Category: Blog

Claudia Sheinbaum will make history today by becoming the first woman to lead Mexico’s traditional Independence Day “Grito de Dolores” from the presidential balcony — a ritual monopolized by men for more than a century. Sheinbaum, who won a landslide victory in 2024 to become Mexico’s first female president, will ring the historic bell and …

Read more “First Woman to Deliver Mexico’s Grito de Dolores Marks a Historic Moment”

Costa Rica marks 204 years of independence today, September 15, with parades and lanterns lighting up the night. For expats and visitors settling into the pura vida lifestyle, it’s a good time to glance at the past. What did daily life look like in this corner of Central America before the break from Spain? The …

Read more “Looking Back at Life in Costa Rica Before Independence”

One year after environmental activist Juan López was gunned down, the United Nations office in Honduras pressed authorities to track down and charge those who ordered the killing. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) made the demand in a statement released Sunday, marking the anniversary of López’s death on September …

Read more “UN Pressures Honduras for Justice in Juan López Case”

Costa Rica has experienced a boom in the purchase of electric vehicles. This comes as no surprise, given that the prices of electric cars in Costa Rica are practically the same as, or in some cases lower than, those of equivalent gas models. This is mainly due to the tax exemptions established under the Electric …

Read more “Costa Rica Electric Car Market Booms Despite Gradual Tax Increases”

For those few who are visiting our country and for whatever reason, may not know yet, Costa Rica celebrates its 204th Independence Day tomorrow – September 15. It’s a national holiday that honors the 1821 break from Spain. Parades, music, and flag displays fill the streets, while the day shifts some daily operations. Travelers will …

Read more “Costa Rica’s Independence Day Visitors Guide”

With mechanical shovels, barges, and by hand, hundreds of soldiers and artisanal fishers are working tirelessly this Friday to remove a floating plant that covers El Salvador’s Lake Suchitlán, in hopes of restoring prosperity to this tourist area. The so-called “water lettuce” (Pistia stratiotes), about 30 centimeters in diameter, has spread across the surface of …

Read more “El Salvador Mobilized to Remove Invasive Plants from Lake Suchitlán”

Independence Day is almost here! If you live near a school, a soccer field, a parking lot, or a barrio with a lot of school-age kids, you’ve probably heard the familiar signs that September 15 is just around the corner: the pounding of drums, a repetitive, seemingly non-stop martial beat echoing through the neighborhood, before …

Read more “Celebrating Costa Rica Independence Day Through the Eyes of an Expat”

The Torch of Independence began its traditional journey through Costa Rica today. More than 22,000 students from across the country carry the torch both today and tomorrow, covering 378 kilometers from Peñas Blancas to Cartago in celebration of 204 years of independence. The welcoming ceremony was held at the Peñas Blancas border crossing, where Costa …

Read more “Costa Rica Celebrates Independence with Traditional Torch Relay”

El Salvador is the country in Latin America and the Caribbean facing the “fastest deterioration” of democracy in recent years, according to a report released Friday by an intergovernmental organization. “El Salvador has experienced the fastest deterioration in democratic indicators over the last decade in the region,” said Marcela Ríos, regional director of International IDEA. …

Read more “El Salvador Faces Fastest Democratic Decline in Latin America”

The government of Nicaragua published this Friday photographs in prison of a doctor with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan nationality, two days after the United States asked Managua for proof of life of the detainee. Washington denounced on Wednesday the arrest and disappearance in August in Nicaragua of the doctor Yerri Estrada, 30 years old, and …

Read more “Nicaragua Releases Prison Photos of Detained Doctor Amid US Demands”