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A 109-year-old Panamanian farmer has received the land title for the property where he lives and works—six decades after first requesting it from the state, President José Raúl Mulino announced Thursday. Juan Bautista Quiroz waited 60 years for the official document confirming ownership of the land where he has lived for 90 years in the coffee-growing district of Boquete, in the agricultural province of Chiriquí, near the Costa Rican border. “The delivery was made at his home in Chiriquí, as recognition of his perseverance—because honestly, waiting 60 years takes perseverance,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference. “It satisfies me as a public official, but it embarrasses me as a Panamanian,” the president added. Quiroz received the two-hectare land title from the director of the National Land Administration Authority (Anati), Andrés Pagés, last week. His granddaughter, Lucía Del Carmen Espinoza, said that her grandfather has worked on that land his entire life, growing on...

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is recognized worldwide as one of the five blue zones , where people live beyond the age of 90 in good health. This exceptional longevity results from cultural, social, and environmental factors. However, it is at risk.  The University of Costa Rica issued a warning about the emerging challenges that could compromise the sustainability of this area in the future.  In the Guanacaste area, there are up to 23 centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants. These individuals have a better lipid and glycemic profile than their offspring, are lighter, and have a better quality and diversity of diet than their relatives and adults in the urban areas of Costa Rica, according to studies conducted by the University of Costa Rica.  A worrisome change in the health of younger generations is being observed. The abandonment of the traditional diet rich in fresh and local foods has given way to a diet based on ultra-processed and high...

When it comes to AI, call me OG. Old school. I sometimes wish I could go back to a time before it existed. Artificial Intelligence is the future, they say, and I have no reason to doubt this. In many ways, it’s already here. What’s the most asked question these days online? I’m going with, “Is it real or is it AI?” The genie is out of the bottle, and the future belongs to armies of developers—nerds comfortable working with a technology that is incapable of empathy or emotional intelligence. In its present form, AI is capable of acts of pure plagiarism, scanning cyberspace at warp speed to find chunks of information requested in a prompt. I saw this firsthand a couple months back. While reading an online article about declining tourism in Costa Rica from a site called TTW (Travel and Tour World) , I recognized entire sections lifted verbatim from an article I had written for The Tico Times just two days earlier. The parts that weren’t mine were neatly categorized and given headlines...

The Canadian Institute for Health Information in Canada invites applications for vacant Academic Positions, The Canadian Institute for

Costa Rica’s wildlife faces perils, as authorities have continously failed to build wildlife crossings. Nonetheless, the Constitutional Court has taken a firm stance in defense of the country’s fauna. The Cout accepted a motion of disobedience against Efraím Zeledón, executive director of the National Roads Council (CONAVI), for failing to comply with a court order to construct wildlife crossings along Route 32, critical infrastructure intended to protect monkeys, sloths , wild cats, and other species. The legal motion was filed by María Elena Fournier, an activist and member of the Roads and Wildlife Commission. She argued that Conavi has blatantly ignored a 2021 ruling by the IV Chamber, which mandated the construction of 51 wildlife crossings within three months, a deadline that was later extended (once only) by 36 months, expiring in June 2024. According to Fournier’s filing, while 29 of the 31 planned underpasses have been built, none are fully functional due to the a...

Ten of Costa Rica’s leading business chambers have sent a joint letter to the Central Bank calling for an immediate adjustment to the country’s monetary policy. They argue that the persistently low dollar exchange rate is damaging all sectors of the economy and driving up production costs. Sergio Capon, president of the Costa Rican Chamber of Industries (CICR), said the current monetary stance is overly restrictive and stifling business growth. A recent survey cited by the chambers found the exchange rate to be the top concern among business leaders. The chambers also warned of rising prices and overall cost increases that are eroding Costa Ricans’ purchasing power. Costa Rica now enters the second half of the year facing both external and internal pressures that could further impact its economy and the dollar exchange rate. Global conflicts—such as the war in the Middle East—along with higher oil prices and the possibility of rising international interest rates, are all raising ala...