According to statistics of the Judicial Investigative Organism, the province of Guanacaste in Costa Rica, went from 6.6 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 to 12.7 in 2017. This province and Alajuela were the two that experienced a highest increase in murders, in the case of Alajuela the rate went from 5.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 to 10.8 in 2017. The majority of the crime...

At times when Costa Rica is in a difficult financial position with a 6.2% fiscal deficit at the end of 2017, Helio Fallas, Treasury Minister, stated that the fact that the headquarters of companies Uber and Airbnb are in other countries has made the exchange of information “difficult” and this has been a factor that hasn’t allowed the Costa Rican government to establish a mechanism to tax these ...

In the presidential elections that took place this past February 4 in Costa Rica, none of the candidates reached the 40% threashold of votes required to win the elections, as a matter of fact it was abstentionism (those who didn’t vote) that reached the highest percentage with 34.34% according to the last information provided by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The number of people who can vote ...

Dermis Hernandez, a 41 year-old Miami police officer was arrested by the FBI back in January 30th for allegedly participating in a Ponzi scheme involving fake investments in properties in Costa Rica. The cop was arrested while trying to flee to Costa Rica at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Hernandez , who is married to a Costa Rican national, was charged by complaint with a cons...

“Dracula” will once again delight the audience in six dates at the National Theater in Costa Rica. This play had several presentations during 2017 at the Espressivo Theater, and due to its success it returns this year for all those who didn’t get a chance to see it or want to see it again. Directed by Luis Carlos Vasquez, and showcasing the talent of renowned Costa Rican actress Silvia Balt...

Photo Credit: Javier Mota / Multimedios A 12-year-old student from the Liceo de Costa Rica (Costa Rica High School) was ran over by a track maintenance wagon on February 28 close to the high school in Plaza VIquez, San Jose. Sebastian Diaz had apparently left the school to go have lunch and was scheduled to return to class later that day. The accident occurred close to 11:55 a.m., product of...

The vessel of Costa Rican flag and registered as a fishing boat was stopped in waters of the Atlantic Ocean in Costa Rica by Costa Rican authorities with assistance of the United States. Aboard the boat of name ¨Sea Phantom¨ authorities found a total of 1 ton, 228 kilograms and 782 grams of marijuana, in 54 packages which were counted by officials of the Ministry of Public Security, Drug Control...

This past February 7 Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina fount two United States citizens who resided in Costa Rica guilty for their roles in a $10 million telemarketing scheme that defrauded primarily elderly victims in the United States from call centers in Cost...

45 deputies voted in favor of lifting the immunity privilege to criminal judge of the Supreme Court Celso Gamboa, investigated for influence peddling; lifting the immunity should allow for Gamboa to face the accusations; however, controversy and doubts raised as the vote in the Legislative Assembly was done publicly even though the regulations of the Assembly establish in article 101 that voting p...

Costa Rican NGO "Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper" demands a regulatory plan from the Puntarenas Municipality to ensure a sustainable development of the tourist areas of Santa Teresa, Mal Pais and Hermosa. A new aqueduct will soon be operational in the area of Cobano in Puntarenas, this project was created to solve some of the existing water-shortage problems that affect this region; however, neigh...

The Costa Rican government invests over U.S. $100 million a year in environmental protection according to information provided by Treasury, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal) in their study Estimation of Public Expense in Environmental Protection published this March 1st. The amount is equivalent to a 0.19% of the GNP, ...

During the last few days all news media have been reporting that a man named Manuel Alvarez, a person originally from Spain and long-term resident in California, has been reported as "missing" in Costa Rica by his family. Apparently, he came into the country after being alerted that some properties he owned here had been transferred illegally by forging his signature; this with help of some crooke...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) has been clear on its interest of promoting Costa Rica as a destination for meetings, conventions and congresses particularly after the inauguration of the National Congress and Convention Center that will be ready by April 5th this year; for ICT the goal is simple, to snatch the leading position in this type of tourism from the current regional leader, Panama. ...

