By Wendy Anders Over 11,000 elementary school students currently receive scholarships to aid their families to send them to school, said the Costa Rican President’s office. The scholarships are part of a series of investments being made to reduce poverty under the Bridge to Development program started under the administration of President Luis Guillermo Solís. The children, whose ages ran...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) is taking part in the ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show located at the Messe Convention Center in Berlin, Germany. Ground staff strikes at two Berlin airports on Friday forced airline operations to cancel 659 flights, according to official statements. Some 2,000 employees have been convoked to follow a 25-hour strike from 4:00 am local time (3.00 ...

By Wendy Anders The day after International Women’s Day, a woman was nearly decapitated and left dead by her husband in a small town in Costa Rica. The country continues to move forward with protections of women’s rights in the workplace, in health care services, and in the streets with new anti-harassment legislation proposed, increased domestic violence services offered, greater gender awa...

When is the last time you texted while driving or answered an urgent call before pulling over? Living in Costa Rica, without the ease of finding shoulders on main roads, maneuvering overcrowded streets, and dealing with harried schedules, we are all guilty of texting while driving on occasion. It is no secret that taking your eyes off the road while driving, even for a fraction of a second, ...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) stated today that Mexico had requested consultations with Costa Rica as, allegedly, this country unlawfully imposed a restriction on Mexican avocado imports. The measures that Mexico considers restrictive are the checks, inspections, and approval procedures for the importation of the fruit. Mexico also stated that Costa Rica had failed to apply or recognize...

By Wendy Anders The Costa Rican Public Health System this week became the first institution in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and the seventh in the world to be internationally certified for its emergency and disaster relief services. The World Health Organization granted the emergency medical team of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), which runs the country’s universal pu...

According to MarViva Foundation 80% of the residues in our oceans are plastic, and 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year, a group of concerned Costa Rican’s take it upon themselves to make a difference and help the environment by collecting the plastic that washes ashore in the different beaches, one of these groups is the Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper, a non-government organiza...

The operators of the ferry service linking Puntarenas with Paquera on the Nicoya Peninsula, Naviera Tambor, S.A., has been granted a 10-year extension of their concession to run the service, said the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MOPT, in Spanish) this week. Paquera links tourists to the nearby beaches of Tambor, Mal País, Montezuma, Santa Teresa and others in the southern Nicoya...

By Wendy Anders From March 13 to 17, Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís, as announced on his Facebook page,  will make a “working tour” to the United States. “In New York, I will be presenting, together with the High Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment, the final report containing actions and good practices for the effective inclusion of women in the workplace,” said Solís. ...

Costa Rica moves forward with its nature conservation agenda by signing into law a National Wetlands Policy this week. Luis Guillermo Solís, President of the Republic, attended the launch of this historic public policy together with environmental authorities and representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Costa Rica has more than two thousand wetlands that fall under th...

Costa Rican police have noted a significant drop in thefts and break-ins in the popular Central Pacific tourist region during the first two months of 2017. Police are attributing the decline to changes in their policing which includes strengthened preventive actions and greater cooperation with other regional agencies, said the Public Security Ministry. Thefts decreased by 66 cases in Januar...

Thousands of hectares of forested ecosystems have been cleared in Costa Rica to provide cropland for pineapples in recent years, according to what Mauricio Alvarez, president of the Costa Rican Conservationist Federation (FECON) told EFE on Tuesday. "In 15 years, they cut down 725,000 trees, (causing) irreversible damage to the country. Complaints were never able to stand in the way ... althoug...

An annual human rights report found the main problem areas in Costa Rica to be “overcrowded prisons, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and infringement on the rights of indigenous people,” said the 2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Other human rights conce...

A small boat transporting 11 tourists and its captain wrecked Saturday afternoon close to San Lucas Island in the Nicoya Gulf. According to information given by the Ministry of Security, the tourists and the captain were rescued and none of them suffered any injuries, they were taken to the Coopeinpesa dock in Puntarenas. The coastguard of Caldera and the naval unit of the firefighters were ...

