Free Republic

Two teenage girls from Germany were detained, arrested, and deported at an airport in Hawaii after immigration officials said it was suspicious they had not booked a hotel room. Backpackers Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu from Auckland while undergoing a round-the-world trip. The duo planned to spend five weeks in Hawaii before moving onto California and Costa Rica for the next legs of their journey. But despite having ESTA travel authorization, immigration officials accused them of attempting to enter the U.S. to work illegally, and they were placed in handcuffs and taken to a nearby...

NATIONAL BANANA DAY On the third Wednesday in April, take a bite of the fruit that also makes an excellent prop for jokes on National Banana Day! #NationalBananaDay The day focuses on the nutrition of the fruit as well as the way comedy has used the banana in its acts. This low-fat, low-calorie snack offers a boost of fiber, potassium, and vitamins, with B6 and C leading the way. It also provides a healthy gram of protein, too. Add a banana to your morning cereal or grab one to go with your granola. They also add so much delicious flavor...

The Chinese Foreign Ministry berated the administration of President Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in particular, on Friday for addressing the threat of Chinese regime influence during a tour to Central America and the Caribbean this week. Rubio made his first international travel after being sworn into the top diplomat position a visit to Panama, followed by stops in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. The growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party in these countries was a prominent topic of discussion, particularly in Panama, where Chinese influence over the Panama Canal has become...

BREAKING: 8.0-magnitude earthquake hits the Caribbean Sea - PTWC

President Donald Trump’s deputies are shutting down a semi-secret federal program that moves wage-cutting labor from Central and South America into American and European workplaces.The Safe Mobility Initiative sought to create many Safe Mobility Offices in foreign countries where low-wage foreigners could apply for visas to live and work in the United States and Europe.CBS News reported on January 23:The Trump administration is shutting down processing offices in Latin America that the Biden administration set up to give migrants legal immigration options and dissuade them from crossing the southern border illegally, according to internal government documents obtained by CBS News.The...

A major bitcoin investor has suddenly died, leaving behind a cryptocurrency fortune reportedly worth more than $2 billion. Mircea Popescu, a Romanian national, drowned last week off the coast of Costa Rica, local reports said. He was 41. Popescu drowned at Playa Hermosa, according to Teletica.com, which reported that Popescu was swept away by the current and died. His death has prompted questions surrounding what will now happen to Popescu's enormous bitcoin fortune. Popescu, a controversial figure sometimes referred to as "the father of bitcoin toxicity," is known for launching a "bitcoin securities exchange" called MPEx in 2012, according to...

Pope Francis chose Costa Rican coffee. During the traditional Wednesday audience in Vatican City, the head of the Catholic Church expressed his appreciation for the Costa Rican coffee bean when he met with a group of 47 pilgrims from the Diocese of Ciudad Quesada. “You know you have the best coffee in the world,” Pope Francis told the group. Minutes earlier, the Bishop of Ciudad Quesada, José Manuel Garita Herrera, had given him a bag of coffee. “I told the Holy Father that I was coming with the Jubilee Pilgrimage and that I was bringing him the best coffee in...

Costa Rica squared off against the U.S. team in a World Cup Qualifying game on March 23, 1997, at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in San José. My young son and I were seated in the middle section, near row 30. Saprissa is a stadium where the U.S. could never win against its CONCACAF rival. Bruce Arena, former U.S. national team coach, described it in a Sports Illustrated article (Andrea Corrales, 2009) as: “The way the stadium is, the fans are right on top of you.” Arena went on to say, “That’s intimidating for players, but even more for officials.” Landon Donovan...

MEXICO CITY — In Peru, there is talk of building a monument in his honor. In Honduras and Ecuador, leaders have copied his draconian security policies, his tough-on-crime rhetoric — and even his fashion choices. In Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia and Guatemala, citizens have taken to the streets calling on their own governments to embrace his extreme strategies for combating violence. The brash young autocrat has won legions of fans throughout the region for a sweeping crackdown on gangs that has dramatically lowered violent crime. That his “mano dura” policies draw scorn from human rights and democracy advocates seems to...

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Monday agreed to create a “League of Nations,” a bloc of like-minded smaller developing countries with common objectives in security, economy, and other areas. The prospective and yet-to-be formally named group, President Chaves explained, will start with El Salvador and Costa Rica, and aims to promote joint ideas and propose them to the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and to the rest of the world. Both presidents made the announcement in remarks given after a private meeting on the occasion of Bukele’s two-day visit to Costa Rica.