Several years ago, I accepted the challenge to construct a large custom home high on a mountain in one of Costa Rica’s jungles, and this project turned out to be the most challenging project during my thirty-five years of construction experience. To begin the construction, I needed to locate the boundaries for the foundation of the house, based on the construction plans provided by an architect...

Marcos Vose actually lives in the tree house of his mind overlooking water falls, tropical-rain forests, white-faced monkeys, majestic macaws, silent panthers and red-eyed frogs under blue skies, white puffy clouds and day moons. He has many paintings that reveal his address but no photographs -- for his world becomes reality at the end of his paintbrush. Rarely does anyone describe a fine-art ...

The Municipality of San Jose, signed an agreement with Marviva Foundation through which they will support actions involving businesses and the general population to begin eliminating the use of single use plastic which represents 80% of the waste that is accumulated in the oceans. Concerned for the amount of waste that is generated in a daily basis and the repercussions this has in the environ...

Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm (FIFCO) celebrated in December last year the accomplishment of their goal to become the first mass consumption company in Costa Rica to be certified as carbon positive, now, the company celebrates another milestone as they become the first company in Latin America to receive the certification “Zero Waste to Landfill”. The certification, awarded by The Carb...

The Electric Transportation bill was approved by congress in Costa Rica back in December 2017; the bill is intended to promote the use of electric vehicles through the creation of tax exemptions of up to 100% depending on the cost of the car, these measures hope to bring down contamination levels and the use of fossil fuels replacing them for clean energies. Now, two months after the approval o...

Thanks to the “Bloque Sur” (South Block)  the Costa Rican authorities were able to give two big hits to drug dealing operations with the help of the joint patrol operations from  the United States. The first case involved a total of 1,256 kilograms of cocaine seized at 188 nautical miles from Punta Burica which found aboard the vessel Cherokee II plates PQ8824 which operates as a fishing boat; ...

Officers of the Professional Migration Police and personnel from the Ministry of Work and the Social Security Service  (C.C.S.S.) found a total of 47 foreigners working under "irregular conditions" AKA Illegally in two companies hired by Coopesa a company dedicate to the repair and maintenance of air crafts. The group included natives from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela who receiv...

Francisco Prendas is the candidate for the vice-presidency of Costa Rica representing the National Restoration Party (PRN) whose presidential candidate is Fabricio Alvarado. Francisco stated that their party would much rather choose heterosexuals as members of his government (ministers or executive presidents in public institutions) than a homosexual person, to avoid “offending the majority of Cos...

Manuel Alvarez, the 74 year-old man native of Spain but a resident of San Francisco, California, who went missing in Costa Rica since February 2, is the owner of at least 17 properties in the country. “He used to own restaurants in San Francisco, California. He then started investing in real estate. He came here (to Costa Rica) to buy and sell properties and he fell in love. About 15 years ago ...

Fishermen took to some of the main streets in Puntarenas, Limon and Guanacaste in a strike to demand better conditions for their industry. Changes to some of the fishing policies which have been established by the government for example, minimum size in some species of fish have affected their activity and profitability. Fishermen consider that government authorities and the Costa Rica Fish...

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake was felt in Costa Rica on Monday, February 26 at 7:15 a.m. The epicenter was registered 4 km South of Puerto Jimenez, in Golfito, Puntarenas. On February, 24 at 4:26 a.m. the National Seismology Network registered another seism of exactly the same magnitude 5.2 and located 30 km southwest of Bahia Ballena in Osa, Puntarenas. Both movements were felt strong in...

Photo Credit: La Nacion / Alfonso Quesada A man identified as Wesner Chavarria of approximately 30-years-of-age passed away this Sunday in Uvita de Osa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, apparently he was taking part of the 2018 Envision Festival that was being carried out from February 22 through the 26 in this location. The circumstances of his death are still unclear and currently under investigati...

Ray Guze a man from Okanagan Valley in Canada, a former BC Hockey League player and professional lacrosse player, died while vacationing in Costa Rica. Apparently Guze was spending his vacation in the country with some friends, “He was dancing on a ledge, slipped and fell approximately 10 feet, hitting his head on a cement block dying instantly. The British Columbia native played seven NLL seas...

