“Costa Risa” Video mocks Chinchilla Government
A group of clowns running around in circus is symbolic of the administration of Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and her government’s plan to impose substantially higher taxes to offset deficit spending. Throughout the creative use of painted midgets, slapstick and sarcastic commentary deals with issues of government corruption, high taxes and criminal impunity. Chinchilla [...]
United States obligates foreign banks to sign agreement with IRS
Foreign banks worldwide that fail to sign an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service by June 30, 2013 will be subject to stiff sanctions. Expats also face new requirements when filing tax returns if their foreign assets exceed $50,000. A recent article in La Nacion quotes Franco Naranjo, President of the Costa Rican Banking Association [...]
Public Security and Future of Central American Youth in Peril
President Laura Chinchilla appeared before the United Nations General Assembly last week and woefully declared that the Republic of Costa Rica is seriously threatened by the problem of narcotics related crime and violence. The statement is a bold one coming from the leader of a nation that is uncomfortable airing its dirty laundry on the [...]
Catholic Church, Sex and Reproductive Freedom in Costa Rica
Slogans like, “Get your rosary beads out of my ovaries”, “illuminate the Catholic Church by burning it”, and “Jesus loves prostitutes” are a few examples of themes repeated Sunday in front of the metropolitan cathedral of San Jose. Ambivalence toward the official state religion of Catholicism is nothing new in Costa Rica, and a protest [...]
Costa Rica Invites Intel to Expand
President Laura Chinchilla recently returned from a trip to the United States, and the first item on her agenda was to pay tribute to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corporation. The company’s manufacturing facility in Heredia is responsible for producing 20 percent of the value of Costa Rica’s export market, and is considered vital to [...]
President Chinchilla Honors Juan Santamaría
Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla on Monday honored Costa Rica’s favorite hero Juan Santamaría while presenting a speech to bolster support for the territorial dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the Rio San Juan and Isla Calero. Chinchilla gave the speech in the Alajuela park named for Juan Santamaría, which has been remodeled in [...]
