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The U.S. dollar has fallen to its lowest level on record against Costa Rica’s colón, extending a decline that is increasing the purchasing power of the local currency while putting more pressure on expats, retirees and businesses that earn their income in dollars. The weighted average exchange rate in Costa Rica’s Monex foreign exchange market closed yesterday at ₡447.93 per dollar, the lowest level since the Central Bank of Costa Rica began the current historical series on December 6, 2007. The previous record had been set just one day earlier, when the dollar closed at ₡448.17. The decline has continued to show up in the rates consumers see at banks and other financial institutions. For Friday, September 11, the Central Bank’s official reference rate is ₡444.22 for buying dollars and ₡450.06 for selling them. Actual rates offered by individual banks and exchange houses vary. The latest figures mark a substantial change from the start of the year. On January 2, the first Monex se...

Global oil prices climbed back above $100 a barrel this week, and the increase is on course to reach Costa Rica’s gas stations within weeks. Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled at $101.21 yesterday after a 3.4 percent single-session gain. West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.05. The trigger was a fresh escalation in the US-Iran conflict, now in its seventh month. US Central Command said American forces destroyed five Iranian crude tankers on Tuesday after attempted attacks on a US warship. A senior Iranian official, speaking to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, said Tehran was ready for a more intense war rather than back down in the face of the US naval blockade. The rally is not new territory for this conflict as Brent traded around $72 a barrel on February 27, the day before the war began, and peaked above $126 at the end of April. By early July it had slid back to pre-war levels, and this week’s climb leaves it roughly 40 percent above where i...

An employee of Costa Rica’s immigration agency was arrested this morning on suspicion of manipulating official records to push through a residency card renewal for the partner of an alleged leader of a criminal organization operating in Limón. The Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería said its Policía Profesional de Migración detained the woman, a Costa Rican national surnamed Blandón Reyes, and carried out two simultaneous raids in Limón province. One targeted the agency’s Atlantic regional office, where she worked, and the other her home. According to the agency, the investigation indicates the employee used the functions assigned to her post to enter documents and false data into the institution’s systems. The purpose, investigators allege, was to complete the renewal of a DIMEX residency card for a Nicaraguan woman surnamed White Rankin, who was entering Costa Rica at the time. The documents allegedly entered relate to a criminal background record, ...

Snoop Dogg will perform in Costa Rica for the first time on Thursday, December 3, at the Centro de Eventos Pedregal in Belén de Heredia, promoter Don Stockwell of Stockwell Entretenimiento announced at a press conference Wednesday. The show falls under the rapper’s The Next Episode tour and is restricted to adults 18 and older. It is being presented by DAVI BANK and produced by Stockwell Entretenimiento. Tickets will go on sale through Publitickets in the coming days. Stockwell Entretenimiento told reporters it will release more than 38,000 tickets across a footprint of just over 13,000 square meters (roughly 140,000 square feet). Prices and sale times have not been announced. Costa Rican artists Banton and Toledo will open the night, with DJP also on the bill. Toledo told reporters the booking is a rare opportunity for a local performer, describing Snoop Dogg as the most famous rapper in history and comparing his cultural reach to Bob Marley’s. The San José-area da...

President Laura Fernández has passed her first 100 days in office with the approval of nearly two-thirds of Costa Rica. She has also passed them with most Costa Ricans convinced that the man she replaced is still making the decisions. The Center for Research and Political Studies at the University of Costa Rica ( CIEP ), released its first opinion study of the Fernández administration today. Sixty-four percent of respondents rated her performance as good or very good, 25% called it bad or very bad, and 11% described it as average. By recent standards that is a solid opening. It is not, however, where her predecessor stood at the same stage. Rodrigo Chaves registered 79% approval in August 2022, fifteen points above the figure Fernández holds now. Her number instead matches the 64% Chaves carried in May of this year, in the last CIEP measurement taken during his term. The picture shifts when respondents were asked about the government as an institution rather than about the pre...

Tropical wave No. 41 moved into Costa Rica before dawn today, and the part that matters for the rest of your day arrives after lunch. Expect scattered downpours with thunder along the Pacific this afternoon, heaviest in the Central Pacific, the South Pacific and the Nicoya Peninsula. Those storms can push inland as far as the western edge of the Central Valley. Wind is the other half of it as gusts of 50 to 75 kilometers per hour (31 to 47 miles per hour) are forecast across the center and north. That is enough to shove a high-sided vehicle on an exposed stretch of road, and enough to bring down branches, signage and loose roofing. The Caribbean and the Northern Zone get occasional rain through the afternoon and heavier rain overnight. If you live in either region, the night is the part to plan around, not the day. The National Meteorological Institute says wave 41 is not a strong system. That does not mean a quiet day. A weak wave moving through air this humid can still empty...