David Rivera Tenuous security controls at the Peñas Blancas border crossing checkpoint between Costa Rica and Nicaragua helped a controversial former Member of the United States Congress and a close associate hide from the law. David Rivera represented South Florida's 25th District from 2011 to 2013; his controversial background includes allegations of setting up a shadow reelection campaign w...

The two coastlines of Costa Rica are blessed with abundant marine life, excellent weather, and very nice people who are eager to teach newcomers to the world of deep sea fishing the wonders of going offshore. First-timers who want to learn more about deep sea fishing should plan a trip to Costa Rica for the purpose of becoming acquainted with this recreational activity. To this effect, the followi...

Tamarindo Beach A group of foreign squatters who had unlawfully broken into a home located in Tamarindo Beach, province of Guanacaste, were removed under the watchful eye of officers from the Municipal Police of Santa Cruz. The eviction took place on Friday, February 6th, and the squatters were reported to be from various countries, including: The United States, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and the...

Beach house in Costa Rica As part of an effort to make real estate listings in Costa Rica more attractive to house hunters, homeowners are now following the advice of their agents and selling their properties furnished. This trend is particularly on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica where new listings of homes located in coastal communities near the beach are  including furniture in order to swe...

Source: Fuerza Publica Over the last few years, a special community outreach program conducted by Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, has helped to improve the quality of life for low-income public school students in our country. This year, the RECREO (school break) program in San Jose provided school supplies to more than 500 students whose families were not able to obtai...

Every year, lonely hearts around the world dread the prospect of spending Valentine's Day without a special someone to spend it with. Such is the case in Costa Rica and any other country where Valentine's Day is observed as a holiday that celebrates romantic love. This being the 21st century and an exciting period within the Information Age, lonely hearts in Costa Rica who are in a hurry to find a...

Wikimedia Commons Costa Rica has been eager to adopt some of the so-called Hallmark (or commercial) holidays created in the United States; a good example in this regard is Black Friday, a shopping extravaganza that our country has expanded into Black November. Such has not really the case with Valentine's Day, which is mostly known as día del amor y la amistad (Love and Friendship Day). Whe...

Source: Facebook - Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson, the controversial founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is a multifaceted man. This Canadian environmentalist is a radical activist, a man of the sea, a reality television star, and a fugitive of justice. From now on, Paul Watson may also be known as an old-fashioned romantic at heart. Despite being the subject an INTERPOL Red...

Source: Flickr Sand Sign, a multi-national artistic project featuring Andres Amador, is launching a social initiative for Valentine's Day 2015. For one month, the campaign will be collecting messages with love declarations to draw them on some of the world's most beautiful beaches so that a World Record can be established. As expected, Costa Rica is one of the countries participating in this r...

As the luxury travel and accommodation segment in Costa Rica continues to grow, tourism and hospitality providers are targeting their efforts on specific tourist demographics such as families and couples. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, luxury villa rentals are a major part of the upscale travel experience in our country, and the following press release by Villas of Distinction show...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today observes World Radio Day, a special celebration of one of the most significant inventions in the field of broadcasting and communications. Per the UNESCO:   From news and public debate to music and entertainment, radio continues to inform, captivate and inspire us in a way that no other medium can. Radio i...

Source: Flickr Commons Some of the prettiest tourist attractions in Costa Rica are located along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Cartographers have mapped out and designated more than 100 beaches in Costa Rica, and some of them are so secluded that they do not appear in commercially available maps. Depending on personal preference, some beaches may appear to be prettier than others, and this...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Ever since former President Laura Chinchilla was succeeded by President Luis Guillermo Solis, something has happened to all political parties in Costa Rica. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, all political parties in our country are in shambles, and their situation seems to be deteriorating further as time goes by. The latest political party to face a d...

Costa Rica Beerfest 2015 Lovers of craft beer and microbrewery creations in Costa Rica will be able to enjoy their first festival of the year this coming Saturday, March 7th in San Jose; this is when Beerfest 2015 will take place at La Sabana Metropolitan Park, close to the Scotiabank branch. For this year's Beerfest, attendees will be treated to more than just craft beers proudly made in C...

