed in Quepos on Saturday, when American Amiri Aarash (79) and his Costa Rican companion Betzi Jimenez (39) decided to return to the ocean together to celebrate the weekend. Neither of them made it out alive. Once again, the notorious riptides at Playa Linda, Matapalo Quepos swept another pair of swimmers to their deaths. A passerby by the last name of Quiros rep...

There are currently 551,373 Costa Ricans without work: 282,000 men and 269,000 women. These are the latest figures from the National Statistics and Census Bureau (INEC), and indicate that the country has reached a 24% unemployment rate, the highest in the most recent years of Costa Rica’s history. These figures represent an increase of 256,000 more unemployed people from the previous year, and ...

In Costa Rica, businesses that require face coverings for entry allow either a mask or a shield – "mascarilla" or "careta", in Spanish. Which one is better protection for you and others? Most experts agree that masks are much more effective in stopping the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. Commented infectious disease expert Luis Romero on the radio show “Nuestra Voz”, “I don’t know who invente...

UPDATED :07/28/20 With the recent surge of COVID-19 deaths in Costa Rica, it is easy to overlook the fact that homicides are also still on the rise. Nothing has brought that home quite like the July 19th homicide of anesthesiologist Dr. Maria Luisa Cedeno Quesada, in a hotel room in Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas. She was only 43 years old. Dr. Cedeno was the head of Anesthesiology and Recovery ...

How will Costa Rica recover economically from Covid-19? That's a great question with many variables and unknowns. Two things are clear about COVID-19 in Costa Rica: Cases continue to increase, and it will be an uphill battle to recover the economy. Currently there have been 12,361 confirmed cases of COVID since it arrived on March 6 (via two American tourists), and 71 people have sadly lost th...

On Thursday the National Emergency Commission (Comision Nacional de Emergencias, CNE), presented the latest status update and predictions for the growth of Coronavirus COVID-19 in Costa Rica. The predictions were described by some as worrisome, by others as catastrophic. The CNE predicts that if the virus continues to progress at the current rate, by mid-August the hospital capacity of the Cost...

On March 27, eleven days after the first confirmed COVID-19 case, the head of Public Security (Direccion General de Armamento Publica) temporarily suspended all psychological exams and practice tests for those wanting new gun permits. Citing concerns of COVID transmission, all in-person applications and renewals for gun permits are suspended until further notice. People seeking work as private ...

BAC Credomatic, Costa Rica’s largest private bank, announced this week that it is closing eleven of its outlets, canceling 187,000 customer credit cards, and laying off 373 of its employees. Many of BAC’s loyal clients have been contacted and told their credit cards will be cancelled within 60 days. Several other changes will be implemented in the coming months, apparently all due to the new law, ...

Marco Paris (57), a popular tour guide from Tibas, toured a group of French tourists for 17 days in March. It almost killed him. He survived for 41 days in the Intensive Care Unit of hospital Mexico, and had to be resuscitated three times after he flat lined. He feels he survived due to excellent medical care, and by the grace of God. He says his story should give hope to all COVID-19 sufferers. ...

Costa Rica is famous for its animal wildlife – but unaccustomed to seeing it in backyards and on small town roads. Experts think the current pandemic has meant fewer people out and about, causing less noise and traffic and making animals feel more comfortable to emerge, even in daylight. Security cameras, trap cameras and people’s cell phones have captured amazing sights. On February 15, a jagu...

Europe will be reopening its borders to foreign visitors on July 1st, but it looks like the United States will continue to be banned due to the mishandling of the COVID pandemic. What if Costa Rica chooses a similar plan for reopening? The US has the highest number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths in the world, and the numbers continue to rise daily. Should Americans be allowed into C...

WILL COSTA RICAN TOURISM EVER RETURN? On June 12th, the Costa Rican tourism industry wrote an open letter to President Carlos Alvarado urging him to set a date to reopen airports in Costa Rica. It was signed by 900 movers and shakers of the tourism sector. It also asked for financial support for the tourist industry and better communication between Alvarado’s administration and regional tourism...

University of Costa Rica Launches First Mechanical Ventilator Designed and Made in Costa Rica Doctors from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) have developed the first non-invasive ventilator for patients suffering from COVID-19. Called Fluxus Mask, the device is both a breathing machine and an isolation mask to stop the spread of the coronavirus. It was created out of a growing concern that COVID...

Environmentalist Ulises Corrales Barrantes hiked into the forest on Saturday, June 13th, in search of seeds from a newly discovered tree in Reserva Dendrobates in Penas Blancas de San Ramon. His body was discovered on Tuesday morning by friends who had mounted a search party after he had not returned home. He was found face down in a ravine, his satchel and notebook at his side. The 39-year old...

Those Crazy Kids! New Yorkers Matt Robertson (31) and Khani Le (29) met on the dating app Hinge, hit it off, and decided to have their third date in Costa Rica. They anticipated their trip would last for five days – but are now into their 75th day – yet technically still only on their third date. The couple took advantage in early March of the airlines’ reduced ticket prices, not aware of th...

Costa Rica’s Immigration Police (Policia Profesional de Migracion, PPM) have arrested a Swiss citizen by the name of Heinz Augsburguer for swindle and other nonviolent crimes – all while using the stolen identity of Polish citizen Grzegorz Bugaj. Augsburguer has been living in San Jose since 2014, under the assumed name of Bugaj, and has opened bank accounts, credit cards, created sociedades anoni...

