A unique experience to interact with Costa Rica’s wild animals and help a worthwhile cause. The Jaguar Animal Rescue Center in Playa Chiquita is a center to rehabilitate mistreated, injured and/or confiscated animals, which are then reintroduced to their natural habitat in protected areas. 

During your visit you will have direct contact with monkeys, wild cats, sloths, racoons, anteate...

In Costa Rica the Auto Mercado supermarket chain has announced the opening of 18 "Vindi" convenience stores before the end of 2013. The company opened its first store in San Joaquin de Flores, Heredia and the second opening is scheduled for next week in Santa Anta, Lindora. "Guillermo Alonso, project manager of the company, told ElFinancierocr.com that at the end the year there will be...

Costa Rican exports of scrap iron and steel grew by 40% between 2010 and 2011. In the past five years the number of exporters of scrap iron and steel has nearly doubled going from 34 to a total of 58 according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office, Procomer. Taiwan with 42% and South Korea with 17% are the main destinations for Costa Rican exports of scrap metal. "They are followed ...

There are some photos that have surfaced - courtesy of TMZ - of Tom Brady apparently cliff-diving in Costa Rica prior to arriving in Foxboro for training camp. Obviously, that’s not the safest activity for the Patriots quarterback to embark on, and one that might be considered a violation of team rules. How might that be handled by the Patriots, Bill Belichick was asked during his press bri...

The conflicts in the border of Panama and Costa Rica at Paso Canoas remains due to the placing of chains by the State Border Service (SENAFRONT) in that area, which has led to meetings of the parties in order to discuss the situation. Members of the Paso Canoas Chamber of Commerce, the governor of the Chiriqui province, Aixa Santamaria, and authorities of both nations and Costa Rican trader...

A delegation of four representatives from San Ramón, Costa Rica recently visited Austin, Texas to promote collaboration around environmental initiatives. During their visit the group met with the City of Austin, the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, the UT Energy Institute, the UT IC2 Institute, the Texas Climate & Carbon Exchange, the Catellus Group (Mueller Project), P...

Israel's SDE Wave Power Plants company and El Salvador's El Esplendor Development Corp announced today an alliance to execute Wave Power Technology in El Salvador and California. SDE is a world leader in the planning, building and marketing of power stations that produce power from sea waves. SDE was recently selected by a team of international scientists in PESWIKI website, an extension...

Salvadoran diplomat Hector Silva Avalos tells the story of a botched operation to capture the drug lord known as 'Chepe Luna,' leader of the Perrones drug gang. Its failure points to corruption at the highest levels of El Salvador's police. The story of a failed 2005 attempt by Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, and US authorities to capture the "transportista" kingpin Jose Natividad Luna Pereira, ali...

Renting homes for a few days as an alternative to traditional hotel accommodation for tourists, is a growing trend all over the world and Panama is no exception. In Panama City, the phenomenon is also being driven by the widespread availability of apartments built and purchased as an opportunity to gain profit from resale, which the current market stagnation has left unoccupied. An artic...

The National AIDS Commission today released an ambitious four-year strategic plan and two-year operational plan designed to tackle key problem areas in reducing the grip of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on Belizean society. Executive Director of the Commission, Dr. Martin Cuellar, told Amandala that the three listed priorities in both the s...

North Americans do not have to settle for high costs or government regulations and wait times often associated with their domestic healthcare; there is a better, less expensive and more enjoyable option. World Institute of Surgical Excellence, “WISE”, is a Costa Rican company that is owned and managed by a group of North Americans who saw a need for a solution to the broken healthcare systems ...

LIBERIA- Ad Astra Rocket Company, Costa Rica, along with Costa Rica's government- owned oil refinery Refinadora Costarricense de Petrleo (RECOPE), EARTH University and Costa Rica's Ministry of Environment, and Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET), signed two agreements yesterday related to research and development of technologies based on the use hydrogen as an alternative fuel. The first...

The Costa Rica Star has recently published information about receiving your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid border runs, wasting time, and money. A couple of months ago, a temporary permit was issued to foreigners who are illegally in the country to opt for permanent residency. These new conditions were discussed by Kattya Rodriguez, Director of Immigration to Iary Gomez and general...