During a conference in the Costa Rican congress regarding the relation between oil and hydrogen in the country, former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz, current director of Ad Astra Rocket Company, states that Costa Rica has enough energy to generate its own fuel at home and satisfy the demand, without the need to buy petroleum. According to Chang, his organization has been working on achiev...

Just one week ago, the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) confirmed that the high temperatures and a decrease in oxygen caused the death of thousands of fish at the Nicoya Gulf back in February 15. However, this Friday, the National University (UNA) stated they disagree with this version and that instead studies done point to the possibility of the event being related to illegal fishing. ...

If you have a post-paid mobile Internet plan with the Costa Rican Electric Institute (ICE), you may want to dig out your contract. Starting this month, all post-paid mobile Internet plan holders will have their Internet speeds docked down to the slowest speed (128 kps) if they exceed the maximum download amount stipulated in their plan. This lower speed, if a user exceeds their quota, will appl...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) is moving forward with a project that will improve road safety at 91 railroad crossings along the three San José metropolitan train lines of Pavas-San José-Curridabat, Heredia-San José, and San José-Cartago, said the agency this week. Carlos Villalta, Transportation Minister, explained that three offers were received from different companie...

A regional proposal by the Costa Rican Judiciary’s Restorative Justice Program was chosen from more than eighty projects submitted to an international competition organized by the European Union. The program proposes a regional approach to restorative justice, and will receive support from the European Union for its implementation, said European Union Ambassador Pelayo Castro Zuzuarregui. Costa...

Two cases of incestuous pregnancy in an underage girl were reported last week alone in Costa Rica. In the few days since the Costa Rica Professional Sociologists Association (CPSCR) published the following statement (which has been lightly edited and condensed) on Friday, February 24, local media (Repretel) reported on a new case of pregnancy in an underage girl in Costa Rica who reports having...

Costa Rican health authorities estimate needing 2,750 people to donate blood in March. “Why March?” you might ask. The public health system, run by the Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS) always does an extra push for blood donations to shore up stocks in advance of April’s Holy (Easter) Week. Holy Week, known in Spanish as Semana Santa, is, for less strict Catholics (meaning most o...

After a five-year wait, Carrillo, Guanacaste finally made the cut to host a Ironman 70.3 triathlon this year. This is the first time Costa Rica will host one of the world famous endurance competitions, and it is almost completely filled. With 2,000 competitors already filling all of the general registration spots for the June 18 event, according to the Ironman website, event organizers expect t...

The United Nations System in Costa Rica last week expressed concern about recent cases of sexual violence against the children and adolescents and increasing rates of reported violence in this population. Alice Shackelford, U.N. Resident Coordinator; Gordon Jonathan Lewis, Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); and Paula Antezana, Assistant Representative of the United N...

Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, has announced the completion of its combination with Costa Rica-based Muñoz Global, making it the first global law firm to have a footprint across Central America. The combined firm will be known as Dentons Muñoz. The combination follows the launch of Dentons López Velarde in Mexico and Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas in Colombia last year. It marks the next...

This weekend, the Costa Rican Public Security Ministry (MSP) announced plans to build eleven new police stations throughout Costa Rica for a total investment of US$21.3 million. The infrastructure project began with the inauguration last week of Pérez Zeledón’s new facility in southern Costa Rica which is valued at US$2.3 million. The structure will improve operations of the region’s nearly 2,0...

Starting with Costa Rica's coasts, and later continuing inland throughout the territory, the National Institute of Innovation and Transfer in Agricultural Technology (INTA, its acronym in Spanish) is about to embark upon a much-needed land-use mapping project. The new maps will prove an essential tool for Costa Rica’s municipal governments to draw up and enforce zoning plans. And zoning plans a...

Amidst increasing traffic accidents and road-related fatalities, Costa Rican police are calling on drivers to always, and correctly, use safety seats for children. A safety device is required for all children in a private vehicle under the age of twelve in Costa Rica, said the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT, in Spanish), who said in January this year 69 drivers were fined for...

