Residents of the community of Los Angeles of Palmira in Carrillo, Guanacaste, reported that concession holders have destroyed the Tempisque River and endangered the community in times of high rains and flooding. The neighbors are upset with the Ministry of Environment for having authorized a concession to extract sand from the Tempisque River, work which was done using a backhoe to descend into...

At the beginning of June, after receiving several reports of a scam from multiple towns, including Samara, Hojancha and Nosara, the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) was able to apprehend four suspects with the help of the Nosara Public Police Force, including three women and one man. The scam artists went to houses promising to give people appliances or TVs in exchange for their gold j...

Source: Wikimedia Commons One of the strangest cases in the history of Costa Rica's judiciary recently came to an end in the Central Pacific city of Puntarenas. It is not everyday that judges in Costa Rica preside over prosecutions involving frozen shark carcasses filled with cocaine, but after four years of legal wrangling and a considerable expenditure by prosecutors and investigators, the d...

AK-306 Naval Cannon As Costa Rica prepares to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the abolition of her armed forces on December 1st, her Central American neighbors are allocating more resources to their military forces. This situation is being closely monitored by the Chancellery of the Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The latest move in the Central American arms race that Costa ...

When he can, Fernando Cordero Arguedas works at odd jobs, but lately caring for his 95-year-old mother has been a full time job since she had a stroke a few months ago. In addition, his 93-year-old uncle has heart problems, and his wife’s four nieces and nephews came to live with them a year ago when their mother lost custody of them. In all, there are 10 mouths to feed in their household in the S...

Thank you to Guy Edwards of Brown University for allowing The Costa Rica Star to publish the below article. A recent visit to Costa Rica by Chinese President Xi Jinping has led to a mounting backlash against a proposed oil refinery, which undermines Costa Rica’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2021. The visit of the Chinese President to Costa Rica earlier this month led to a raft of agree...

People with criminal records cannot obtain a firearm permit to carry weapons in Costa Rica, according to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica. The justices rejected an appeal by a citizen who saw the move as discriminatory. The Constitutional Court ruling indicates that carrying a weapon is an award given by the State to its citizens and not a right. Under that pr...

Costa Rica will host the Global Youth Summit sponsored by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Nations announced today. The meeting will be in session from September 9 to 11 and will discuss the use of new information and communication technologies to improve the quality of life and influence the post-2015 development agenda. In remarks broadcast by the UN radio stat...

If you are bored of the same flavor of chicken, prepare your tastebuds for a more legitimate and nutritional flavor than farm-fattened chicken. A group of families, mainly female entrepreneurs from La Virginia of Nicoya, have organized to develop a project to raise and market local criollo chickens to offer a more attractive and unusual product since the chicken that are commercialized in super...

Ocean Ranch Park is an 850 acre 4.4 kilometer private river valley located just 10 minutes south of Jaco that includes over 1000 feet of waterfalls. Unspoiled Costa Rica nature awaits you and your family and friends to explore this national park like setting on horseback, ATV, rappel and canopy with professional guides insuring your safety. Included in the staff is a Costa Rican Biologist,...

Thank you to Mike Poynton for providing the following guest article, he is the owner and manager of Paradise Social Media in Costa Rica. Copos (literally, "flakes" - as in "snow flakes") are sold on the street and many of the popular beaches of Costa Rica by Copos vendors, pushing two-wheeled carts with insulated compartments that house a large block of ice (maqueta de hielo). The carts are...

Ongoing and projected investments indicate that there is still room for small and medium supermarkets to grow in Costa Rica. Small and medium sized supermarket chains are expanding in the greater metropolitan area in volume. One example is Super Mora, a mini chain of supermarkets from Puriscal which in 2014 will be expanding into Santa Ana, where there are plans to invest $3.7 million in the...

Eight groups and soloists will participate this year in the Credomatic Music Festival. There are three in particular that no one should miss: the Juvenile Accordion Orchestra of Baden Württemberg, the organist Martin Arndt Henzelmann, and the violinist Gidon Kremer. These artists count with indisputable recognition and are the highlights of the music festival, which will take place between ...

