A skirmish that pitted a ragtag group of British buccaneers and their slaves against a small flotilla of Spanish warships some 200 years ago was celebrated today in Belize with cultural performances, the installation of beauty queens and citizens’ parades. What most historians describe as a myth, many Belizeans embrace as a defining moment in the history of the former British Honduras. An ...

Nicaragua’s volcanoes are returning to “normal levels of activity for active volcanoes” after registering a dramatic decrease in gas emissions over the past 24 hours, according to the most recent report by Nicaragua’s emergency response authorities (SINAPRED). San Cristóbal Volcano in Chinandega, which erupted three times on Saturday, is still emitting gasses, but much less so than yesterda...

Thirteen Asians who spent 40 days adrift in the Pacific after their ship's engine broke down have been rescued by a Salvadoran trawler, immigration authorities said on Monday. A statement from the General Directorate of Migration said they were 11 Vietnamese and two Indonesians. They were spotted on Sept 3 by the fishing boat, and their ship was towed to waters near the Salvadoran port c...

Marriott International (NYSE:MAR) announced today plans to open a new 200-room Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Santiago in the fourth quarter of 2014, under an agreement with Falabella Group, the largest retailer in South America, with operations in Chile, Argentina, Peru and Colombia. Situated immediately adjacent to the existing 280-room Santiago Marriott in the Las Condes business distric...

The Panamanian government has presented for review at the National Land Council a draft bill which changes current land titling legislation. The bill gives more power to the National Land Authority (Anati), such as a period of seven years for the role of administrator and the elimination of free titling in any of its forms. Through these changes, the government seeks to plug loopholes ...

Hacienda Matapalo was once marketed as being the best-selling Costa Rica real estate with over $65 million in presales -- ten months later the tone has changed substantially. Amongst the myriad of reports now surfacing on the recently foreclosed project, investors remain skeptical that they will ever seen their money again. AG Abogados is a legal firm that specializes in intellectual pro...

Costa Rica's national team arrived in Mexico City on Monday, with the team down two men as Fulham's Bryan Ruiz and Comuncaciones defender Michael Umana were disregarded by manager Jorge Luis Pinto due to injury. Pinto said he was not worried about duplicating the feat Costa Rica achieved at the Estadio Azteca 11 years ago, when Los Ticos handed Mexico its only loss at the mythical stadium i...

The client for this project, The Sea Turtle Conservancy, asked the Conservation Clinic to examine the effectiveness of domestic and international legal instruments related to the protection of sea turtles in Costa Rica. Despite numerous reports of violations, non-governmental conservation organizations believed there had been no enforcement cases brought under sea turtle protection legisla...

For more than 24 hours last September, a Coast Guard helicopter and speedboat pursued drug traffickers and their contraband across the Caribbean Sea. Finally they caught up with the improbable vessel, the latest innovation in the decades-old drug war. It was a submarine. The low-slung, diesel-propelled vessel, painted a dark shade to blend with the water, was believed to be carrying several...

The Costa Rica Star previously reported on the Albinos of Kuna Panama. Megan Leavitt, 29, is a self-described nomad. “I’ve been traveling for the last 12 years,” she said. Her travels have taken her from Glenburn, where she grew up; to Santa Cruz and the University of California where she earned a degree, on full scholarship, in Latin American and Latino studies; to Haiti; Mexico; Centra...

Marcos Aleman of the Associated Press has a story making the rounds on the horrific killing of five schoolboys in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. The boys were found in an unmarked grave three weeks after having disappeared. Authorities speculate that the boys were killed after having rejected an "offer" to join the MS-13. Six months after El Salvador brokered an historic truce between two rival...

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*Pictured updated thanks to reader feedback, the posting author made an error selecting the picture to accompany the article. The picture above is the University of Costa Rica showing damage after the earthquakes. Costa Rica authorities have registered to date about a thousand aftershocks after the strong earthquake struck the North West coast measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale that hit the...

The Government of Costa Rica presented to Congress the budget for 2013 by U.S. $ 12.888 million, 7.7% higher than in 2012 and will be financed with 43% debt. “The country can be assured that this bill was drafted in a very responsible and austere, meeting the commitments of the administration (of President Laura) Chinchilla with the different sectors of the population,” he said in a stateme...