The thousands of fish that turned up dead along different beaches of the Nicoya Gulf back in February 15, died due to high temperatures and a decrease of oxygen, confirmed the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) after the analysis done by the Center for the Investigation of Microscopic Structures of the University of Costa Rica. According to the different analysis done, the temperatures in ...

The Costa Rican Science and Culture Center located within the Children’s Museum is offering an exhibition of the history of the San José Central Penitentiary (Penitenciaría Central) a prison that functioned between 1907and 1979 and that was obligated to shut down due to the inhumane conditions the prisoners faced. Twenty people if one cell, some sleeping on the floor and under the bunk beds, ea...

Over the past nine months the Burger King fast food chain has been resurrecting after its operations bottomed out in Costa Rica in October 2015, reported Costa Rica’s business daily El Financiero. The brand's new franchisee, Corporación JV de Centroamérica, has invested no less than US$2.5 million to open eight eateries in that time. Mario Jiménez, general manager of Burger King Costa Rica, ...

—Currently a situation of rivalry between government institutions in Costa Rica hinders efforts to improve small-scale fisheries, found a case study on Costa Rica. A report released this week by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Fisheries Expert Group analyzed the role o...

The case of a 13-year-old girl which came to light yesterday in Costa Rica and who is alleged to have been impregnated by her biological father has been cast into the spotlight of a moral debate surrounding child rights, health and access to therapeutic abortion in a country where the topic is still virtually taboo due to the predominant Catholic religion. The non-profit Costa Rican Acceder Fou...

By Wendy Anders In December, scientists from Conservation International (CI) joined efforts with biologist Mario Espinoza of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and several of his graduate students for an intensive ocean data gathering expedition. The site: The waters of the Cocos Island National Park with their thriving shark colonies, and colorful tropical marine life and coral reefs. The p...

By Wendy Anders Have you ever filed for child support in Costa Rica, lodged a complaint for sexual harassment, or requested a restraining order from a partner or former partner? Your input and evaluation of these services is sought out as the Costa Rican justice system works to strengthen and improve their services for victims of gender-based violence, said the judiciary oversight department...

By Wendy Anders Costa Rica’s Ombudsman's Office has given the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) a timeline to insure their compliance with across-the-board road safety educational programs in all of the country’s schools, from pre-school on up, said the Defensoría de Los Habitantes this week (The Defender of the Inhabitants or National Ombudsman’s Office). The country’s traffic and road saf...

By Wendy Anders Last week, after a year of preparing for their first kidney transplant surgery, the public hospital in Cartago, Costa Rica successfully helped a man receive the much-needed procedure. Maria Eugenia Villalta Bonilla, medical manager of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS, in Spanish) hailed this as a milestone for the Max Peralta Hospital which can now offer a whole new...

The Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law will be presented to Montserrat Solano at a ceremony on February 21 in San José. By Wendy Anders Montserrat Solano Carboni, Defender of the Inhabitants of the Republic of Costa Rica, will receive the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights at a ceremony to be held this Tuesday, February 21, at the Residence of French Ambassador Thierr...

By Wendy Anders Late Sunday afternoon, police observed suspicious activity at an automated teller machine (ATM) near the National University campus in downtown Heredia, Costa Rica which led to the detention of two men, said Pablo Calvo, Public Security Ministry spokesman, yesterday in a press conference. After observing the men leave the ATM and then head to another nearby ATM, police interv...

By Wendy Anders One of Costa Rica’s most remote schools, the 15-student Shinabla public school in Limón province’s Talamanca region, was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Public Education (MEP, in Spanish) to establish a garden. The school’s teacher, Antonio Lázaro Leiva, took the initiative to apply to the MEP’s School Gardens Program, and the support was provided last August. The stu...

By Wendy Anders Last week the Costa Rican Ministry of Finance and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement this month for US$280,000 to support mechanisms for managing public works programs in the country. The donation is designed to support the Costa Rican government as they adopt technical, legal, administrative and procedural reforms. Specific out...