In Perez Zeledon, hundreds of citizens have planted 110,000 native trees as part of a project to protect watersheds and promote reforestation of rainforests. The project is called Sowing Water (“Sembrando Agua” in Spanish) and has been operating for one year through the foundation of the same name. The whole idea comes from ​​a local entrepreneur: Fernando Leon, who joined other community le...

Photo of Hong Kong ChinaChina wants to have a business summit in Central America and what better place for them to have it than Costa Rica. The Chinese Business Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean will take place in Costa Rica between November 26th and 27th, 2013. The invited attendees include entrepreneurs, investors, and government officials. This is going to be the seventh confer...

Half of Costa Rica’s population does not have a bank account at a financial institution. In addition, 80% don’t keep their money in banks and 90% have no bank loans, leading them to be excluded in one way or another from the country’s formal financial system. That is the result of the most recent survey by the Encuesta de Inclusión Financiera en Costa Rica, conducted in late 2011 and includ...

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Costa Rica was recently recognized by the National Blood Bank for being the most successful organization in obtaining blood donations. During a special ceremony held at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose, Dr. Patricia Contreras praised the work of the church, and said it is the most recognized entity with the most blood donor volunteers in Costa Rica ...

The Permanent Committee on Women's Affairs at the National Assembly in Costa Rica recently approved two motions that take a strong look at how women are perceived and treated with regard to political participation and their image in the media. On July 30th, the 64th anniversary of the women's right to suffrage was celebrated with a motion to investigate why political parties in Costa Rica are n...

Source: Bomberos de Costa Rica The mission of the Fire Department in Costa Rica is to protect life in situations when property or the environment are threatened by fire or other emergencies. In many occasions, the protection of life includes saving animals from burning flames or from dangerous situations. In two recent instances, firefighters in Costa Rica have filled the life of families with...

Now this is living. Whether you are already retired or near retirement, the residences at Croc’s Casino Resort are an easy decision. Life is grand as you relax poolside, while dinner at your favorite resort restaurant has been personally prepared with love and catching a sunset from your residence balcony just becomes the norm. You deserve the finer things in life with the ease of a Costa Ri...

Source: Flickr CC A video posted by Samantha Giancola, a young woman who starred in the wildly popular Jersey Shore reality TV series on MTV, shows her taking a zip line tour of a forest in Costa Rica. Mrs. Giancola, who is better known as “Sammi Sweetheart,” shared the short video with her 1.7 million Twitter followers, and it has been viewed thousands of times on the video sharing social net...

VagabrothersIf you were to win an all expense paid six month trip around the world - where would you go? Alex and Marko Ayling, better known as the "Vagabrothers" had to make those choices when they won My Destination's Biggest Baddest Bucket List contest earlier this year. Competing with thousands of entries from around the world, the Vagabrothers short video entry topped all others to aw...

After 12 years of housing producers of local foods and products from the region, the agricultural market El Guayabo or La Guayabita market, located in the center of Nicoya, is going to receive a facelift. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) will transfer 70 million colones ($140,000) in funds to remodel it. The funds will be channeled through the municipality. The director of...

Despite the advice to leave pets at home, many romeros decided to take them for a walk, forcing the National Animal Health Service (Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal – Senasa) to attend 16 dogs during pilgrimage from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon. There was one unfortunate dog to have to be detained, abandoned and unable to walk, the rest of the animals attended to were able to complete ...

Source: Zoo Ave Facebook A female sloth that was victimized by two heartless men in the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica has improved enough to be transferred to a new habitat. Officials at Zoo Ave, one of the best-known wildlife rescue centers in Costa Rica, confirmed that the sloth lost her sight as a result of being hit by rocks thrown at her head. Still, she has recovered well from...

Source: Flickr According to an official press release from the Organization of Judicial Investigations (OIJ in Spanish), Costa Rica will no longer send cocaine or other controlled substances to the United States, at least for the time being. The announcement comes in the wake of news reports about nearly 24 tons of cocaine transported by the U.S. Air Force to Miami on Saturday, July 27th 2013....

The Central Pacific area is home to one of the most exotic animals in Costa Rica: the gray crown spider-squirrel monkey. This species can only be found in Costa Rican territory. These monkeys are endangered because its habitat is fragmented in forest patches, so they find it difficult to travel and interact with other members of their population. This has led them to interact with other species...

