UPDATED: Feb/4/2020 The cases of deaths due to coronavirus in China have reached 427, while the Center for Disease Control, (CDC) has confirmed 11 US cases, 12 Cases in Australia and 4 Cases in Canada. This has health authorities worldwide in alert and Costa Rica is not the exception. In total almost 21,000 Cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed of which 2700 are in critical condition. ...

It would defy all the laws of gravity for President Donald Trump to lose the White House next year. Everything is up – economy is the best in decades, employment for real Americans is at record highs, the stock market almost hit 27,000 for the first time and the U.S. military -- that protects real American citizens -- is getting stronger every day. Our president is 100-percent responsible for thes...

The Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, was able to arrange during a recent work trip to China a donation by this Government of almost $5.5 million in favor of Costa Rica to be invested in security. In a bilateral meeting with he Chinese Minister of Defense, Xu Qiliana, Soto was able to discuss this and other future donations “specially related to everything that has to do with the moni...

Costa Rican authorities carried out 40 searches this Tuesday morning in different areas of the country in relation to an international human smuggling case, an investigation that was carried out for over 2 years and involved the different entities of the Ministry of Security, the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), the General Directorate of Migration and the Public Ministry as well as Panamania...

The world is watching as more than 1,000 emergency rescuers free a youth soccer team and their coach trapped in a remote cave in northern Thailand. However they all got into this predicament does not matter now. What matters is these young lives matter. Life is precious. When the news broke around the world that 12 boys from 11-to-16-years old and their 25-year old coach went missing in a dark ...

All eyes are on Singapore for the Tuesday summit with President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. But all ears are on Thursday’s planned release of the U.S. Inspector General’s 400-page report detailing his conclusions and recommendations into his office’s findings involving the actions of high-ranking DOJ and FBI officials with the Clinton email scandal and the 2016 presidential...

The Costa Rican Government received from the Government of Japan a donation of 60 hybrid and electric cars that will allow Costa Rica to continue to strengthen the actions of 13 public institutions while at the same time reducing the national impact in global warming. The vehicles offer modern technology that will limit contamination and reduce gas emissions. The donation is equivalent to clos...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff Last week’s political winners and losers include new tariffs placed upon steel and aluminum imports, North Korea tyrant Kim Jong Un, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former porn-queen Stormy Daniels. The big winner this week is the American steel and alumin...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. The world’s spotlight has been upon South Korea’s Winter Olympics but the spectacle hasn’t been the athletes from around the world competing for gold, silver or bronze. That’s a sideshow compared to when North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong walked into the main sports are...

The Chinese communities around the world prepare to welcome the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival this February 16, which is according to the Chinese calendar the Year of the Earth Dog. In Costa Rica the Chinese community has their own celebrations, one of them which is open to the general public will take place on Saturday, February 17 in San Jose’s Barrio Chino (China Town) from 10 a.m. an...

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 arrived back in Washington on Tuesday following g a 12-day Asian tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, where he met again with the one-and-only, the notorious Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who hosted ...

According to the company's latest sustainability report, Bridgestone reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in its operations in the region by 15 percent last year. The company aims to become carbon neutral, and is making strides towards the goal. In Costa Rica, the company's 1,042 employees produce 10,395 tires per day at the Bridgesteon plant in Belén, west of San José. The company's seco...

The Chancellor of the Republic, Manuel A. González Sanz, formally inaugurated the Costa Rican Embassy in Australia during his working visit to the Asia Pacific island. In the activity, Minister González described the opening as a great step for Costa Rican diplomacy, and a key move towards its strategic objective of consolidating its presence in the vast Asia Pacific region. "This decision wil...

Costa Rica's first shipload of golden pineapples set sail for China in June of this year, and demand for the sweet variety is growing. Costa Rican pineapples face competition in the Chinese market from the Philippines, but exporters say their main concern is boosting production in order to meet both existing and new demand. "Our challenge is the increase in production ... At this moment the ex...

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday China is ready to make concerted efforts with Costa Rica to forge a closer, more extensive and deeper strategic partnership to better benefit the two peoples, and make greater contributions to regional peace and stability. Led by exchanges between the two heads of state, China-Costa Rica ties have seen steady development and fruitful results sinc...

On the morning of September 8, Taro Kono, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting with Manuel Antonio Gonzalez Sanz, Minister of Foreign Relations of the Republic of Costa Rica, who was visiting Japan on a tour of East Asia earlier this month, said Japanese and Costa Rican government statements.   Minister Kono welcomed Minister Gonzalez to Japan, noted that Japan and Cost...

On a tour in East Asia since last week, Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Gonzalez Sanz has visited Indonesia and also Brunei to strengthen diplomatic and trade relations with both nations, said the foreign ministry this week. After meeting in Jakarta with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Gonzalez presided over the formal inauguration of Costa Rica's embassy which opened ...

Costa Rica's recently completed National Police School, which will open in October, has the capacity for housing 810 police officers, said the Ministry of Public Security. The campus consists of 29 buildings that make up the police training complex in La Rita de Pococí in the province of Limón. The infrastructure is estimated to have cost 12 billion colones, of which 9 billion were donated b...

During a recent visit to Beijing, China by Costa Rica's foreign trade authorities, considerations for the creation of a Chinese funded and developed Special Economic Zone in Costa Rica were discussed. China presented results of a technical study undertaken to determine the feasibility of developing such a commercial zone. Moving forward on such a large scale and long-term initiative requires...