Ann Arbor MI (PRWEB) February 12, 2015 - Journeys International, the first adventure travel company to offer trips designed specifically for families, announced today the top 10 family destinations for 2015: Costa Rica Peru Panama China Japan Thailand Tanzania South Africa Galapagos (Ecuador) Indonesia “Firsthand research, feedback from our clients, and the expert knowledge of our o...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The relentless and protracted fight by the United States Justice Department against sports wagering operations based in Costa Rica shows no signs of slowing down. Even as various jurisdictions in that North American nation are considering legalizing and regulating this industry, U.S. prosecutors and law enforcement agents continue to pursue those involved in operating...

News media outlets in Costa Rica are beginning to provide details on the highly controversial Swiss Leaks scandal involving millions upon millions of dollars stashed away in deposit and investment accounts at the controversial HSBC bank in Switzerland. Allegations about the involvement high-profile business people and politicians were reported by the press in Costa Rica, but initial investigations...

RCMP crest An update on the case of missing Canadian businessman Ryan Craig Piercy Bate was recently reported by a daily tabloid. As reported by Manuel Estrada of Diario Extra, Mr. Piercy's family has made a payment 136 million colones (more than $250,000) to the alleged kidnappers. This payment was allegedly made in exchange for proof of life, and could signal an upcoming release of Mr. Piercy....

Screenshot from Archive.org From late 2006 until late 2012, a high-class call girl named Kattia captivated the minds of readers in Costa Rica with titillating prose and highly erotic writing style. Kattia's experiences as a highly paid prostitute who was eager to please her clients in Costa Rica appeared in the defunct magazine SoHo, published by the Grupo Nacion media empire. Kattia was on...

Beach house in Costa Rica ORLANDO, FLORIDA (PRWEB) February 09, 2015 - After another record-setting year of growth, productivity and profitability gains, Keller Williams announced it has become the largest real estate franchise by agent count in the world. The Austin, Texas-based company added a net gain of 17,000 associates in 2014, increasing its worldwide associate count to more than 112,00...

Wikimedia Commons Between the months of May and June of 2015, some residents of the Guanacaste region in Costa Rica will be able to enjoy broadband Internet speeds of up to 20 Mbps thanks to a fiber optic cabling project that will be undertaken by the CoopeGuanacaste business consortium. This project is planned to cover the cantonal seats of Nicoya, Filadelfia and Santa Cruz. According to t...

Originally from Kingdom of Spain, and inspired by medieval jousts, 'La Carrera de Cintas' is one of various equestrian events in Costa Rica, particularly in the province of Guanacaste, which is renowned for its cowboy (sabanero) identity and culture. The essence of this equestrian tournament is to catch the colorful tape positioned on a rope, which is hoisted up at about 3 meters from the groun...

Cody Dial The information herein mostly comes from the GoFundMe online fundraiser set up by the parents of Cody Roman Dial, a college student from the United States who arrived in Costa Rica with adventure in his mind. Cody intended to hike across Corcovado National Park in our Southern Pacific region; he has been missing since July of 2014. For the purpose of style and flow of prose, The Costa...

Preferred weapon of guerrilla fighters. A daily tabloid from Costa Rica and an online publication run by journalists from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have recently published troubling reports of guerrillas operating in northern Nicaragua. Although both reports present some discrepancies, they both stress the issue of obfuscation by the Nicaraguan government, thereby leavin...

Quepos, Costa Rica (PRWEB) February 09, 2015 - With its fertile soil and abundance in fishing opportunities, Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica has a been a place of settlement long before it became a place for visitors seeking tropical adventure, wildlife, and beach relaxation. The Quepoa indigenous tribe, whose settlement dates back to 950-900 years ago, are perhaps the most prominent of the area's...

What is life like when you quit your job, pack your bags and decide to start over in Costa Rica? For author Nadine Hays Pisani from the United States, the result of her adventurous experience has left her feeling Happier than a Billionaire. Quite a few longtime readers of The Costa Rica Star are familiar with Ms. Hays’ breezy prose and engaging literary style. We have published articles penned by ...

Wikimedia Commons Of all the venomous snakes in Costa Rica, the fearsome gargantilla (Micrurus mipartitus) is often regarded as one of the deadliest. The powerful venom of these snakes can not only cause instant tissue necrosis but also excruciating pain, epilepsy, shock, and death. What is it that makes this reptilian venom so potent? According to a recent study in Proceedings of the Natio...