Last month The Costa Rica Star was the first news media website in Costa Rica to publish about the closing of these zoos. The article below is a follow up from CBC News. Costa Rican officials say they plan to close both of the country's public zoos next year so that animals can be freed from their cages. But the foundation that runs the animal parks said Saturday it is trying to keep them opera...

R.A.W. and One Love Generation partner with the Museo de Guanacaste to work on renovation and beautification projects for this historic Costa Rican landmark. On July 13th, six teen artists from One Love Generation (OLG) traveled to the City of Liberia, located on the northwestern edge of Costa Rica. Here, in partnership with RAW Tours, they created a heart opening experience and lasting impact ...

In Costa Rica, no one is immune to home robberies, not even if you are one of the most recognizable faces in the country, like that of Public Education minister, Leonardo Garnier. The Fuerza Publica and Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), report responding to call from the Garnier home in Zapote. According to the police report, the minister and his wife, Maria Marta Ortiz, were not at...

Trips to Costa Rica are more popular than ever, but do you know how to protect yourself from paying more for your vacation than you should, having a low quality experience, getting trapped by company policies, and/or receiving poor advice? If not, we can help. The following is a list of 5 red flags to be aware of (as well as our recommendations as to how to identify and avoid each) when purchasing...

Photo of FijiFiji and Costa Rica have formalized diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Fiji Mission to the United Nations in New York, the Fijian government announced Saturday. The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN, Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri and his Fiji counterpart, Ambassador Peter Thomson, signed a joint communique establishing diplomatic relations between the two count...

The development association of North Esperanza in Nicoya held its 37th annual meeting on July 28, during which they approved the work plan for the next two years and swore in the new members of the organization. Among the projects that stand out for the coming years is the creation of a community aqueduct, with a total of 100 million colones ($200,000), from Water and Sewage (AyA), which will b...

We set out down the beach under a leaden sky stuffed with clouds. It was 8:00 at night, and at first it was hard to see, with the nearly full moon sliding in and out of clouds; but soon our eyes adjusted to the dimness. A light mist began to dust us, and not a soul stirred nearby. We were on sea turtle patrol. Five of us were decked out in dark colors to blend with the night. Sea turtles don...

Fourteen individuals with a history of sexual offenses were barred from entering Costa Rica due to a warning system by the International Police (Interpol), allowing immigration officers to detect the foreigners before landing on Costa Rican soil. Immediately, the foreigners were returned to their country of origin, said Freddy Montero Mora, deputy minister of the Interior. Montero explained ...

Photo of Antofagasta ChileThis is a guest post by Courtney Marie, who is a Canadian living in Chile on her way to moving to Costa Rica. ‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel, only read one page.’ Since the first time I read that famous St. Augustine quote, I felt home, I felt figured out, I felt understood; how beautifully said. As many travellers explore the world, we come acr...

Epidemiologist and Oncologist Dr. Roy Wong McClure asked the Ministry of Health and the Presidency of the Republic to declare a health emergency in Guanacaste due to the increase of renal failure in sugar industry workers. The oncologist said that figures for 2010 indicated 110 people on dialysis at the Enrique Baltodano hospital of Nicoya, 350 affected in Cañas and similar figures in the canto...

Eight out of every ten trailers operating on Costa Rica’s roads have mechanical problems, the Policia de Tránsito (traffic police) has found. The statistic was provided by Germán Marín, director of the traffic police force. Bald tires, missing lights, faulty suspension and faulty brake systems are some of the problems found with 80% of the truck trailers in circulation. Owners of truck tr...

Today the Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ) and the district attorney's office affirmed that the murder of ecologist was because of an assault in an attempt to rob his belongings. Two months after the murder of the environmentalist Jairo Mora, six suspects implicated in the crime were detained by OIJ. The suspects, for men and two women linked to contraband turtle sets, were captured ...

With categorical words, Marcos Jimenez, mayor of Nicoya, referred to his possible nomination as legislator for Guanacaste for the National Liberation Party (PLN) during the 2014-2018 term. Jimenez plans to make his candidacy official, depending on the outcome of the PLN internal election in San Jose on August 25th when the party's candidates for legislator for Guanacaste are defined. Jimenez...