Author: allthingspanama.net

The Costa Rican Police Force conducted a major operation in Barrio Escalante, San José, at a business advertising itself as a therapeutic massage center. The operation was part of an investigation into an alleged human trafficking network for sexual exploitation. Randall Zúñiga, director of the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ), stated that agents from the Gender …

Read more “Costa Rican Police Dismantle Human Trafficking Network in San José”

San Gerardo de Rivas is a small, traditional Costa Rican town situated high in the valley of the Chirripó Pacífico River in the Talamanca Mountains of south-central Costa Rica. The area has traditionally been dedicated to agriculture, and the land has been owned by locals who have devoted their lives to this economic activity. However, …

Read more “Foreign Buyers Drive Costa Rican Mountain Town Land Prices Up”

I recently returned from a week-long trip to Costa Rica, where I had an incredible experience at Prisma Dental. I’m based in North Carolina, and this was my first time traveling abroad for dental work, so I wanted to share the details of my journey. The Decision to Go Abroad for Dental Care As someone …

Read more “Transforming Smiles Abroad: My Experience with Prisma Dental in Costa Rica”

President Donald Trump’s freezing of development aid has quickly paralyzed numerous programs in Latin America that rely on US funds to combat drug trafficking, corruption, hunger and inequality, observers and NGOs say. They warn that millions of people will be affected in particular by the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), responsible for …

Read more “US Aid Suspension Threatens Anti-Drug and Poverty Programs”

Wetlands on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica play a fundamental role in the conservation of biodiversity and the ecological balance in the region. Therefore, residents of Playa Negra, in the southern Caribbean of Costa Rica, raised the alarm about the filling of a wetland on a farm that already had a previous environmental …

Read more “Police Halt Illegal Wetland Filling in Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast”

Media outlet Le Monde published an article indicating that Costa Rica has transformed from a tourist paradise to an epicenter of drug trafficking and violence. The piece, entitled “Costa Rica, Latin America’s Switzerland in the Grip of the Drug Storm,” notes that Costa Rica has become engulfed in cocaine trafficking, changing it from a transit …

Read more “Costa Rica’s Paradise Lost: From Tourist Haven to Drug Hub”

In a joint effort to strengthen migration management in the region, the ministers of Public Security of Panama and Costa Rica, Frank Alexis Abrego and Mario Zamora, held a meeting in Costa Rica to analyze and optimize migratory flows. During the meeting, which aimed to establish effective mechanisms to allow the safe, orderly, and humanitarian …

Read more “Panama-Costa Rica Join Forces on Migration Control”

The global economic market trend analysis firm STATISTA estimates that between 2025 and 2032, surf tourism will grow at an average annual rate of 6%. In 2022, the global surf tourism market was valued at $9.5 billion, and forecasts predict that by 2032, it will grow to $17.1 billion. “This is consistent with the growth …

Read more “Surfing in Costa Rica is Booming as Tourism and Economy Grow”

Costa Rica ranks 52nd in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International. The country moved up three positions compared to last year’s ranking and obtained a score of 58/100. The CPI is the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world. It measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived …

Read more “Costa Rica Shows Progress in 2024 Global Anti Corruption Index”

Newcomers to Costa Rica have it much easier today. When my then wife and I made the decision to come here in 1989, there was no internet, no Facebook or message boards where all of the questions we had could be thrown out to be answered by those who had already made the move. I …

Read more “Thinking of Moving to Costa Rica? The Good, Bad & ‘Experts’ You’ll Meet”