Costa Rica's Minister of Foreign Trade just returned with some good news from a recent visit to Beijing, said the Foreign Trade Ministry in a statement. Foreign Minister Alexander Mora together with the Costa Rica's Ambassador to China, Patricia Rodríguez, celebrated the countries 10 years of diplomatic relations during the recent visit. One of the main outcomes of the visit was a plan to es...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  North Korea! For 70-plus years the situation involving Korea – North and South – has been festering along with plenty of ‘saber-rattling’ as tensions rise and fall like the winds of time. All the past presidents from Truman to Obama had their dealing...

A year after Costa Rica and China signed a Joint Action Plan for Cooperation - 2016-2020, Costa Rican exporters are still waiting to sell their products across the Pacific. The Costa Rican Chamber of Exporters (CADEXCO) decided to push for action so that producers in Costa Rica can take advantage of the favorable conditions offered under this special agreement before more time elapses. C...

Costa Rica and Japan yesterday signed a financing for the sum of about US$240 million (25,991 million yen) for the construction of the Borinquen I geothermal energy plant, reported the state-owned Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). This will be the third geothermal plant in the country, coming after the Miravalles and the Las Pailas projects. The 55-megawatt facility in the northern Gu...

This week, Costa Rica embarks on a high-level tour in Japan to seek new markets for investment, trade and technical support to build capacity in Costa Rica, said the Costa Rican Investment and Development Agency (CINDE). "Strengthening trade ties with Japan is part of our government's efforts to diversify our economy. This work tour involves ... the promotion of investment, events with potentia...

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 ...

In the midst of protests surrounding the growing production of pineapple in Costa Rica, Friday, Costa Rica sent its first shipment of pineapples from the Pacific port of Caldera to Shanghai, China. The nine ship containers containing over 15,000 cases of pineapples marks Costa Rica's entry into the Chinese tropical fruit market, said the Xinhua news agency. "This first shipment of pineapples...

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in August 1962, Costa Rica and South Korea have had a successful cooperation partnership which was bolstered during the visit of the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, to the Asian country in October 2016. During last year's visit, the countries agreed to a Comprehensive Cooperation Alliance that outlined concrete political, economic...

Nobody has heard much these days about the once highly touted interoceanic canal that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega proposed to build. Thousands of jobs, and millions in investments were gloriously promised to Nicaragua, without apparently any secure plans for carrying out the mammoth project. Four years after an agreement was signed between the Nicaragua government and a Chinese investor,...

British and UK media reported over the weekend about a group of Australian and other tourists who left their hotel in Antigua, Guatemala for an excursion on a private bus, only to be shot at by a passing car and subsequently assaulted, tied up, and robbed at gunpoint. An Australian couple who was part of the kidnapped group decided to try to recuperate their thwarted vacation plans by coming to...

The Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) has moved on from awarding the country’s cleanest beaches to granting their eco-diplomatic awards this week. The AyA awarded four embassies in Costa Rica, and three Costa Rican embassies abroad for their notable efforts in energy and water saving such as reducing paper use, recycling and solid waste management, and minimizing fossil fuel c...

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 ...

— Costa Rica’s exports grew 1.4 percent in 2016. The Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reported this week on Costa Rica’s economic activity. Data from 2016 show an annual growth in exports of about 1.4 percent over 2015; rising from US$9.4 to US$9.5 billion. The country’s “non-traditional” exports, like medical devices and technology-related exports, are second only to fresh pineapple ...

A 59.6 carat pink diamond could become the most expensive precious stone of its class on Apr. 4 at an auction organized by Sotheby's Hong Kong, the company said Wednesday. The "Pink Star" diamond was presented in Hong Kong on Wednesday, six days before it was to go on sale, and the final bid could exceed $60 million, according to expectations of the auction house. It was the biggest pink dia...

An iconic portrait of China's Communist leader Mao Zedong by Andy Warhol will be up for auction for the first time in China on April 1 at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The portrait, dating back to 1973, is expected to fetch between $12 million and $15 million. "It is the most expensive painting from a western artist in Sotheby's Hong Kong," the auction house's Asia head Isaure de Viel Castel said ...

  Costa Rican pineapples obtained the green light to be sold in the Chinese market, announced Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX) yesterday. There are currently at least 20 companies interested in exporting pineapples to China. Dialogue with China on the possibility of exporting pineapple from Costa Rican began in 2010 when the pineapple sector expressed an interest in export...

Seoul and Washington Wednesday began their annual joint military exercises amid heightened tension in the Korean peninsula owing to Pyongyang's latest missile tests and the alleged murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother. The first of these maneuvers, called Foal Eagle, which includes aerial, terrestrial and naval exercises, will continue until the end of April, announced the S...

American actress-filmmaker Angelina Jolie on Saturday will screen in Siem Reap the movie "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers," the first Hollywood movie on the Khmer Rouge genocide, shot completely in Khmer and in Cambodia. "I wanted to understand what my son's birth parents may have gone through. And I wanted to know him better and I wanted to know this country better,...

By Wendy Anders Last week, a Costa Rican court delivered a historic sentence, and for the first time served criminal charges for the illegal practice of shark finning. The court sentenced a Taiwanese business owner to prison over a haul of illegally hacked-off shark fins destined for sale abroad, officials and environmentalists said last Thursday, Feb. 9. The verdict, handed down last...

By Wendy Anders South Korea will hold meetings this week with six Central American countries for a legal review of their pending free trade agreement, said South Korean media sources. A team from Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will meet its counterparts from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras for three days of negotiations starting Monday, Feb....

Mexico City, Jan. 23 — Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced that his government will negotiate new trade pacts with signatory nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the ambitious treaty that the United States withdrew from on Monday. "Given the difficulty of making the TPP a reality, Mexico will immediately initiate talks that will create new bilateral trade agreements with the treat...