Costa Rica Slashes Route 27 Expansion in Half

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) has reduced the planned expansion of Route 27 to roughly half its original scope, with works now focused on the highway’s most congested section between Escazú and Atenas rather than the full corridor to Caldera. MOPT Minister Efraím Zeledón confirmed the revised plan this week, saying initial …

Costa Rica Wildlife Draft Raises Alarm Over Illegal Captivity

The possibility of allowing the keeping of certain wild birds, such as macaws, has returned to public debate with the new draft of the Wildlife Regulations. This issue has resurfaced as one of the most controversial points in the proposal put forward by the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC). The new wording retains the …

Argentina’s Etcheverry Advances to Madrid Masters Round of 16

Tomás Martín Etcheverry advanced to the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday by defeating Croatia’s Dino Prizmic 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Argentine No. 29 spent two hours and 10 minutes on the red clay at the Caja Mágica before closing out the three-set victory. He will face the winner of the …

Costa Rica’s Colón Won’t Weaken — Now Two BCCR Directors Want a Rate Cut

Costa Rica’s colón continues to defy gravity against the U.S. dollar, closing yet another week below the ¢460 mark and tightening the squeeze on tourism operators, exporters and dollar-earning expats that The Tico Times has been tracking for months. The story took a fresh turn over the weekend, when newly published minutes from the Banco …

Farmers Protest Panama Canal Reservoir Plan on Indio River

Hundreds of farmers marched on horseback and on foot through the rural community of Limón in Panama’s Chagres district Saturday to reject plans for a new reservoir on the Indio River. The demonstration ended at the banks of the Indio River, where the Panama Canal Authority plans to build a dam that would create a …

El Salvador Tourism Hits All-Time High in 2025

El Salvador recorded a historic 4.1 million international visitors in 2025, the highest annual figure the country has ever seen. Ministry of Tourism data released in January show the total topped the previous year’s 3.9 million by about 5 percent and beat official targets. Recent updates from Minister Morena Valdez indicate arrivals in the first …

Latin American elites see journalism as “subversive,” says Guatemalan journalist

Renowned Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora considered a “prisoner of conscience” by international organizations, said Friday that Latin America’s political and economic elites view journalism as a “subversive exercise” and impose severe punishments on those who practice it. Speaking virtually from Guatemala City, where he is under house arrest after spending nearly three years in …

Nicaragua Memory Museum Opens in San José to Preserve Stories of 2018 Repression

A new Museum of Memory has opened in San José, Costa Rica, giving Nicaraguan exiles and victims’ families a public space to document the repression that followed the 2018 protests against Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The museum, titled Lo que no debemos olvidar — What Should Not Be Forgotten — was created by the …

Night Closures Set as Costa Rica Begins Demolishing Toll Booths

Costa Rica will begin demolishing the old toll booths on the General Cañas Highway next Monday, April 27, with overnight closures expected to affect drivers heading from San José toward Alajuela and Juan Santamaría International Airport. The work will run from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for an estimated five days. During that window, the …

Panama Canal Fees Hit $4 Million as Hormuz Tensions Reroute Trade

Shipping companies have paid as much as $4 million in last-minute auction fees to send vessels through the Panama Canal, the Panama Canal Authority confirmed this week, as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Iran conflict forces global trade to shift routes. The surge comes on top of standard transit fees …