Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Thursday barred President Rodrigo Chaves from participating in the 2026 election campaign, ruling that he “illegitimately used” his office to “favor a political program.” The ruling comes amid ongoing tensions between branches of government in Central America’s most stable democracy. Chaves has accused the Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court, …

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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem signed a border security cooperation agreement with Guatemala on Thursday, which includes the use of drones and other technologies to combat transnational crime. “This joint security alliance will allow us to share information […] and security protocols at our airports, ports, and borders, as well as between our …

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Pura Vida Bodysurfing is an award-winning short film that strips surfing back to its essence—riding waves without a surfboard. Filmed across Costa Rica’s legendary coastlines, from the thundering barrels of Puerto Viejo to the famously long lefts of Pavones, the film captures the raw beauty of bodysurfing in one of the world’s most wave-rich countries. …

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In Costa Rica’s Los Santos region, famous for producing nearly half the country’s coffee, farmers are reeling from heavy losses driven by wild weather. Climate change is hitting hard, with an estimated ₡11.5 billion ($22.1 million) in crop losses this season, according to the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE). The region’s 13,000 coffee-growing families, …

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Costa Rica took a big step forward, by officially joining the U.S. Global Entry program, a move set to make travel smoother for Costa Ricans and Americans alike. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sealed the deal during a visit to San José’s Presidential House, signing an agreement alongside Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves. The …

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Costa Rica’s Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland, a 33,000-hectare haven of mangroves and rivers, is under siege from an unlikely source: pineapple farms. A study by natural resource management specialist Soledad Castro found 16 chemical compounds, including the fungicide carbendazim and herbicides clomazone and diuron, in the wetland’s waters and sediments, some 80 kilometers downstream from plantations …

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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem met Wednesday with Honduran President Xiomara Castro to discuss security and migration, following her offer in Costa Rica to help control the entry of travelers and goods into the country. The leftist Honduran president requested an extension of TPS, a regulation that allows temporary legal stay for migrants …

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Celso Gamboa, once Costa Rica’s Security Minister and a Supreme Court judge, now faces extradition to the U.S. for leading a major cocaine trafficking network. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) alleges Gamboa coordinated shipments across Central America, Colombia, and Mexico, and shockingly claimed government backing to pull it off. Arrested in San José yesterday, …

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Costa Rica’s bare-necked umbrellabird, a striking black bird with a red throat pouch and crest, is in trouble. A new study in Nature Ecology & Evolution warns it’s among 500 bird species worldwide that could vanish within a century, driven by human activities like deforestation and urban sprawl. Found only in Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, …

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If someone asked me to sum up why I live in Costa Rica in 5 words or less, my answer could well be: “It is my safe space.” All the world’s human-made problems– war, disease, famine, fanaticism, intolerance– seem far away when I am back in Ticolandia. Numerous cataclysmic events caused by man have unfolded …

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