Representing the largest majority of islands available for sale, Private Islands Online (PIO) is the only international real estate web site dedicated exclusively to island properties. Established in 1999, this fully searchable and interactive web site unites and categorizes the otherwise fragmented and disparate island marketplace. With over 4 million annual site visitors and 50,000 sub...

For more than 15 years, Cruz Velasquez says he had found that life here – in Tacoma, in America. He found it in a job as a window installer that, by U.S. standards, pays near poverty levels but earns him more money than he’s ever made. He found it in Juana, a fellow illegal immigrant who bore him a daughter and a son – both American citizens, each delivered in good health at St. Joseph M...

The U.S. Embassy called to say the Guatemalan government would begin to authorize adoptions five years after a scandal froze the system that sent as many as 4,000 Guatemalan children a year to the United States. Ryan "Bubba" Hooker and his wife, Jess, might finally be able to collect the little boy they wanted to adopt and bring him home. But Hooker wasn't sure. This would be his 36th tr...

Cuba has kissed goodbye to Brazil 2014 World Cup finals following a three-nil home defeat by Honduras. In a well-contested match at Cuba's Pedro Marrero national stadium in Havana on Friday, Cuba displayed a very entertaining game but poor finishing could not favour the day for the home team. Following defensive lapses in first half, forward Jerry Bengston took advantage of the loose bal...

Nicaraguan athlete Gabriel Cuadra, 22, is Nicaragua’s latest Olympic hero after setting a new American record in this year’s Paralympic Games in London. On the last day of Nicaragua’s involvement in the Games, Cuadra was quick out of the starting blocks in the 800m. Sixteen minutes earlier he had recorded a “season’s best” time in the 200m with 33.11 seconds, although it was not quick enoug...

Showing no ill effects from a shocking home loss to the United States in August, the Mexico men's national football team eviscerated Costa Rica 2-0 in a World Cup qualifying match on Friday night. From the opening pitch, it was obvious that the Mexicans came out motivated. After exchanging scoring chances early in the match, Mexico took over late in the first half and never looked back. ...

In Costa Rica the ban on installing geothermal generation plants in protected areas has created the need to generate electricity using oil which pollutes the environment. An article in Nacion.com reports on the practical difficulties preventing Costa Rica from achieving its proclaimed goal of carbon neutrality by 2021. As an example, it cites the adoption of clean technologies in trans...

Nicaragua’s tallest volcano belched an ash cloud on Saturday, sending hundreds of nearby residents scrambling to evacuate. Reuters reported the 5,725-foot San Cristobal volcano, which is about 100 miles north of the capital Managua, sent ash nearly a mile into the atmosphere. Residents said they could hear explosions emanating from its crater. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo told ...

An Israeli media outlet reported that Hezbollah has set up a training base in Nicaragua with the support of Iran, a widely unsubstantiated claim that continued the trend of over-hyping the threat of Islamic militant actions in Latin America. According to Israel Radio, some 30 members of the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah are training on a base in northern Nicaragua near the Honduras...

Latin American culture ministers are promoting an agenda based on strengthening their countries’ identities and restoring their traditions as a fundamental element of regional development. The 15th Ibero-American Conference of Culture Ministers ended Friday in the Spanish city of Salamanca, which has also played host this week to a gathering of education ministers and the Ibero-American Congres...

A group of volunteers in St. Cloud is making a deep impact on the health of people in developing countries – and they could use a hand. The MESSAGE Program was started 12 years ago by Karin Reichensperger, who after traveling to Guatemala, saw a need for things like medical, emergency and fire equipment. Over time, the organization gained donated warehouse and office spaces to expand the...

Nicaragua has launched a tender for two new mobile operator licenses, EFE reports, citing Orlando Castillo, head of telecoms regulator Telcor (Instituto Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos). License winners will be able to provide mobile voice, broadband, and 4G services across the country. Nicaragua currently has two mobile voice operators, namely America Movil’s Claro unit and T...

Photo by Giordano Ciampini Gregorio Guevara Espinoza, 60 years old, is one of the best-known tailors in Nicoya. Known as "Goyo", he passes hours in a corner of the living room in his house in the center of the city. With scissors in hand and his sewing machine, during these days he prepares most of the apparel for elementary and high school students who will participate in the processions o...

