Search Results for: costa rica

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla yesterday signed an agreement in Mexico City with her counterpart, President Felipe Calderón, which will expand bilateral cooperation on security issues, including anti-drug trafficking efforts. Chinchilla and her delegation will also hold talks on a wide range of bilateral issues including improvements in investment and trade between the two countries. … Read more

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla is struggling to navigate choppy waters. A crisis in the public health system has deepened the troubles facing the Central American republic. Chinchilla’s popularity in this 4.6 million-strong nation is steadily eroding, bucking a trend in which most neighboring leaders are gaining in their approval ratings. In her worst poll … Read more

A San José court rejected most of an appeal by former Costa Rican President Rafael Calderón last week, but the court ruled to lighten his charges and overturned his five-year jail sentence. Calderón, age 62, was convicted in October 2009 of two charges of embezzlement for helping divert millions of dollars from a Finnish government … Read more

Anyone who thought Costa Rica’s surprise overture toward Cuba in March 2009 would ruffle the feathers of the Central American country’s close ally, the United States, was likely to be wrong. Not only did Washington have advance information that the administration of former President Oscar Arias would seek rapprochement with the Communist island, the United … Read more

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard Costa Rica’s formal complaint against Nicaragua yesterday—initially filed in November 2010—regarding the ongoing border dispute along the San Juan River. Nicaragua will present its arguments today. Costa Rica’s delegation headed by Jorge Urbina, the permanent representative to the United Nations, presented historical maps from Costa Rica-Nicaragua bilateral agreements … Read more

The San Juan River has not been the only focal point of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua conflict that has been brewing for over a month. Another battle ground, whose boundaries are far less defined than the countries’ river border, reared its head in the dispute: the Internet. In a region not especially known for its computer … Read more

Costa Rican Foreign Minister René Castro arrived to The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday to file a complaint against Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Mr. Castro’s statements called on the court to help end a situation that he says “threatens imminent and irreparable harm” to Costa Rica. Tensions between Nicaragua and Costa Rica … Read more

The Organization of American States (OAS) heard arguments this week from Costa Rican Foreign Minister René Castro on the Nicaraguan military’s alleged “incursion” on to Costa Rican soil. And now, with tensions continuing to heat up, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza arrives in San José tonight for talks with Minister of Foreign Relations René … Read more

A border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua has escalated from finger-pointing to formal diplomatic protesting to its latest development: Costa Rica will issue an appeal this week to the Organization of American States demanding Nicaragua withdraw troops from alleged Costa Rican territory. The land in question, along northeastern Costa Rica and southeastern Nicaragua, is … Read more

Opponents of open-pit mining in Costa Rica have been delivered yet another blow. After their hopes had risen that recently elected President Laura Chinchilla would strike down any attempt to dig here, the Chinchilla administration refused to repeal an executive decree issued by her predecessor, Óscar Arias, green-lighting a gold mine project near the border … Read more

As of June 15, Costa Rica can export 13,880 metric tons of sugar to the U.S. tariff-free, as stipulated under CAFTA-DR. But Washington had suspended Costa Rica’s preferential sugar treatment in January of this year. A move that the country’s sugar cane chamber said cost the sector an estimated $1 million in potential sales. Costa … Read more

Legislators in Costa Rica will hold a final vote today on a measure to increase their own salaries by 60 percent. Debate on the bill, which passed a preliminary vote, 35-20, on Monday, has taken up much of the lawmakers’ attention since the start of the current session of Congress on May 1, with the … Read more

Laura Chinchilla has selected a few good men and women to fill out her cabinet ahead of her May 8 inauguration as Costa Rica‘s president, choosing from within the ranks of outgoing President Oscar Arias’ government as well as borrowing officials from past administrations. On Tuesday, the president-elect said women will be in charge of … Read more