This Sunday, March 8 the National Emergency Commission (CNE) in Costa Rica declared an interinstitutional yellow alert due to the recent rapid cases of coronavirus (Covid-19). The alert system used in Costa Rica for emergencies simply allows institutions to know how to proceed under particular circumstances. GREEN ALTERT is issued when a specific phenomenon is expected to affect or endanger ...

At 6PM Sunday night, the Government of Costa Rica announced it had declared a Yellow Alert for the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. As of that time, the Ministry of Health declared nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus, and 34 suspected cases. Of those confirmed cases, three are Americans, and six are Costa Ricans. This is an increase of five cases, just since Satur...

The Ministry of Health in Costa Rica confirmed this Friday, March 6, the first case of coronavirus Covid-19 in the country. The patient is a 49-year old American tourist who entered the country in March 1st without any symptoms. Apparently, it was her husband who was actually in contact with someone in New York infected with the virus, prior to them traveling to Costa Rica, and who at the time...

On Thursday, March 5th, Costa Rica reported its first suspected case of the coronavirus. A 52-year old Costa Rican woman from Pococi, Limon, returned on Tuesday from a family vacation to Italy and Tunisia, and began to experience symptoms of the virus on Thursday. Later that same day, her 47-year old niece also began to experience symptoms, causing the entire family to self-quarantine while they a...

A 52-year old Costa Rican woman has now been confirmed as the first person in the country suspected of having the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The woman is a resident of Pococi, and has recently returned from travel in Italy and Tunisia. She returned to Costa Rica on February 29, and soon thereafter manifested the symptoms of COVID-19, or perhaps a similar virus. Her first test for the coronavirus...

When the call came into the police precinct in Panama City, Prosecutor Rafael Baloyes groaned: another group of indigenous, newly wandered across the Costa Rica-Panama border, and already in trouble. What his men discovered once they hacked their way through the jungle to the tribe’s encampment was nothing like any of them had ever seen. They found an outdoor torture chamber, within the chapel gro...

The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, confirmed that the Costa Rican Institute of Investigation and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (Inciensa) which is the national laboratory of reference in public health, already has the capacity to implement a specific lab test to diagnose COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus. The test is a molecular test known as a real-time polymerase chain reaction (...

Costa Rica has 6,5% of the world’s biodiversity and talent as its flagship differentiating resources which might amaze its visitors, just like it did to FDI Intelligence’s judging panel. They chose Costa Rica as the top-two country globally for FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) Strategy in fDi’s Tourism Locations of the Future 2019/20 rankings. Australia tops the list. The ranking belongs to the ...

In 2012 law #9024 named 'Impuesto a las Personas Juridicas" or "Tax on Corporations" came into effect. It was an annual tax on all corporations registered at National Registry based on the Code of Commerce such as SAs and LLCs plus all of those branches of foreigner corporations that obtained a corporate ID number for their Costa Rican divisions. It was in effect until 2015. It contained provision...

In January 2020, a quartet of Tico microbiologists of University of Costa Rica (UCR) announced in the Journal of Entomology, that after an absence of decades, bed bugs are definitely back in Costa Rica. Horrors. Who even remembers what they look like? Bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed, before they feed. They usually feed at night, and always on human or animal blood. After ten or so mi...

On Monday, the Costa Rican Minister of Health announced that he has activated protocols to combat the new coronavirus, known internationally as COVID-19. The virus has appeared so far in countries such as China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Iran, United States, Canada and Italy. The first Latin American COVID-19 patient was identified on Monday, a Brazilian who contracted the virus in Italy. Ther...

According to local media outlets, the international restaurant Tony Roma’s has closed its doors in Costa Rica. Even though the sign on the door states that the restaurant is closed due to remodeling, the Ministry of Labor (MTSS) confirmed to local daily El Financiero that they have received 12 requests for conciliation from former workers who presented letters from the company informing them they ...

The Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) is requiring the assistance of the citizenship to locate the man in the photo included here, his name is Christian Tijerino López, he is 33 years of age and has been missing since Tuesday, February 18. Tijerino is an American-Costa Rican citizen, he has family in Costa Rica and frequently travels between both countries. He arrived to Costa Rica in Decem...