An alleged fraudster from the United States has reportedly spent the last nine months in the prestigious CIMA Hospital near San Jose, where he is supposed to be in the custody of officers from Fuerza Pública, the national police force of Costa Rica. The suspect was remanded to a correctional center by a criminal court back in May of 2014. Cyrus Anoushirvan Sepher, a 51-year old male with Irania...

Many foreign visitors who stay in Costa Rica long enough to enjoy the locally produced and bottled Coca-Cola are bound to think that the popular carbonated drink tastes better here than it does in their countries of origin. These are mostly visitors who come from Canada, the United States, Europe, and generally outside of Latin America and the Caribbean. Is there really a difference between Coca-C...

The students, faculty, and staff of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have prepared a petition to President Luis Guillermo Solís asking that the Jairo Mora loved to teach children about nature. Wikimedia Commons mishandling of evidence during the trial of Jairo Mora Sandoval's alleged killers be investigated and also that protection for enviro...

Amanda Hellman A few days ago, The Costa Rica Star reported on an incident whereby a photojournalist on assignment for Diario Extra was viciously attacked by a tour operator in the Sarapiqui River. Reporter Alfonso Gatjens was investigating the tragic death of Amanda Hellman, a woman from the United States who lost her life during a kayaking tour of the river, which had been subject to incleme...

Visitors who arrive in Costa Rica from either the United States or The Netherlands do not have to worry about not being able to find beers that are both iconic and emblematic to their countries of origin. Budweiser and Heineken are just two examples of foreign beers that are brewed in Costa Rica by the Florida Ice &Farm Company (FIFCO), which is gradually becoming a significant player in the l...

Now that the controversial tech startup Uber is strongly focused on gaining a foothold in the potentially lucrative Latin American market, business analysts are waiting for the day when the company will attempt to establish a presence in Costa Rica. According to a late 2014 article by Johnny Castro of business daily La Republica, Uber will likely experience a tough time entering the market in Cost...

Playa Brasilito A woman vacationing in Playa Brasilito, one of Costa Rica's Gold Coast beaches located in the province of Guanacaste, lost her life in the surf this weekend. According to a report published by daily tabloid Diario Extra, the woman was an Italian tourist named Patricia Taburiny, who was 64 years of age. Unlike other, recent reports of tourist drownings in Costa Rica, heavy surf ...

Source: Focus Features A penetrating film that deals with a very delicate, yet factual and historic, Cold War narrative, is now available on DVD. Kill the Messenger was modestly released to regional audiences in the United States last year; it has received positive reviews thanks to actor Jeremy Renner's powerful performance as the late journalist Gary Webb. Kill the Messenger is based on t...

The next time you arrive in Costa Rica and head to an auto rental agency counter to pick up the vehicle you intend to drive during your vacation (we recommend a Daihatsu Terios Bego), you just may run into someone famous. Costa Rica is known to attract celebrities from the world of entertainment, sport and business. In this press release from a car rental agency located near the Juan Santamaria In...

WASHINGTON (Feb. 4, 2015)—Thirteen-year-old Grace Chung from Saratoga, California, has captured the grand prize of the 2014 International Photography Contest for Kids for her close-up portrait of a gecko. She has won a five-day, four-night trip to Washington, D.C., and a tour of National Geographic headquarters. The competition was conducted in partnership with the U.S. edition of National Geograp...

Wikimedia Commons A survey recently commissioned across Central America and Mexico by Saba, a brand of health and personal care products, indicates that 90 percent of women in Costa Rica are very mindful of their nether regions. This much can be ascertained by the following statistics gleaned from the survey study: 90 percent of women in Costa Rica (Ticas) between the ages of 14 and 65 eit...

Cafe Britt MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) - AgilOne, the predictive marketing cloud company, announced in December that the Costa Rica based gourmet, hand-roasted coffee and hand-made chocolate retailer Café Britt became a new customer. Café Britt is a company that prides itself on the unique, authentic and personalized experience each customer has with the brand. They plan to use AgilOne ...

Source: Flickr Commons Author's Note: To get some background on the findings of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) below, please read our previous article on their preliminary recommendations. One of the bottom line recommendations is centered on taxation and its effective enforcement. IMF Executive Board Concludes 2014 Article IV Consultation with Costa Rica Pr...