Four police officers in Costa Rica appeared in court in San José this Wednesday, accused of killing a dog after running it over with their patrol cars. They could face sentences of up to three years in prison for the incident. At the courthouse entrance, several animal rights advocates were protesting as they awaited the arrival of the accused. The incident occurred on August 9th in a neighborhood in the eastern part of the Costa Rican capital when the officers, in two police vehicles, were trying to exit a blocked street and ran over a dog lying on the pavement....

In what is hopefully a significant blow to drug trafficking operations, the Costa Rican Coast Guard intercepted a semi-submersible vessel yesterday, seizing approximately two tons of cocaine. The operation, which took place 148 kilometers off our southern Pacific coast, demonstrated the unwavering commitment of our nation’s authorities in the fight against narcotics trade. Acting on intelligence provided by U.S. patrol aircraft, our Coast Guard swiftly located and intercepted the vessel. In a dramatic turn of events, the three suspects aboard – two Colombians and one Ecuadorian – attempted to sink their craft to destroy evidence. However, our skilled officers thwarted...

Vultures look so graceful soaring in circles high above. Sometimes a lone black specimen can be spotted with wings stretched flat to catch updrafts, and sometimes a cloud of 20 or more of these huge birds may be silhouetted against the sky. They don’t stop; rather, with a few wing flaps, they continue their rounds until it’s time to drop for food. They don’t look as nice sitting in a tree, a whole flock of them with shoulders hunched and black beady eyes looking you over as if checking your state of health. Even worse is the sight of a...

1. Finland - 2. Denmark - 3. Iceland - 4. Netherlands - 5. Sweden - 6. Israel - 7. Norway - 8. Costa Rica - 9. Belgium - 10. Australia [USA? - You need to submit your email address to read the article - I passed on that opportunity]

US Family Finds New Life in Costa Rican Blue Zone CNN published the story of a U.S. family that moved to Costa Rica, and it changed their lives completely. Kema Ward-Hopper and Nicholas Hopper decided to get married in the Central American nation, and years later, they made the decision to permanently relocate. Now, they live in one of Costa Rica’s blue zones, an area characterized by longevity, a slow-paced life, and a healthy lifestyle. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months before their wedding in 2016. “[I had] started treatment and everything. If you see pictures from...

(February 12, 2024). | Fireballs in skies by David de Chiriquí, #Panamá . and Fireballs flying through the skies of Puntarenas, Gulf of Nicoya, credits: Twitter X ⚠️Alerta Climagram🌎 @deZabedrosky

An abandoned airfield now houses a miserable camp with thousands of migrants who crossed from Panama to Costa Rica and were stranded lacking $30 to continue towards the United States. Paso Canoas, the main border crossing between Panama and Costa Rica, has become a crossroads for migrants: those who have money only stay a few hours in the place and those who do not have money see their “American dream” become a “nightmare.” “The 22 days I’ve been here have been hell for me because my children have been sick, we’ve been hungry because we haven’t had money, we can’t...

Late last month an eight year old boy was attacked and taken away by a large crocodile while swimming in a river with his family outside of Cuatro Millas de Matina, Limon. After nearly a month of waiting for officials to find the boy and the animal, local residents took matters into their own hands. They formed a hunting party over the weekend and set out to find the crocodile they believed was responsible for the attack. They found the crocodile and they killed it. The crocodile was over four meters in length. The crocodile was cut open and they...

Rainer Schaller -- who owns Gold's Gym, among other brands -- is missing alongside his family after their plane disappeared overnight ... with officials all but confirming they're dead. A private plane carrying Schaller, his partner Christiane Schikorsky, their children and a reported fitness trainer are listed as the five passengers who have gone unaccounted for since their aircraft vanished off the Costa Rican coast while traveling from Mexico Friday. Reports say the plane lost all communication with a control tower while it was flying near Barra del Parismina in the Caribbean Sea -- and now, the Costa Rican Coast...

Managua (AFP) – One evening as she watched some local kids play outside in her Managua neighborhood, Nicaraguan Mireya Alegria was shocked to see police, motorcycles and a white van carrying hooded men speed past. “They started firing,” she says. It was the moment she decided enough was enough. Now Alegria is one of the thousands of Nicaraguans desperately seeking to process migration documents and flee to neighboring Central American countries, as two months of anti-government dissent has triggered increasingly violent state repression. “Thousands of people come daily to do paperwork,” said Nubia Manzanares, a migration agent, adding that many...