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Costa Rica 911 App Can Locate Users Who Cannot Speak During Emergencies

Costa Rica’s emergency services are urging residents and visitors to download the official 911 application before the August 2 Romería, highlighting features that can locate people in real time and allow them to request help without speaking. The Emergencias 9-1-1 CR app connects users with emergency operators through a standard voice call or an interactive text chat. When either option is activated, the application automatically sends the user’s location to the 911 system. The location feature can be especially useful during the Romería, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims travel on foot toward the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. Someone suffering an injury, medical problem or security threat may not know the name of the road or community where they are located. Instead of requiring the caller to describe an unfamiliar location, the application allows emergency operators to receive that information directly from the phone. The location continues to u...
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Argentina Leads Latin American Charge at Cincinnati Open

Latin American tennis will field one of its deepest contingents of the season at the 2026 Cincinnati Open, with 14 players from six countries currently listed across the ATP and WTA singles fields. The group includes 12 men and two women, led by Argentina’s Francisco Cerúndolo, Brazil’s João Fonseca, Peru’s Ignacio Buse, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, and — in the women’s draw — Colombia’s Camila Osorio and Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. Argentina accounts for eight of the entrants, giving the country by far the largest Latin American delegation at the combined ATP and WTA 1000 tournament. The published lists remain subject to withdrawals and other changes before the draws are completed. Rankings attached to the entries are entry-list positions, not finalized tournament seeds. Cerúndolo arrives as Latin America’s highest-ranked entrant, listed at No. 22 after producing one of the strongest seasons of his career. The 27-year-old won th...
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Costa Rica Plans Integrated Train and Bus Network to Ease Traffic Congestion

Costa Rica’s national railway institute is pushing to link the country’s trains, buses, and taxis into a single coordinated network, a plan its backers say could finally give commuters in the capital region a faster alternative to sitting in traffic. The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles ( Incofer ) is promoting what it calls an intermodal public transport system, designed so that different modes of travel connect smoothly rather than competing for the same passengers. The aim is to shorten travel times and improve mobility across the Greater Metropolitan Area, the densely populated ring of cities spanning San José, Alajuela, Heredia, and Cartago where most of the chronic congestion is concentrated. Incofer is developing the scheme alongside the Cámara Nacional de Transportes (Canatrans), the national transport chamber that represents the country’s bus operators. The plan is built around the Tren Eléctrico de Pasajeros, the electric passenger train that...
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US Issues Chikungunya Alert for Costa Rica Travelers

If you are heading to Guanacaste this month, pack insect repellent and treat mosquito bites as a real risk rather than a minor annoyance. The U.S. Embassy in San José has told American travelers to take active precautions against chikungunya after health officials confirmed the mosquito-borne virus is now spreading within the local mosquito population along part of the province’s coast. The warning, issued on July 13, centers on Playa Langosta and the wider Santa Cruz area — the same beach community near Tamarindo where Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health declared an outbreak on July 1 . Of 45 suspected cases investigated at that point, four were laboratory-confirmed and 17 were classified as probable, and those infected included both Costa Ricans and foreign visitors. What has changed since then is the scale. The Health Ministry’s most recent count puts the national total at 21 chikungunya cases for 2026, up from the 16 reported when the embassy first published ...
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Costa Rica Clears Legal Path for Recope to Move Beyond Petroleum

Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly has approved a reform that frees the state fuel company to work with energy sources other than oil for the first time, though drivers should not expect any immediate change in what they pay at the pump. Lawmakers gave final approval on July 16, to the Law to Promote the Energy Transition in the Fuel Sector, passing it in second debate with 54 votes in favor, none against and three legislators absent. The bill had cleared its first debate two days earlier, capping an effort that had stalled repeatedly in the Assembly over more than a decade. It now goes to the executive branch for the president’s signature and publication before it can take effect. The reform rewrites the 1981 law governing the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo, or Recope , which until now was limited by statute to refining, transporting and selling petroleum and its derivatives. Under the new framework, Recope keeps every one of those responsibilities but gains a...
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Costa Rica Faces Water Rationing and Wildfire Risk as El Niño Deepens

A strong El Niño has taken hold over Costa Rica and will keep much of the country drier and hotter than normal through the rest of 2026, according to the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional ( IMN ), which expects the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation to persist into early 2027. The institute’s early-warning system for the phenomenon has moved from watch to advisory, the threshold at which forecasters treat the event as essentially certain rather than probable, and officials have compared its likely strength to the 2014–2015 episode. The effect falls unevenly across the country: the Pacific slope and the Central Valley face significant rainfall deficits and rising temperatures, while the Caribbean is expected to stay near or above its normal rainfall. The institute’s projections have grown more severe over the course of the year. In April, IMN director Werner Stolz estimated a nationwide rainfall deficit of between 10 and 30 percent. By mid-year, Karina Her...
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Panama Bill Would Require Influencers to Disclose Paid Posts

Panama’s National Assembly is considering a bill that would require social media influencers and content creators to clearly identify when their posts are paid advertising rather than independent recommendations. Deputy Walkiria Chandler D’Orcy, a member of the Vamos coalition, presented the proposal to the Assembly plenary on July 13, 2026. The measure aims to stop what she described as hidden advertising that takes advantage of the trust followers place in creators. “What the user does not know is that many times behind that recommendation there is advertising, there is a contract, there is a payment, there is some product that has been given to that influencer or a commission for each sale… it seems to be an opinion, it is really advertising that was not identified as such,” Chandler said during the presentation. She linked the bill to Panama’s existing consumer protection rules under Law 45 of 2007. That law already requires advertising to be presented clearly so consumers...
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