Month: October 2025

Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) rolled out a redesigned physical identity card today. The update focuses on better protection against fraud while keeping the card practical for everyday use. The new card keeps its 10-year validity and standard size of 85.60 millimeters by 53.98 millimeters, matching international norms. It drops some older details, like …

Read more “Costa Rica Updates National ID Card with Enhanced Security Features”

Fabricio Alvarado, a sitting congressman and presidential hopeful for the New Republic Party, now contends with a formal complaint accusing him of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl back in 2006. The claims surfaced in recent reports, pulling the evangelical leader into a legal storm just as his campaign gains traction in polls. The accuser, who …

Read more “Costa Rican Congressman Faces Sexual Abuse Allegations from 2006”

I am presently away from Costa Rica. I am in a foreign country. I was born here, but it is now a different place to me. Familiar yet strange. If you are thinking this is going to be a political screed, you are wrong. Life is better when you avoid the ideological rabbit holes. I …

Read more “Back North from Costa Rica an Expat’s Culture Shock”

Costa Rica faces tough conditions lately from ongoing heavy rains that have sparked deadly landslides and major flooding over the last few days. In San Ramón, Alajuela, a landslide struck a home late Saturday, killing a couple and their young daughter. Rescue teams arrived quickly but confirmed the family had not survived. This event shows …

Read more “Heavy Rains in Costa Rica Trigger Landslides and Floods”

Heavy rains triggered a deadly landslide in Piedades Sur, San Ramón, Alajuela, late Saturday night, burying a family home and killing two adults and a young girl. The Red Cross confirmed the deaths early Sunday after a grueling rescue effort that lasted over five hours. Emergency teams arrived at the scene around 11:30 p.m. following …

Read more “Costa Rica Landslide Tragedy as Family Buried Alive”

Police in Costa Rica are checking if a body dug up from a farm belongs to Daniel Francisco Vargas Salas, a 71-year-old man locals call Gringo Tico. He went missing last month, and the find has raised questions about what happened to him. Vargas Salas left his home in Carrizal, Alajuela, on September 12 and …

Read more “Costa Rica Police Investigate Buried Body as Possible Gringo Tico”

Costa Rica’s roads have turned into a deadly trap, with traffic accidents claiming more lives and causing more injuries than ever before. On Friday, Insurance Superintendent Tomás Soley laid out the harsh reality while unveiling the Mandatory Automobile Insurance (SOA) rates for the 2026 marchamo. He called the ongoing crisis a “massacre” and pointed out …

Read more “Costa Rica Traffic Accidents Drive Up Insurance Premiums”

Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara said Friday he was deported from the United States for reporting on the unjust arrests of migrants under President Donald Trump. Guevara, who was living in the United States without residency documents or a valid visa, was detained in June in the southern state of Georgia while livestreaming on his MG …

Read more “Emmy-winning Salvadoran Journalist Deported from US”

Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly is moving forward with a bill that aims to strengthen the rules around pretrial detention in response to growing threats from organized crime. The proposal, which reforms the Criminal Procedure Code, comes as the country grapples with increased violence tied to drug trafficking and hired killings. Legislators argue that judges need …

Read more “Costa Rica Bill Targets Pretrial Detention for Organized Crime Cases”

Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court has stepped in to push the government on a long-delayed tuna fishing law. The court partially backed an appeal from environmental lawyer Walter Brenes, who called out the Costa Rican Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) for not creating rules for Law 10304. …

Read more “Costa Rica Court Orders Urgent Regulation of Tuna Fishing Law”