Panama has proclaimed itself the No. 1 logistical hub in America, but there are still some weak links in the chain. According to businessmen interviewed by Melissa Novoa and Oscar Brown for an analysis in Martesfinanciero.com, one of the weak links in Panama’s logistics chain is that "logistics are still not moving towards comprehensive e-commerce." Carlos Urriola, executive vice preside...

A 22-minute video distributed by the public relations department of the Nicaraguan army detailed how a convicted Colombian spy was tasked with stealing Nicaragua’s military secrets. In the recording, Colombian national Luis Felipe Rios, revealed his primary mission was to ascertain the Central American country's defense capabilities and the strategic projection of its military. According...

Expressing its concern at the deterioration of the rule of law in Nicaragua, and the 337 cases of claims by American citizens that their property had been confiscated, the United States today approved a so called property waiver, which in practice means that it will support international agencies which the Nicaraguan government seeks loans from. An article in Noticias.terra.com.co, reports ...

Fitch Ratings affirms its ratings for El Salvador as follows: - Long-Term Ratings (IDR) in foreign currency and local currency 'BB'; - Short-term rating 'B'; - Country Ceiling: 'BBB-'. The Rating Outlook has been revised to Negative from Stable. The revision of the outlook reflects the continued low economic growth performance of El Salvador in relation to its peers, which is expect...

The Trade Promotion Agreement signed between the U.S. and Panama provides that "any retail business may participate in the local market." An article in Laestrella.com.pa reports that the Deputy Minister of International Trade Negotiations, Diana Salazar, said: "There is a letter attached to the Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) that discusses retail trade, where companies complying with the r...

GUATEMALA - Three bus company employees in Guatemala City were killed by alleged gang members running extortion rackets, highlighting the dangers gangs pose to transport workers throughout the region. The three men were killed in two separate incidents on July 25. Bus drivers Julio Rivera Lucero and Eder Ramirez were gunned down in the south of the capital by suspected gang members while Ju...

BioMar and Grupo ACI -- whose main shareholder is Empresas AquaChile -- opened a cutting-edge feed plant for Tilapia. This first plant of Aquaculture Concentrate in Costa Rica is focused on tropical and subtropical species, both of freshwater and marine specimens. It is expected that this facility, considered as the most modern in Central America, reactivates employment in the area and c...

The expansion of the Panama Canal, involving the work of the Spanish company Sacyr Valle Hermoso and Panama’s Constructora Urbana, will allow the transit of vessels with three times the amount of cargo currently using the canal when expansion is completed in October 2014. The enlarged canal will allow transit of vessels with triple the present volume of cargo. “I think it will be one of ...

Central American and Caribbean countries can reduce their oil dependency and shield themselves from high oil prices through a combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency programs and regional energy integration, says a new World Bank report. According to “Mitigating Vulnerability to High and Volatile Oil Prices: Power Sector Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean,” launched t...

A group of 100 health professionals affiliated with the International Medical Alliance are traveling from California to spend 10 days treating very low-income patients in Nicaragua. Antonio Gonzalez, a dental surgeon with the IMA, told Efe that an initial group of 12 medical professionals began traveling to Tujunga, Ecuador, to perform such work in 2000. More than a decade later, scores ...

An agency that monitors the U.S.-Mexico boundary is agreeing to a U.S. proposal to build border fence segments in a South Texas flood plain, a move Mexico opposes. The decision by the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission comes despite objections from its Mexican counterpart. Mexico argues the fence would deflect floodwaters to its side of the Rio Grande and violate a bi-national...

The head of Nicaragua’s military stated that authorities have been unable to capture suspected drug trafficker Donly Mendoza due to a lack of information on his whereabouts, an admission that overlooks the possibility of Mendoza's power playing a role in avoiding arrest. In a July 24 press conference, General Julio Cesar Aviles Castillo announced that the government is actively pursuing Don...

With only 1 day to go before the opening of the Olympic Games in London, Panama unexpectedly added another competitor to the team bringing the total to eight. The news came as a surprise to the country and to the new addition, swimmer Diego Castillo, who was initially classified under the brand B (invitational), because initially his time was not ruled fast enough in tryouts. "The truth...

PANAMA CITY, Panama -- President Ricardo Martinelli dislikes the politician elected as his vice president. He's belittled his courage, exhorted him to resign and slapped a $30 million libel suit against him. Martinelli's feud with Vice President Juan Carlos Varela is just one chapter in the tale of a onetime supermarket tycoon with an energetic and sometimes erratic style who is upending tr...