Controversy arises in Costa Rica as information was released last Friday in relation to an executive decree (41.996-MP-Mideplan) signed by President Carlos Alvarado October 2019 which was officially published February 17, 2020 regarding the creation of the Presidential Unit of Data Analysis (UPAD), which apparently has been operating for over a year. Article 7 of this decree establishes that pu...

Verba Shadow the Ukrainian group that presented their show on America’s Got Talent, will be in Costa Rica March 21 and 22 presenting at the Melico Salazar Theater in San José. Verba Shadow is the first in Ukraine to create a shadow show, “Shadow is the universal language of communication. Visualizing various subjects - taken from life or existing in books and films - the actors manage to transf...

Construction company H.Solis was awarded the widening of the road that connects Lindora in Santa Ana and Belen in Heredia, known as “Radial Santa Ana-Belen”, specifically the works involve 2.2 kilometers (1.37 miles) from that goes from the Virilla River to Corrogres, one of the sectors with more traffic jams in the west side of San Jose. The contract is for a total of $13,341,734.00. This proj...

Officers of the Costa Rican Drug Control Police (PCD) of the Ministry of Public Security captured two men with 1,087 bars and 9 pieces of chocolate containing marijuana as they were trying to leave the country through the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. The confiscated bars weighed a total 83 kilograms and 652 grams. The men arrested are a Canadian with the last name...

Policia de Control de Drogas (PCD), a drug interdiction arm of the Ministry of Security, not unlike the US DEA, made the biggest drug bust in the history of Costa Rica. The operation took place on February 14th, but there was so much cocaine to process that it took them all night to examine and count. A shipping container vessel was searched in the Port of Moin, and almost six tons of cocaine were...

At about 5PM Saturday night, the word came from neighbors of missing American Tandra Joy Thorbeck, that they had discovered the remains of what they thought was Thorbeck, within walking distance of her home. The body was accompanied by personal belongings of hers, making it more likely that they had indeed found Tandra’s final resting spot. The remains were found on a side road perpendicular to th...

It reminds you of an American TV crime show. WHO TOOK TANDRA THORNBECK? Tandra is a friendly 72-year old retired American living in Matasanos, Perez Zeledon. She bakes. She works at the farmer’s market and does pet and house sitting for other Americans. She lives near her brother Casey, and his wife and son. She has a lovely smile and chats with everyone on the bus and at the feria. She could be ...

First the US elevates the travel alert due to security concerns and now Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has downgraded the Government of Costa Rica's long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings to B2 from B1 and changed its rating outlook to stable from negative. The key drivers for today's downgrade are as follows: 1. High fiscal deficits leading to an upward trend in debt met...

People have said that the best feria (farmers’ market) in Costa Rica is the Feria del Agricultor, in Perez Zeledon, or San Isidro de El General. The feria has row after row of amazing fruits and vegetables, all crisp and fresh, and right off the farm, for delicious/healthy eating. On Friday, February 7th, the last booth on the left was missing a kind familiar face: Tandra Joy Thorbeck, an American...

This is the fifth installment of The Costa Rica Star’s exclusives six part original series of the upcoming book, “Drug Diva”, by Carol Vaughn the story of one of Central America’s fiercest female narco-traffickers, Cristel Gomez Espinoza. You can read our previous published first installment here , the second installment here third installment here and fourth here. Cristel Yariella Gomez Espino...

The 15th edition of the CINDE Job Fair will search for talent from March 6th to 8th in the Costa Rican Convention Center, in Heredia. Organized by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), the fair will include more than 50 leading companies in services, advanced manufacturing, and academia. They will offer more than 3,000 positions available for the first semester of 20020. Command...

As the old saying goes, you don’t get to choose your family. Only your friends. And your pets. One of the perks of moving to Costa Rica is distance from certain family – or ex-family - you just as soon never see again. Good friends on the other hand will be difficult separate from. But the beloved pets? They get to come along. Based on the frequency and intensity of questions to residency ex...

UPDATED: Feb/4/2020 The cases of deaths due to coronavirus in China have reached 427, while the Center for Disease Control, (CDC) has confirmed 11 US cases, 12 Cases in Australia and 4 Cases in Canada. This has health authorities worldwide in alert and Costa Rica is not the exception. In total almost 21,000 Cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed of which 2700 are in critical condition. ...

This is the fourth installment of The Costa Rica Star’s exclusives six part original series of the upcoming book, “Drug Diva”, by Carol Vaughn the story of one of Central America’s fiercest female narco-traffickers, Cristel Gomez Espinoza. You can read our previous published first installment here , the second installment here and the third here. Mexican beauty Sandra Avila Beltran was having c...