As Costa Rica heads towards the second round of its Presidential Elections 2018, the latest poll carried out by Opol Consultores show Evangelic candidate, Fabricio Alvarado, as the favorite with 57.3% of the support of those voters that will vote and have already picked their candidate. Costa Rica will commence the second round of its presidential elections on Sunday, April 1st, since in the fi...

The arrival of the first three port cranes to the Moin Container Terminal sends Costa Rica in route to becoming a regional leader in port services with a more efficient and safe operation for the import and export of products. The acquisition of these equipment marks a historic milestone, the cranes are unique in the country and will allow Costa Rica to provide for the first time services to Po...

Costa Rican Drug Control Police (PCD) stopped a trailer truck close to the frontier with Nicaragua (Peñas Blancas) which was carrying USD $562,200.00 hidden in the front differential . The trailer truck was in route Guatemala-Costa Rica and was transporting cleaning products. “The detained driver of last names Soto de León, he is a 44-year-old Guatemalan who had a total of 58 packages with...

The surgery to separate siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel concluded at 2 a.m. this Saturday and the children are in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica. The complex procedure to separate the 2 year-old twins that were joined at the head began at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, February 23 with a team of 20 professionals in different areas. Accord...

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Zamora/La Nacion Two surgical teams are taking part in the complex surgery that involves separating Costa Rican siemese twins Ezequiel and Samuel, born in 2015 and who are joined at the head. The babies were taken into the surgery room at 7:30 a.m. Friday, February 23 and almost 11 hours later the surgery was still in progress. The Social Security Service (CCSS) confirm...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRcrt4r069A See the finished cartoon here: How to Pass a Tank Through Riteve in Costa Rica Read the article: Bulletproof Tactical Vehicles Donated by The US to Costa Rica Didn’t Pass Technical Revision...

Many expats in CR have some type of corporation registered in the country. There are numerous reasons why, but establishing a business, opening a bank account, or obtaining asset protection seem to be some of the most common ones. The main objective usually is to keep any personal liability separate from the corporation's patrimony and vice versa. It also allows the owner to include within the cor...

From April 9th to 27th, Costa Rica will have three weeks ofinnovation, design and digital technologies, taught by professionals who are known for their contributions in such areas. For the first time, Costa Rica will have the privilege to be the host country of the Summer School of the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID). It is recognized as one of the main references of design in...

Costa Rican company SmartSoft developed with the support of the Propyme Fund, the software “Dynamic Behavior Patterns” which detects and prevents fraud and money laundering and helps national and international financial institutions increase their security and protect their clients’ resources. “Dynamic Behavior Patterns” is the result of the project “Determination of dynamic behavioral patterns...

Authorities in Costa Rica are concerned as presence of Central America gang members “mareros” increases in the country. On February 20 a native from El Salvador was captured as a suspect of a robbery, he is allegedly a member of a “mara” (gang). From only 3 cases associated with maras in 2016 the number increased to 16 in 2017, according to official data by the Migratory Police. The members ...

As consumers become increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of agro-commodity production, with the click of a button, companies buying pineapples from Costa Rica – one of the world's largest producers of the fruit – can now see if their suppliers are engaged in deforestation or not, with help from the United Nations' Green Commodities Programme. The Land Use Change Monitoring Syst...

The three bulletproof tactical vehicles donated by the United States to Costa Rica and that were received by the police bodies in Costa Rica at the end of January, did not pass technical revision, Riteve, due to three problems labeled as serious. According to the information provided by the Ministry of Public Security the problems were: Lack of reflective stickers (the cars are completely black...

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On most Real Estate transactions there are two initial items to be checked by any interested buyer: the existence of a Plot Map or "Plano Catastro" duly recorded at the National Cadastre Office as well as proceed getting a title certification from the Property Records Department or "Registro Inmobiliario". This information is of major importance as the plot map represents the physical description ...