Q REPORTS — Across Central America and the Caribbean, dictatorships and military governments left a lasting imprint on political life. Throughout the 20th century, leaders concentrated power, curtailed civil liberties and used state institutions to...

Q COSTA RICA — Rafael Antonio Valdez García allegedly killed his spouse, Jasmina López Castro, and their 9-year-old daughter, Belkania Balezka Valdez López, in Liberia, Guanacaste. He then made a phone call to a neighbor to notify the police so ...

Q COSTA RICA — Nicaraguans make up 87% of refugee applications in Costa Rica, according to Cindy Molina, head of the Refugee Unit at the country’s Directorate General of Migration and Foreign Affairs. She gave the figure during a meeting with Cos...

RICO’s Q —The warning is familiar: “Don’t make me use my Italian voice.” It sounds like a playful threat, delivered before a family argument, a noisy dinner, or a minor household dispute gets any louder. The joke is simple. The speaker ...

Q COSTA RICA — Kendry Alberto Ferguson Madison, convicted of drug-related offenses, surrendered to the courts in Limón on Saturday, October 24—12 days after the Ministry of Justice authorized his release from prison, despite the fact that he was...

Q COSTA RICA — The Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health) reported a marked increase in syphilis and gonorrhea diagnoses during 2026. The official epidemiological report, based on records from the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), confi...

Q COSTA RICA  — The planned expansion of Ruta Nacional 1 between San José and San Ramón has been one of Costa Rica’s most debated infrastructure projects for more than two decades. Intended to ease congestion on the country’s main route towa...

Q COSTA RICA — After three decades of waiting and five failed attempts, Costa Rica has taken another step toward expanding one of its most important transportation corridors, the route between San José and San Ramón, which is expected to begin in...

Q COSTA RICA — Members of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly Commission on Women approved a replacement text that removes emergency contraception from a bill designed to formalize medical and institutional assistance for rape survivors. The amendm...

Q COSTA RICA — A scientific study estimates that Costa Rica’s cultivated land uses an average of 21.9 kilograms of pesticide active ingredients per hectare each year—nearly twice the official national figure. The difference, researchers say, is...