Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Judith Garber is in San Jose, Costa Rica this week. Her 3-day visit will focus on environmental issues and sustainable trade, said the U.S. Department of State's office of the spokesperson in a statement Tuesday. On June 20, Garber met with Costa Rican Minister of Environment ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  For Georgia’s 6th Congressional District Democrats it’s all over but the crying. Their multi-million-dollar-backed candidate 30-year-old political novice Jon Ossoff lost to Republican veteran Karen Handel by 3.8 percentage points. She will become Georgia...

During a visit to Costa Rica, Minister Barbara Hendricks of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) of the Federal Republic of Germany, announced support in the amount of 15 million Euros to aid Costa Rica work on mitigation and adaptation to climate change, reported the Costa Rican government. During a visit that began on Friday 16 ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Tuesday’s special Congressional election in Georgia’s Sixth District -- north of Atlanta -- is now the most expensive in the history of the United States House of Representatives, coming in with a whopping estimated price tag of $40 - $50 million, and eclipsing ...

President Donald Trump announced today he is nominating Florida's Sharon Day as ambassador to Costa Rica, reported the Tampa Bay Times this morning. Day has been a Trump campaign loyalist, appearing at numerous rallies in Florida, and is a key figure in Republican politics, having spoken at last year's Republican National Convention in Cleveland. She has also served as co-chair of the Republ...

“Oscar Arias: Without a Shot Fired” is the name of the documentary based on the story of Nobel Peace award winner and former two-time president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias Sánchez. The documentary directed by Dawn Gifford Engle will be released in the Monte-Carlo Television Festival that is taking place in Monaco June 16-20. The synopsis included in the “Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo” rea...

A decision this afternoon relating to Uber, Wednesday, June 14, by the Public Transport Council (CTP, its initials in Spanish) and the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep, its initials in Spanish) has taxi drivers planning protests yet again. The authorities said they, "Have no legal competence to block the operation of private transportation ... in the country and that, therefore, the...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  A lone shooter took aim at the U.S. Government early Wednesday morning in an act described as “political terrorism” injuring Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise -- a high-ranking Republican -- plus a staff member of Texas Rep. Roger Williams and two Capitol Pol...

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis will visit the southern Pacific region of Osa tomorrow, June 15, and local residents said they will hold a protest in "defense of the rights of nature and the right of future generations," reported local media today. The peaceful march will begin at 8:30 a.m. leaving the old South Pacific Lyceum and arriving at the Municipality of Osa. The motto of the...

Monday, June 12, President Luis Guillermo Solís asked the Minister of Public Works and Transport Carlos Villalta to resign as a result of a domestic violence complaint filed against Villalta, allegedly by his former wife; reported the government press office. President Solís said to Villalta that, as a general principle, the government maintains absolute respect for laws against domestic violen...

As part of the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica last week celebrated the strengthening of ties between the two countries, reported the Foreign Ministry's office. At an activity at the National Theater, presided over by the President of the Republic Luis Guillermo ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Taxpaying voters are seeing the real U.S. Congress in action -- stalled out on the tarmac in Washington … sputtering along like a blown engine at a NASCAR race. Even Ray Charles can see it. You don’t have to be blind to see partisan politics is getting nothing...

To celebrate the recent passage of legislation in Costa Rica regulating humane treatment of animals, the national government together with the municipality of San José held a block party with live music and plenty of fun yesterday on the main Paseo Colón in the capital's downtown. Pets had swimming pools to splash in, their own playground, hydration stations, food bags and snacks, as well as de...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Fireworks erupted over Washington as Former FBI Director James Comey admitted under oath that he leaked his own memo about White House meetings – through a friend – to Washington Post and New York Times reporters. This high-drama revelation came during Comey’s...

The Central American Security Commission approved this week a plan against organized crime and for the prevention of violence against women. Representatives of the Central American Integration System (SICA, its initials in Spanish) member countries met to discuss security and foreign affairs this week in San José. The SICA's Central American Security Commission (CSC) approved a technical...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson The worldwide uproar over President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the USA out of the United Nations sponsored Paris Climate Accord is mostly due to two reasons – one the loss of trillions of dollars overtime to help other countries c...

The Costa Rican judiciary celebrates five years of a successful restorative justice program that has now earned its place as part of the country's public policy, said the judiciary press office in a statement this week. The nationwide program has linked its efforts to all sectors of the government as well as private and civic groups, and its work to rehabilitate adult and juvenile criminals ove...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  It’s hard to put most people’s first reaction to comedian Kathy Griffin’s -- video and photos of a fake beheaded President Donald Trump -- into words. Who would have known that for a moment satirical Griffin would bring together Democrats, Republicans and her ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson President Donald Trump wrapped up his 9-day trip to cheering sailors at Sigonella U.S. Naval Air Station in Sicily, Italy, on Saturday -- his first trip overseas as president. He started this trip in Saudi Arabia – where he belted out ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  No sooner had President Donald Trump spoken about the continuing threat of radical Islam in Saudi Arabia – the heart of Islam -- a lone suicide bomber walked right up to a pop-music concert in Manchester, England and blew himself up along with 22 others, mostly ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson On his first trip abroad President Donald Trump sure had the entire world’s attention Sunday, including all the terrorists, when he addressed 55 leaders of Muslim-majority counties, representing more than 1.5 billion Muslims -- at a go...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson That leaked ‘memo’ -- supposedly written by former FBI Director James Comey to himself concerning a meeting he had with President Donald Trump in which the subject of fired former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn came up -- may ...