Michelle Bachelet, the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, will on September 10th start a two-day visit to Costa Rica, at the personal invitation of President Laura Chinchilla. This will be Ms. Bachelet’s first visit to Costa Rica since she was appointed the Executive Director of UN Women. Michelle Bachelet’s schedule will get under way with a bilateral meeting with ...

Twitter's former VP of Communications, Sean Garrett, just returned from three months in Costa Rica. His wife quit her job as an up-and-coming financial executive for the trip. Naturally, the experience was amazing -- so amazing that Garrett thinks everyone should make it a priority to take a three month leave of absence to a tropical paradise. "I know what you are thinking. I can’t do...

The absolute trust that the majority of Costa Ricans once had in the officers of the Public Force has been diminishing through the years, giving way to an increase in the perception of greater insecurity in the country, according to reports from the United Nations Development Program (PNUD). The Public Force is aware of this change in perception and now dedicates part of its training to tea...

The staff of the National Roads Authority (CONAVI) prepare a flyby in the Guanacaste area to see the damage caused to the road infrastructure as a result of the powerful earthquake yesterday. Jose Luis Salas, head of CONAVI explained that there isn’t official reports yet of damages. Although in social networks there are pictures circulating of the bridge over the Rio Sucio in Sarapiqui, whi...

The former Pachuca, Leon and Costa Rica national team player spoke about his country's chances of beating the 2011 Gold Cup champions on Sept. 7. With the World Cup qualifying match against Mexico fast approaching, former Costa Rica national team player Hernan Medford recognized that gaining points from the region's giant is the Central American nation's top priority. "We're obligated to...

Obtaining the appropriate health permits for Mexico enables Costa Rican producers to export more than 40,000 tons of eggs. The outbreaks of avian influenza in the Aztec country motivated the sacrifice of 11 million birds, causing Mexican authorities to lift all restrictions on the importation of eggs, in order to meet domestic demand. An article in Nacion.com reports that "the National...

Police found a synthetic-drug lab in a rural area near the Mexican border, Guatemala's interior ministry said Wednesday. The facility in the village of San Isidro is the "largest and most-industrialized drug laboratory" dismantled in Guatemala in recent years, a ministry spokeswoman said. "The clandestine site was discovered by authorities in an area full of weeds, on whose edge they fou...

Nicaragua pulled off an excellent showing at the recently held Sourcing at MAGIC Trade Show, where local companies successfully promoted the country’s fast-growing textiles, apparel, and footwear sectors to buyers and sellers from around the world. At the “Closer to Home: Sourcing the Americas” panel participated in by PRONicaragua executive director Javier Chamorro Rubiales during the four...

A feasibility study has been submitted by the mayor of the capital of Costa Rica which sets the required investment at $220 million. The French government provided the $700,000 in funds, the cost of the feasibility analysis for the proposed operation of tram transportation along a 10 kilometer stretch from the capital of Costa Rica. There is still no government decision on how to finan...

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) of Costa Rica has gained the approval of the nation’s Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM) to advance the purchase of cable TV operator Cablevision. Under the terms of the proposed deal ICE will become the owner of all shares, infrastructure, and services to Cablevision customers. After reviewing the proposed purchase by the state...

Auxis is pleased to announce the expansion of its service delivery capabilities in Costa Rica. In less than eighteen months, Auxis outgrew the capacity at its previous location in the Ultrapark Free Trade Zone, and has relocated to a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility in the America Free Trade Zone ("AFZ"). AFZ is a modern business park which has also attracted large global corporations such...

Yesterday, The Costa Rica Star was the first news media website in Costa Rica to report on the 7.6 Richter earthquake, below is a comprehensive over view from AFP. A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Costa Rica's Pacific coast Wednesday, killing two people, briefly knocking out power and phone lines, and triggering tsunami warnings, authorities said. Residents reported trees toppl...

The Guatemalan government will open three new military bases intended to combat drug trafficking along its borders, another sign of the country’s military-heavy response to organized crime. The bases, located along Guatemala’s western and northern borders with Mexico, and in Puerto Barrios, the country’s main Caribbean seaport, are heavily trafficked by criminal groups, presidential spokesm...