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Nicaragua Bishop Abelardo Mata Says He Is Well After Detention

Catholic Bishop Abelardo Mata, a critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, said he is in good condition in an interview broadcast Wednesday by the government, which released him days earlier following his arrest over alleged corruption. Mata, 80, was detained on June 29 for questioning about the origin of his properties, which Nicaragua’s Interior Ministry said did not correspond “with his status as a priest.” Authorities officially announced his release on July 4. “Thank you, I’m fine,” Mata said in an interview at his home with state-run Channel 6 that was circulated by pro-government media. The interview made no mention of the bishop’s detention. Mata appeared to be in good health, while the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had previously requested information about his whereabouts. “Prayer helps a lot,” Mata said after the journalist repeatedly remarked that he appeared to have “a lot of vitality.” The United States denounced what it cal...
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World Surf League Returns to Costa Rica at Playa Hermosa

Professional surfing returns to Costa Rica’s international stage today as the Garabito Surf City PRO 2026 gets underway at Playa Hermosa, bringing an official World Surf League competition back to the country for the first time in nearly eight years. The four-day competition runs from August 13 through August 16 at the well-known surf beach just south of Jacó. Surfers from 19 countries are expected to compete, including 23 representing Costa Rica. The event features men’s and women’s QS 2000 competition. The Qualifying Series is part of the World Surf League system in which professional surfers earn ranking points as they try to move into higher levels of international competition. Winners at Playa Hermosa can earn up to 2,000 ranking points. For Costa Rica, however, the tournament is about more than results in the water. Tourism officials and local organizers see the return of the WSL as another opportunity to promote the Central Pacific coast as an international surf destina...
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Lionel Messi Says He May Not Play Much Longer After Father’s Death

Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi said Wednesday that he has “a lot of doubts” about whether he will continue playing football “for much longer,” in an emotional farewell letter to his father and agent, Jorge Messi, who died Friday at the age of 68. In his first public reaction since his father’s death, the 39-year-old star reflected on the final months of his father’s life, which were marked by the worsening cancer that ultimately killed him, according to media reports. Jorge Messi’s declining health, after playing a central role throughout his son’s brilliant career, coincided with the 2026 World Cup in North America. Argentina lost the final 1-0 to Spain on July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on. All I ever did was play football, and now I have a lot of doubts about whether I’ll keep doing it for much longer,” Messi wrote in a letter posted on Instagram alongside photographs of himself with his father. ...
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Costa Rica Free-Zone Growth Slows to Weakest Pace Since 2020

Growth in Costa Rica’s free-zone economy slowed sharply in June, falling to its weakest pace since 2020 and extending a year-long deceleration in one of the country’s most important economic sectors. Economic activity among companies operating under Costa Rica’s special regimes, which include most free-zone companies, grew 2.9% in June compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the latest Monthly Economic Activity Index, or IMAE, from the Central Bank of Costa Rica. That was down from 17.2% annual growth in June 2025 and marked the 12th consecutive month in which the sector’s growth rate slowed. The Central Bank attributed much of the slowdown to weaker growth among manufacturers, particularly medical-device producers, as well as lower output of metal products such as electronic components and circuit boards. Professional and administrative services, including advertising, also lost momentum. Free-zone manufacturing grew just 1.2% year over year in June. Manufac...
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Gota a Gota Loans in Costa Rica — Warning Signs

If someone offers you cash the same day with no paperwork, no credit check and no questions about your income, understand what you are agreeing to before you take it. According to the Organismo de Investigación Judicial, more than 95% of collection-extortion cases tied to informal loans end in aggression or violence against the borrower. That is the part people do not see coming. The loan itself arrives easily and politely. The pressure starts later. José Rojas, an investigator with the OIJ’s Sección de Delitos Varios, explains why the trap is hard to recognize at the start. Lending money is not a crime in Costa Rica. The problem is that these arrangements sit entirely outside the formal financial system, so no one regulates the interest, supervises the collection, or holds a record of what you actually owe. While you are paying on time, nothing looks wrong. There is usually no conflict at all. The moment you fall behind is when the arrangement shows what it is. Because t...
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Costa Rica’s “Pecho de Rata” Weighs Possible U.S. Plea Deal

Edwin Danney López Vega, the Costa Rican alleged drug trafficker known as “Pecho de Rata,” could avoid a full jury trial in the United States after his defense confirmed it is reviewing a plea proposal from federal prosecutors. López Vega’s attorney, Gaylon P. Riddels, asked a federal judge in Texas for additional time to review the government’s proposal, discuss its terms with his client and continue negotiations with prosecutors. López Vega has not agreed to plead guilty, and the terms of the proposed deal have not been made public. Chief U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III approved the request yesterday and postponed the final pretrial conference from September 4, 2026, until January 8, 2027, at the Paul Brown United States Courthouse in Sherman, Texas. The delay gives the defense several additional months to examine evidence and decide whether a negotiated guilty plea makes more sense than taking the case before a jury. December 18 is now the key date. The court ordere...
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New York Lawyers Group Raises Alarm Over Costa Rica Court Budget Cuts

One of the oldest and largest bar associations in the United States has asked two international bodies to keep watch over Costa Rica’s judiciary, citing budget reductions imposed by the Executive Branch and the Legislative Assembly’s failure to appoint enough substitute justices to the Constitutional Chamber. The New York City Bar Association published the statement on Monday, August 10. It calls on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers to monitor developments here. Founded in 1870, the association counts more than 20,000 members across the United States and in over 50 countries, among them judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, government lawyers and academics. The statement was prepared by its Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, with Jaime Chávez Alor and Cuitlahuac Castillo Camarena named as authors alongside Christopher Ferguson of the association’s T...
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