The Ministry of Public Works is proposing installing a camera system funded by a percentage of the fines imposed. Gerson Martinez, head of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), "held talks with foreign investors on the subject and reported that these systems could be put in place without the State having to spend anything on them. The investor who installs the equipment could be assigned 'a...

The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan is sponsoring a social welfare organization in its collaboration with a Nicaraguan foundation to train burns rehabilitation personnel in Central America, MOFA said July 24. Under the three-year program, members of the Taipei-based Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation provide training in burn treatment and the production of pressure garments for bu...

The Annexation of Guanacaste Day, celebrated on July 25th, commemorates the annexation of the province of Guanacaste to Costa Rica, which occurred in 1824 - prior to this year, Guanacaste was part of Nicaragua. Due to the fact that Nicaragua was active in many civil wars at the time, Guanacaste’s inhabitants requested to be annexed to Costa Rica. The Central American Federation approved the a...

The hidden sexual habits of Hoffmann's two-toed sloths have been revealed by scientists. Mating activity of the "lazy" mammals was analysed in Costa Rica to assess the effect of a sedentary lifestyle. Ecologists discovered a mating system where male sloths did not monopolise females but did show signs of defending some territory. The study could help scientists understand how to prote...

An owner of Absolute Poker, one of the three largest Internet poker companies, was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Monday after admitting to deceiving banks over the processing of gambling proceeds. Brent Beckley, 32, joined Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker in 2003 and became its head of payment processing. Last December, he pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to brea...

Thank you Interjet and Aeromexico for making it possible to buy a ticket without feeling like you have been robbed at gunpoint. As was the case in other Central American countries with the opening of flights operated by companies outside of the isthmus, in Costa Rica, airline ticket prices for flights from San Jose to Mexico City have fallen by 60%. Although the article by Evelyn Grana...

In the past four years, the number of farmers engaged in rice production increased from 743 to 1,200, drawn by a fixed price system which in 2011 was covered by a subsidy amounting to $104 million. The recent judgment by the Administrative Court annulling a presidential decree and ordering an increase in the price of a 73 kilo bag of rice to almost $49, confirms the wisdom of farmers who ...

HEREDIA, Costa Rica - Jose Miguel Cubero remembers last year's experience in the CONCACAF Champions League. After his club Herediano club routed Guyanese amateur side Alpha United in the Preliminary Round 10-2 on aggregate, the 22-time Costa Rican champion lost three straight to start the Group Stage, beginning with a 5-0 loss to eventual champion Monterrey. Cubero and his teammates are...

The government of Costa Rica does not seem to have much interest in the radio electric spectrum concession which belongs to them. Not only is the state losing money, but opportunities are being lost for society. Sometime in the not too near future the Costa Rican state will put out to tender a concession for a block of frequencies which was due in 2011. When? Nobody knows. In an articl...

Gisele Bundchen hit the beach in Costa Rica with her son Ben yesterday. Gisele was wearing a tiny bikini, which showed off her growing baby bump, while Ben went shirtless. She and Ben also had a canine companion along for the sandy afternoon. Gisele and husband Tom Brady haven't commented on the news that they're expecting their second child together, but she's been seen sporting a pregnant...

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Banco de Costa Rica's (BCR) Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'BB+' and Viability Rating (VR) at 'bb+'. A complete list of the rating actions is provided at the end of this press release. BCR's IDRs are driven by the explicit sovereign guarantees for all its liabilities. As stated in the Banking Law (Ley Organica del Sistema Bancario Nacional), all public banks hav...

In 2007, Warren Bennet believed he found paradise. Located along Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, the 665 acre property is complete with waterfalls, lakes and natural streams, as well as birds and butterflies in every color imaginable. “Anybody that wouldn’t love that place has got to be crazy,” said Bennet, who first visited the development in 2007. “After I went and viewed the property, I want...

Getting cash by discounting accounts receivable is a form of credit which has increased by 160% in the past two years. In April 2011 the 18 companies grouped under the Costa Rican Chamber of Factoring Companies managed a portfolio of $177 million, which is double the amount recorded in 2009. In June 2012, the business of factoring in Costa Rica amounted to about $220 million. In an art...