In a previous article we published on July 5th, 2019 we explained about the creation of a "Registry of Transparency and Final Beneficiaries", which made becoming necessary to report to the Central Bank of Costa Rica who the stockholders on every corporation existing in Costa Rica are. A calendar was established depending on the last number of Corporate ID number, between September 2019 and January...

The first witness to testify on Monday, January 27th, at the murder trial of Bismark Espinoza Martinez, accused killer of Venezuelan/American tourist Carla Stefaniak, was the cleaning lady at the hotel where Carla was killed, Karla Gonzalez. Both Gonzalez and Espinoza were employees at Villas Le Mas in Escazu. Karla’s best friend, Veronica Espinoza, is Bismark’s mother, and had recommended him for...

American stand-up comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan will be presenting its stand up comedy show in San Jose, Costa Rica next Mach 27 at Teatro Espressivo (Espressivo Theater). This presentation is part of Gaffigan’s “The Pale Tourist” tour. Gaffigan, who is 53 years old and a native of Illinois who lives in New York, is regarded for his particular sense of humor which is often observational and ...

Costa Rica took the third position in the ranking of “Best Healthcare in the World” in this year’s Annual Global Retirement Index of International Living, criteria include costs for procedures, availability and cost of public and private insurance, and quality. With 96 points, this is the review for Costa Rica: "Costa Rica has some of the best healthcare in Latin America. There are two syste...

A 48-year-old French tourist identified as Christophe Jean Lietaert was stabbed to death in Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The crime occurred the afternoon of Wednesday, January 23 when apparently Lietaert was with two other men when apparently they began arguing about the French man’s cell phone, at some point one of the men took out a knife and attacked the foreigner injuring him in...

As a result of the joint patrolling operations with the United States,Costa Rica has managed to seize historic amounts of drugs in the past two years that sum over 81 tons of cocaine and marijuana. The information was released by the Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, during a visit this week of the US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo to the Joint Operations Center in the Juan Santama...

This is the third installment of The Costa Rica Star’s exclusives six part original series of the upcoming book, “Drug Diva”, by Carol Vaughn the story of one of Central America’s fiercest female narco-traffickers, Cristel Gomez Espinoza. You can read our previous published first installment here and the second installment here. It is well known how dangerous La Reina del Sur de Costa Rica is –...

Costa Rica recently was reclassified from a Level 1 country (Take normal security precautions), to a Level 2 country (Take greater security precautions), for the year 2020. Other Level 2 countries include Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. This reclassification came as a huge surprise to Costa Rican government officials, who boast of a reduction in crimes – especially vi...

The announcement of the possibility of Central American Ferry between Costa Rica and El Salvador was made since 2018 as an alternative route for exports and imports between the ports of La Union in El Salvador and Caldera in Costa Rica; it was supposed to begin operations in January 2020, however, different difficulties faced by the governments of both countries, specially Costa Rica and negotiat...

The US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica announced the upcoming Consular event – routine services for U.S. citizens in Golfito. The embassy's Consular staff will be on hand to provide several services in Golfito on January 30th and to answer questions. Those who wish to RSVP for passport renewals, notary services, and federal benefits inquiries, must indicate their preference by writing to ACS...

For reasons that are yet unclear, a Canadian women identified as Nicole Toni Palladino has fallen off a cliff of some 65 feet down while riding her bicycle in the area of Mal País, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Palladino was rescued and transferred via air on a helicopter to hospital with punctured lungs and severe head trauma. She is currently hospitalized at the Clínica Bíblica private hospital in ...

This is the second installment of The Costa Rica Star’s exclusives six part original series of the upcoming book, “Drug Diva”, by Carol Vaughn, scheduled to be released towards the end of the year. You can read the first instalment here Cristel Yariella Gomez Espinoza, aka, La Reina del Sur de Costa Rica, was born into narco aristocracy Her father, brother, uncle, husband, boyfriends and other...

In the ranking of “The Top Best Countries to Invest In” 2019 Costa Rica took the third position in the world only after Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. This study is updated once a year by U.S. News & World Report with the backing of Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania and BAV Group. It has the specific analysis on investment topics that gathers answers given by 20,300 people from 36 cou...