All Entries in the "Government" Category

Made in Costa Rica: U.S. Major League baseballs

Costa Rica is home to the world’s only authorized U.S. Major League (MLB) baseball manufacturing facility.

More than 300 Costa Rican workers sit in neat rows in the town of Turrialba, Cartago Province for 10 hours a day sewing the 108 stitches that make-up each Rawlings official MLB baseball.

Analysis of the Newly Opened Costa Rica Insurance Market

Costa Rica President Óscar Arias Sánchez signed into law Costa Rica’s new insurance reform ending the Instituto Nacional de Seguros’ (INS) eighty-year-old monopoly over the country’s insurance industry.

Can the INS compete in an open market with other private insurers on price, product diversity and service?

Rush Limbaugh: if U.S. Healthcare Passes “I’ll go to Costa Rica”

U.S. conservative radio ’shock jock’ Rush Limbaugh said he will go to Costa Rica if the U.S. Congress approves President Barack Obama’s health care reform initiative.

Limbaugh further added that many insurance companies are setting up camp in Costa Rica because they believe they’ll be put out of business if Obamacare passes.

Socialite Kim Kardashian and NFL Star Reggie Bush in Costa Rica

Reality star Kim Kardashian and New Orleans Saints NFL star running back Reggie Bush spent this past weekend soaking up the sun in beautiful Costa Rica.

‘The Tush and The Bush’ as they are often referred, were spotted vacationing in the Papagayo Gulf area of Guanacaste Province.

Costa Rica’s 10 Most Unique Hotels

Costa Rica is a place where competition for travelers’ dollars is intense and hotel property owners work hard to be different.

How does a “Hobbit Hotel” or secluded resort of geodesic-dome “jungalows” sound? Here are some of the ‘most unique’ hotels from all corners of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica – a Rock & Roll, Fire Spitting, Living Earth Paradise

The natural forces that make Costa Rica beautiful are still hard at work. Costa Rica has several mountain ranges that cover a large part of the country. Nestled within the mountains and standing majestically elsewhere on their own are 50 known volcanoes, with several being active at all times.

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton in Costa Rica for Regional Ministers’ Conference

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived early Thursday in the capital of San José, Costa Rica to meet the country’s leaders as well as ministers from 16 Central and South American nations for a conference to discuss economic and democracy reform issues.

Mrs. Clinton will meet with President Oscar Arias Sánchez and president-elect Laura Chinchilla…

Internet and e-Commerce Industries Booming in Costa Rica

Central American countries, like Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, are all experiencing a considerable scale of development in their telecommunication sectors.

However, Costa Rica has managed to reach a high level of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and operation advancements due to its economic policies.

Is Costa Rica a Third World, Second World or Developed Country?

There is a multi-million-dollar mega-mall in Escazú, west of San José, which sports outlets of some of the world’s most exclusive stores. But, according to the State of the Nation report in November, at least 16,000 Costa Rican homes are “without basic services,” such as electricity and running water.

A constant feature of this disparity in the makeup of Costa Rica is that, while certain areas of the country are surging ahead, there are many areas in which the country is not keeping up or is, indeed, falling behind.

El Niño and Pathogen Killed Costa Rica Toad – Not Global Warming

The Monteverde golden toad, vanished from Costa Rica’s Pacific coastal-mountain cloud forest in the late 1980s. The role that climate change played in the toad’s demise has been fiercely debated in recent years.

According to a new study, global warming did not kill a Costa Rica amphibian often cited as an example of climate-triggered extinction.

Costa Rica’s New Traffic Laws Take Effect March 1, 2010

Costa Rica’s new and sweeping traffic reform laws (reformas a Ley de Tránsito) will finally be the law of the land on March 1st, 2010.

The cornerstone of the new reform is the computerization of drivers’ license records, and the use of a strict points system to force drivers to re-evaluate and change their driving practices.

Traveling with Kids in Costa Rica; an Age-by-Age Guide

Costa Rica is a near-perfect family vacation destination. Not only does it have exotic wildlife, jungles, and volcanoes, it’s easy to get to, warm, and safe for tourists —all in all a perfect entry-level adventure trip.
Thinking of venturing to Costa Rica with your family this year? Here’s a guide to the best kinds of trips [...]

Costa Rica’s New Immigration Law Takes Effect March 1, 2010

Costa Rica’s new immigration law (nueva ley migratoria) was published in the official government publication La Gaceta on September 1, 2009 … meaning the new “Ley General de Migración y Extranjería” will be the Costa Rica immigration law of the land starting March 1, 2010.
Costa Rica is a world-wide destination for vacationers, travelers, those seeking [...]

Why and How To Do Business in Costa Rica

Investments in education and development make this Central American nation a hotspot for high-tech companies and suppliers.
Costa Rica’s vote and approval of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) put the nation of 4 million people in the spotlight as a potential trade partner for U.S. firms. But savvy global companies—and even savvier buyers—have considered [...]

Costa Rica’s “La Gloria” Guanacaste Wind Farm Now Online

Costa Rica in its quest to be the first carbon neutral country on Earth has reached new heights toward its goal with the completion of the Proyecto Eólico Guanacaste or “La Gloria” electric generating wind farm.
55 wind turbines located at a spectacular site near the Miravalle Volcano (Volcán Miravalle) in Cordillera de Guanacaste, in close [...]

My Dream is to Own a Costa Rica Bed and Breakfast

So your dream is to own a B&B in the Paradise of Costa Rica?!
Wake up; wake up from that nightmare…. Yes, shake yourself; make sure you don’t eat real late at night again.  Owning a B&B sounds romantic and great.  It seems like a real money maker and it can be.  It can also [...]

The Ancient and Mysterious Stone Spheres of Costa Rica

In the 1930’s, the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International) was excavating the fertile, yet remote, farmlands of Costa Rica, near the Diquis Valley on the Pacific Ocean coast. United Fruit is the major importer of bananas and they became interested in this region of Costa Rica because of a blight that had killed [...]

Costa Rica Gambling; In-Country or Online [but not at the same time]

Casino gambling in Costa Rica has been around for decades, for the most part doing business as they wish with few enforced regulations.

Today, there are more than 30 large casinos and well over 100 online casino, poker, sports book and bingo websites operating out of Costa Rica – available to gamblers worldwide.

Boosting Biodiversity and the Global Economy by Saving a Species

“Forty-nine”, a researcher whispers.
After counting the slimy, round white eggs just laid by a rare leatherback turtle in a hole dug in the sand under bright moonlight on Playa Grande beach in Costa Rica; researcher Tera Dornfeld marks the site of the eggs after the female turtle has filled in the hole with her giant [...]

The Agenda and Challenges of Costa Rica’s New President

Costa Rica’s first woman head of state, president-elect Laura Chinchilla, must now get to work.
For decades Costa Rica has been an oasis of stability in the troubled Central American isthmus. It is the only Latin American country to figure on a list of the world’s 22 “older democracies” compiled by Robert Dahl, an eminent political [...]