All Things Panama

The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $10.5 million to help communities in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador prepare for severe drought in the Central American Dry Corridor. The funding was given after early forecasts showed major rainfall shortfalls, targets around 145,000 vulnerable people. Officials say the money will support anticipatory measures …

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Costa Rican prosecutors are warning about a rise in reckless driving on some of our country’s busiest roads, saying the pattern is feeding more criminal cases tied to dangerous behavior behind the wheel. In Alajuela and Atenas, authorities say alcohol, extreme speed and illegal street racing continue to show up again and again in cases …

Read more “Costa Rica Sees Increase in Reckless Driving Cases on Major Highways”

Costa Rica is a country that tends to punch above its weight in health outcomes. With a life expectancy of more than 80 years and relatively low rates of smoking and alcohol consumption compared to much of the developed world, the country has long been held up as a model of efficient, effective public health. …

Read more “Costa Rica Could Face Sharp Rise in Chronic Disease Cases”

Costa Rican police detained 19 Nicaraguan nationals in irregular migratory status during operations in Crucitas de Cutris over the past week, in the latest sign that authorities are keeping up pressure on illegal gold mining along the northern border. Thirteen of those detained were found allegedly extracting gold in tunnels and other sites, while six …

Read more “Costa Rica Police Arrest 19 Nicaraguans in Crucitas Gold Mining Sweep”

Panama announced yesterday it will sanction a Chinese consortium for alleged breaches on a canal-related infrastructure project as detentions of Panamanian-flagged vessels in Chinese ports continue. The move comes after a sharp rise in inspections that began in March, when 93 Panamanian ships faced holds in China. Eleven of 20 vessels detained between April 1 …

Read more “Costa Rica Backs Panama in Escalating China Shipping Dispute”

Costa Rica is heading into a hot and mostly dry week, with the strongest heat expected in Guanacaste and only spotty afternoon rain in the usual mountain and Pacific areas. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional’s outlook for this week says conditions should remain broadly typical for this point in the season, but drier than normal across …

Read more “Costa Rica Braces for Another Week of Heat with Spotty Afternoon Rain”

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced the start of the second phase of Dr. SV, a public health application developed with Google Cloud that uses artificial intelligence based on the Gemini model to detect, diagnose and monitor patients with chronic diseases. The mobile app now targets conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and kidney problems, offering …

Read more “El Salvador Adds New Tools in National Health App to Track and Treat Chronic Conditions”

Nicaraguans living in exile in Costa Rica and the United States gathered this weekend to demand justice for victims of the 2018 protests and international pressure to end the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Hundreds attended religious services and public acts on the eighth anniversary of the repression that began in April 2018 …

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Few stories in Costa Rican history are as dramatic, costly, and consequential as the construction of the railroad connecting San José to the Caribbean port of Limón. It took nineteen years to build, claimed thousands of lives, transformed the country’s economy, and gave birth to one of the most powerful agricultural corporations in the history …

Read more “The Story of Costa Rica’s Famous Railroad to Limón”

Costa Rica received its second group of deportees from the United States on Friday confirming that a controversial third-country removal program is now operating on a recurring basis rather than as a one-off test. A flight carrying 30 people landed at Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, according to the General Directorate of Migration and …

Read more “Costa Rica Takes in Second Group of Deportees from the United States”