Costa Rica had the very first confirmed COVID-19 case in Central America on March 6. Yet this tiny country has since managed to out distance other countries internationally in the fight to protect its population against this pandemic. Costa Rica has the lowest mortality rate from COVID in all Latin America. Just think how amazing that is. They have received praise for their success against the vir...

Costa Rican Nadia Reiman has won the first ever Pulitzer Prize given for audio journalism for her ground-breaking ‘’The Out Crowd” episode of the radio show "This American Life". Her work was described by the New York Times as “revelatory, intimate journalism that illuminates the personal impact of the Trump administration's Remain in Mexico policy”, with heart-breaking details of life in refugee ...

Carolina Vargas, a Costa Rican who has worked as an Uber driver in Tennessee for a pair of years, barely survived an assault from an Uber client. Vargas (26) drives a black 2011 Ford Explorer, yet was found by a Good Samaritan on the side of the road, injured, dazed, bleeding profusely, and missing three teeth – but alive after having saved herself by jumping out of her moving car. The car was gon...

In August 2018, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court voted to legalize gay marriage, making Costa Rica the first country in Central America to recognize the right of same sex couples to marry. The ruling is supposed to take effect in ten days on May 26th, a deadline which brought members of the National Liberation Party (PLN) into a brief fist fight on Tuesday. Enrique Sanchez, Costa Rica’s first ...

James Allen Honer and his fiancée Bianca Mena Sibaja were well on their way to planning their dream wedding, when suddenly their family and friends stopped hearing from them. On May 3rd, their charred bodies were found by firemen putting out a fire on a nearby mango farm in Atenas, Alajuela. Honer (77), was an American retired lawyer, and Bianca (30), was a Tica student – a fantasy romance that...

Authorities had predicted a lower murder rate in Costa Rica for the year 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Costa Rica is honoring stay-at-home orders by the government, vehicular restrictions, many businesses closed or with limited shop hours, diminished public transportation, fewer people in the streets, compliance with social distancing, and a robust police presence in public areas. Yet betwee...

In this challenging time of people having to hunker down in their homes due to the novel coronavirus, Netflix has served up a delightfully weird true story of Joe Exotic a outrageously flaboyant big cat animal park owner and Carole Baskin an American woman who allegedly killed her husband before he could leave her to move to Costa Rica. Carole's late husband Don Lewis has never been found and no b...

Costa Rica received a double-whammy to its tourist business this year. First, the US Government downgraded the country from a Level 1, to a Level 2 status as a tourist destination, apparently due to an increase in crime, especially armed robbery and homicide. This represents a possible loss of some 1.4 million US tourists. Then, of course, came coronavirus COVID-19, an international buzz-kill for ...

In the second half of March while the world was in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, a ransomware app called COVIDLock spread across Costa Rica, fueled by people’s fears of the unknown virus. The app claimed to prevent contagion by providing detailed interactive maps of the virus’ spread. Instead, app users found their devices hijacked, with demands for a ransom to be paid in bitcoin. Both indi...

Corona-virus....no pun intended Grupo Modelo, the company that makes the popular Corona beer (Mexican), announced via Twitter on April 3 that they were suspending marketing and manufacture of their iconic brew, in keeping with the Mexican Government’s 30-day moratorium on all manufacture of non-essential products and foods. Mexico decided to close these factories and industries after the number...

Last week the US Coast Guard with the help of Costa Rican authorities the US  performed a well-coordinated boarding and search of the vessel the Amanda M (registered to a Costa Rican company), and seized $29 million worth of cocaine. The drugs were discovered in hidden compartments aboard the ship, and four Costa Rican nationals were taken into custody. The vessel was identified by a Coast Guard h...

Costa Rica is a tiny country with no military, yet they are battling the coronavirus better than almost any other country in the world. Here are ten reasons for their triumph. 1. Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to have confirmed cases of coronavirus, two American tourists who had contracted the virus in New York City. They were diagnosed on March 6th, and immediately put in ...

In November 2018, Venezuelan/American tourist Carla Stefaniak came to Costa Rica to celebrate her 36th birthday, but was brutally murdered by the security guard at the Airbnb where she was staying, Villa La Mas (now closed). It was to be her last night in Costa Rica before returning home to Florida. Her family feels she was twice brutalized, once by her murderer Bismarck Espinoza Martinez, and aga...

As of April 4, Costa Rica has had 435 confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19, 25 still in the hospital, and 13 who have recovered and gone home. People have gone cuckoo, wondering when or if there will be a vaccine (probably in 18 months), and when there will be a cure. This pandemic panic has laid the groundwork for an amazing array of fake treatments and snake oil salespeople. One of the fir...

Where did the coronavirus come from? The origin of the virus which has caused the current global pandemic remains elusive. Bats are considered the most likely source of the virus, but some researchers believe it came from pangolins, small scaly anteaters. Both animals are illegally trafficked for food and non-traditional medicine in China and other Asian countries. These two animals are the only ...

As if novel coronavirus COVID-19 weren’t enough to worry about, the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) announced earlier this week that there has been a disturbing increase in child pornography cases in Costa Rica between 2014-2019, as reported by Interpol Crimes Against Children Taskforce. In 2015, 43 cases were investigated of child pornography, but that number has now risen to 137 cases....