A significant corruption scandal has exposed how Costa Rican Coast Guard officers accepted substantial bribes to facilitate international drug trafficking operations, revealing the extent to which organized crime has penetrated national security institutions. Former Golfito deputy mayor Jimmy Vindas Aguilar, who served under the National Liberation Party (PLN) from 2016 to 2020, faces extradition to …

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Nicaragua has reinstated the visa requirement for Cuban citizens, one of its few allies in Latin America, the Nicaraguan government co-led by spouses Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo reported on Sunday. The measure, which ends visa-free entry for Cubans that had been in place since 2021 to promote tourism and what the government called a …

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Move over ChatGPT — Chile will launch Latam-GPT, an open-source artificial intelligence model designed to combat biases built by the primarily US-centric industry. Developped by the Chilean National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), Latam-GPT uses millions of data points collected in Latin America to showcase the continent’s cultural diversity.  The program seeks to combat “prejudices” …

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Juan Pablo Guanipa was free for less than 12 hours. The Venezuelan opposition leader returned to prison after a brief release, which he used to ride around Caracas on a motorcycle and meet with relatives of political prisoners. Guanipa is a close ally of María Corina Machado, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. …

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Authorities report that Route 32 stays shut down in the Zurquí sector as crews battle ongoing landslides triggered by heavy rains from cold front No. 14. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport confirms no set time for reopening, with work set to continue into Monday. The closure began Thursday evening when material fell across …

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Bad Bunny took center stage at the Super Bowl LX halftime show on Sunday, delivering a performance packed with Puerto Rican pride that had his hometown of Vega Baja buzzing with excitement. The Puerto Rican superstar, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, turned Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, into a celebration of Latin culture during …

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One of the world’s leading experts on happiness and wellbeing is coming to Costa Rica, and time is running out to be part of it, hosted by the UN-Founded University for Peace Dr. Robert Waldinger, professor at Harvard University and Director of the renowned Harvard Study of Adult Development, will be the featured keynote speaker …

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Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa walked free from a Caracas prison on Sunday, marking a key moment in the ongoing release of political detainees following the removal of former President Nicolás Maduro. Guanipa, 61, a former vice president of the National Assembly and a key ally of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, …

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According to data released this week by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), the country recorded a -2.53% year-over-year inflation rate in January. This marks 33 consecutive months below the Central Bank of Costa Rica’s (BCCR) target range of 2-4%. The monthly drop of -0.96% from December to January represents the largest single-month …

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Costa Rica has always been a soccer-first country, where passions run deepest for fútbol and La Sele. Yet over the past decade-plus, the Super Bowl has quietly carved out a small but noticeable space in the national social calendar—especially among tourists, expats, and younger Costa Ricans influenced by global media and tourism. What was once …

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