Saudy Palacios crossed the dangerous Darién Gap jungle, on the border between Panama and Colombia, with the dream of reaching the United States, having a job, a home, and educating her son. Now she returns to Venezuela by sea with “broken dreams” due to President Donald Trump’s migration policy. Hundreds of migrants, many of them …
Read more “American Dream Dies: Migrants Flee Trump’s Deportation Push”
Eavesdropping – the very word in English suggests a rude and invasive action. It conjures up images of a wiretap, or an ear against the door. To listen in on conversations of people unknown to you may be frowned upon by society at large, but I highly recommend it when learning Spanish (or any new …
Read more “Eavesdropping in Costa Rica Will Supercharge Your Spanish Fluency”
With a monthly salary of $15, a teacher in Venezuela earns nowhere near enough to cover their basic food necessities, never mind rent or medicine. Many in the crisis-stricken South American country are forced to work multiple jobs or pool their money with family. Thousands have emigrated in pursuit of greater financial stability. “For the …
Read more “Economic Crisis Forces Venezuelan Teachers to Survive on $15 Per Month”
The Jícaro reef, located in Culebra Bay, Guanacaste, has died. According to records from the Center for Marine Science and Limnology Research (Cimar-UCR), which has been monitoring the area since the 1990s, its decline is due to a combination of factors such as increasing water temperature, mass tourism, and pollution caused by urban growth. The …
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A boat carrying 19 South American migrants blocked from entering the United States sank off the coast of Panama as they returned to their home countries, leaving an 8-year-old Venezuelan girl dead, authorities said Saturday. The boat went down Friday night “due to strong waves caused by bad weather” in Caribbean waters off northeast Panama, …
Read more “Tragic Migrant Boat Capsizes Near Panama in Reverse Migration Crisis”
Today we meet the long-tailed weasel, a high-energy predator that may be dancing for two very different reasons.The long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) is known as the comadreja de cola larga or more simply the comadreja in Spanish. They are one of the seven members of the weasel family to call Costa Rica home and by …
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In a shelter in the jungle province of Darién, guarded by Panamanian officers, around a hundred Asian migrants wait to be found a country to go to, after being deported from the United States by Donald Trump’s government. Green fields where cattle graze surround the San Vicente refuge, located about 220 km southeast of the …
Read more “Inside Panama Migrant Shelter Housing Deported Asian Refugees”
A boat carrying 19 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia, along with two Indigenous Panamanian crew members, capsized in Caribbean waters off Panama on Friday night, authorities confirmed. The tragic accident, blamed on heavy swells and adverse weather conditions, claimed the life of an 8‑year‑old Venezuelan boy, according to Panama’s Senafront border service. Border police said …
Read more “Tragic Capsizing Off Panama as Migrant Boat Sinks with Child Fatality”
Pope Francis, 88, remains in “critical condition” and his “prognosis is currently reserved,” the Vatican reported Saturday night, at the beginning of the second week of the Argentine pontiff’s hospitalization for bilateral pneumonia. “The Holy Father’s condition remains critical and […] the pope is not out of danger. This morning, Pope Francis had a prolonged …
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Costa Rica received a group of 135 migrants, who were transferred to the Center for Temporary Attention of Migrants (CATEM) at the Southern Border after midnight on February 22.The migrants, most of whom will eventually be returned to their countries of origin, arrived in Costa Rica as part of a bilateral agreement signed with the …
Read more “Costa Rica’s Role in U.S. Deportations Sparks Debate”