Fernando Herrero, Costa Rica's General Regulator (regulador general), has publicly voiced concern and disgust over the Costa Rican Electricity Institute's (ICE) very public pressures to raise electricity rates by an average of 46 percent. After ICE called a press conference to demand the rate hike, Herrero sent an official letter to ICE's Board of Directors, [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 15th, 2008 | No Comments »

Last night, hundreds gathered in central parks and homes throughout Costa Rica to cheer on national sweetheart, María José, in her bid to become the next Latin American Idol. Unfortunately for the 18-year old herediana (María hails from Heredia province), her Panamanian competitor, Margarita Henríquez, was announced as the competition's winner.

Filed under: Costa Rica News, Costa Rican Music, Travel on October 10th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Laura Chinchilla Will Dedicate Herself Full-Time to Her Presidential Campaign. Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica's vice president, will resign from office today. There's no scandal involved - in order to pursue her goals for presidential office in 2010, Chinchilla will spend her time campaigning to rally support and therefore must resign from her current demanding position as [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 8th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

The Flanks of the Arenal Volcano May Be Harboring Life-Saving Medicinal Plants. Scientists are on a treasure hunt in Arenal, searching through the national park's plants, fungi, and lichens for the medicines of tomorrow. Among their findings, the experts believe that they have discovered antibiotic uses for one of the park's lichens, a valuable find as [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 6th, 2008 | No Comments »

Costa Rica and the EU Are Working Together to Revise Immigration Regulations. Central America and Spain are currently in negotiations over several issues, and Costa Rica has begun to exert pressure on the European Union (EU) to revise its immigration policies for Central Americans. Among issues to be discussed, Costa Rica hopes that the UE will [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

Water Treatment Facilities and Air Pollution Policies Are Necessary to Combat Pollution. Recent studies have returned disheartening news: Costa Rica's waters and air are polluted. In addition, though Costa Rica is known for having the only drinkable tap water in Central America, reports show that 16 percent of Costa Rican communities -- 41 percent of all [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

More Water Outages to Come for Certain San Jose Neighborhoods Due to Repairs. AyA, the government authority in charge of the Costa Rican water system, turned off water to several San José locations yesterday, leaving 75,000 people in Curridabat, Montes de Oca, Moravia, Coicoechea, Coronado and La Unión (Cartago) without water. AyA announced that there will [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

A Theoretic Look at Post-U.S. Election Costa Rica -- Who Would You Choose? With just over a month left before the U.S. presidential elections on November 4, both expats and Costa Ricans alike are in heavy speculation mode - how would each candidate affect those of us living in Costa Rica? Disclaimer: I'm not taking sides, just [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on October 1st, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Costa Rican Taxi Fares to Increase 16 Cents Per Kilometer. When tourists arrive to San José's Juan Santamaria International Airport, official, orange airport taxis await outside. Instead of paying per kilometer or minute, airport taxis have long functioned on a per-ride basis: walk up to a window inside the airport exit, announce your destination and prepay [...]

Filed under: Costa Rica News on September 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

Costa Rica's long-awaited San José-Heredia train has just gotten a step closer to realizing its creation: the Institute of Costa Rican Railways (Incofer) has begun negotiations with the Spanish Narrow Rails Railway company to acquire four model 2000 commuter trains, which will be the most modern trains in the country.

Filed under: Costa Rica News on September 29th, 2008 | No Comments »