-- Qatar Airways and Katara Hospitality, a hospitality and tourism investment agency, eye Costa Rica's market. Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel A. González Sanz met Monday with representatives of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce, the Investment Authority - also known as the Sovereign Fund of Qatar, and members of the Qatar Development Fund, said the Foreign Ministry's press office. On this se...

Seven local aqueducts in the Central Pacific region of Costa Rica are now functioning with solar energy, thanks to support and funding from a number of institutions including the Costa Rica-U.S. Foundation (CRUSA). The panels are expected to allow the rural water supplies save up to 50 percent on their electric costs, thus freeing up much needed funds to invest in repairs and improvements, said...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  The swamp is on fire. Flames are spreading throughout the executive and legislative branches of government. There’s not enough water in the Potomac River to put out all the fires engulfing Washington, D.C. ignited by the mainstream media which is fanning the f...

Marine conservation groups criticized today en executive decree published last week they say paves the way for exports of sharks (and fins from sharks) that are classified as threatened or in danger of extinction. The groups decried the Costa Rican President's decree that grants sole mandate to authorize exports to the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (Incopesca), saying the agen...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  FBI Director James Comey learned he had been fired by President Donald Trump without warning on Tuesday afternoon first on TV ‘Breaking News’ and then in a phone call while he was at the FBI’s Operations Center in Los Angeles, according to news reports which s...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Just like Hollywood’s Academy Awards for movies or the Tony Awards for theater or the Grammy Awards for music it’s time for the Costa Rican Expat Media Awards -- Roses, Thorns, Prickly Thorns and Magic Mushrooms – are at stake. Roses get a solid-gold nec...

Roberto Zoch, the young entrepreneur now leading San José's top ranked municipal government, was recently profiled in Costa Rica's EKA business magazine. Moravia is a county north of downtown San José; its county seat is San Vicente. Its municipal government website is very user friendly with pages listing recycling routes, park clean-up dates, and other useful information for residents. The...

A draft of President Donald Trump's new counterterrorism strategy demands that U.S. allies shoulder more of the burden in combating Islamist militants, while acknowledging that the threat of terrorism will never be totally eliminated. The 11-page draft, seen on Friday by Reuters, said the United States should avoid costly, "open-ended" military commitments. "We need to intensify operations a...

As Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís finishes the final year of his term, he urged legislators to focus on eight priority pieces of legislation in his address to this nation earlier this week. The first of these is relating to the value added tax, or VAT. Under this legislation, the current sales tax would become a value added tax (VAT), but remain at the same 13 percent rate. The p...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  One small chip from the base, then another and another led to a U.S. House vote against former President Barak Obama’s signature accomplishment -- ‘ObamaCare’ --  when on Thursday Congress narrowly passed the American Health Care Act of 2017, effectively...

Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, gave his third state of the nation report yesterday, May 3, at the Costa Rican congress. The President emphasized on the efforts of his government to promote the process of change for Costa Rica, with the purpose of “building democracy and ruling with honesty”. Solís stated his government has found complex external circumstances and limitatio...

On April 5, 2017, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen introduced legislation into the U.S. House of Representatives to "oppose loans at international financial institutions for the Government of Nicaragua unless the Ortega administration takes effective steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections," according to information on the U.S. Congress website. The bill, termed the Nicaraguan Investment ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  President Donald Trump filled all 11,000 seats in Harrisburg, Pa., Saturday night for a celebration rally of his first 100-days in office while at the same time the annual White House Correspondents Dinner with its liberal comedians and Hollywood actors ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  There is a growing trend of vulgarity in public statements coming from U.S. Senate Democrats and those representing the Democratic National Committee. This trend toward filthy language is disturbing. Studies show people are cussing more than ever, includ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  This Saturday is a big day. Four big things will happen on April 29. It’s President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, it’s the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner in D.C., it’s the date of the president’s next political rally to be held in Penn...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson The entire world’s attention has been drawn to the rogue country of North Korea and its young leader Kim Jong-Un, but who is this man, why is he so determined to have nuclear weapons, and why is he threatening the entire Pacific Ocean ...

Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica: Guanacaste tourism operators and artisanal fishermen and women sent a letter today to the Legislative Assembly's environmental commission, calling on its members to vote against bill N° 19,838, known as the Sustainable Shrimp Trawling Bill, saying it will jeopardize the socio-economic livelihoods of thousands of Guanacaste families. The letter was signe...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Conservative political commentator, Tomi Lahren, has been sidelined and silenced by in-house politics involving ultra-right-winger Glenn Beck and his ‘The Blaze’ online news service out of Dallas. She was suspended indefinitely and taken off the air rece...