Author Archive for expatcostarica
Festival de Luz on Saturday
The annual Festival de Luz or “festival of lights” is the biggest event of the holiday season in San Jose, and brings a parade, floats, costumed performers and fireworks to downtown. This year the event will be this Saturday and the parade will start at 6pm from the National Gymnasium on Paseo Colon and continue to [...]
Drivers License May Present More Difficulties for Foreigners
The group of transit officials who are authorized to recognize foreign drivers licenses in Costa Rica is relatively small, and following arrests by the judicial investigative police the group is even smaller, perhaps non-existent. The chief of the Acreditación de Conductores and two of her lieutenants at the nation’s transit authority were hauled off to [...]
Christmas Holiday in Full Swing in San Jose
Without a doubt Christmas has come to San Jose and estimates are that annual holiday bonus injected almost $1 billion into the bank accounts of workers who are expected to part with these funds quickly. The figure is impressive considering that Costa Rica has an annual GDP of $48 billion and annual exports are valued [...]
Appeal to President Laura Chinchilla in Abuse of Expat Woman in Jaco
A youtube video that appeals to President Laura Chinchilla in the abuse of an elderly woman in Jaco should really be directed to the nation’s top law enforcement agent, Fiscal General Jorge Chavarría. While in the United States the job of criminal investigation is handled by the executive branch of government this is simply not [...]
Traffic Control Systems to Cite Drivers
The transport ministry has installed a network of cameras and computerized radar detectors and is preparing to place the required signs that will inform drivers of citations and fines. According to Francisco Jimnez, director of the ministry the first systems should be issuing citations before the end of the year. According to the Video Autopista [...]
Platina Bridge Repair to Create Traffic Chaos
A bridge over the río Virilla en la autopista General Cañas is expected to be an ongoing source of traffic jams during the next three months as the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) works to repair a patched gap between the bridge and road that has been a constant source of automobile damage [...]
Police Setup Watch Towers in San Jose
Police in San Jose have erected 12 meter turrets in areas of high foot traffic in downtown San Jose in order to improve police surveillance during the busy Christmas shopping season. The new approach is part of “Operation Blue Christmas”, which has the goal of putting 1,500 officers on the street at time of the [...]
Ticos Support Papal Decision on Condom Use
Costa Rican people voice support for condom use following the reversal of Catholic church policy on condom use. While representatives of the church still hold that condoms are “intrinsically an evil”, and oppose contraception in general the pope has decided to sanction condom use in situations where it may prevent disease. The official state religion of the Republic of [...]
Venezuelan Boat Caught Fishing Illegally in Costa Rican Waters
The commercial fishing boat Maria Eulogia was caught on video by Repretel illegally fishing less than thirty nautical miles from the coast of Playa Garaza in Guanacaste. The Venezuelan flagged vessel capable of carrying 1,000 tons of tuna was shown loaded and traveling low to the water line while reportedly using underwater explosives to heard [...]
Oxen Parade in San Jose
Oxen or “Boyeros” as they are called in Costa Rica are part of the national identity going back to a time when the country was an agricultural state, and before a railroad had been built to transport the “golden grain” or coffee crop to port. The oxen parade in San Jose is also regarded as [...]
