International Business News - Rica http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Costa Rica has replaced two top intelligence officials because a government password apparently was used to loot private bank accounts. Prosecutors have accused the deputy director of the Intelligence and Security Directorate, Roberto Guillen, of helping steal from private bank accounts after accessing credit reports through a government account with a private data company. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081203/costa-rica-ousts-top-2-intel-officials.htm Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:57:35 EST Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is in Singapore to start talks on a bilateral free trade agreement. The accord will cover investment, services, telecommunications and tourism, among other areas. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081202/costa-rica-singapore-start-trade-talks.htm Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:07:00 EST Tourists flying into Costa Rica will soon have to pay a new $15 tax. The new tax on plane tickets replaces a 3 percent tax on hotel rooms that generated just $10 million a year and was hard to enforce. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081121/costa-rica-puts-15-tax-on-plane-tickets.htm Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:00:40 EST A Costa Rican official says two Americans and four others have been arrested for allegedly sending restricted pharmaceutical drugs to the United States. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081120/costa-rica-arrests-6-for-medicine-shipments-to-us.htm Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:27:16 EST A 6.2 earthquake has struck overnight on the frontier between Panama and Costa Rica, shaking people in their beds but causing no damage or injuries. Costa Rica's earthquake observatory says the quake struck just after midnight Wednesday, about 15 miles (25 kms) deep. Its epicenter was 7 miles (12 kms) north of the Panamanian frontier town of Puerto Armuelles. Red Cross officials say the quake felt quite strong but said they had no information about damage. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081119/6-2-quake-strikes-costa-rica-panama-frontier.htm Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:34:15 EST In Cleveland, snowfall and icy breezes have greeted a business delegation from tropical Costa Rica. The Central American nation is exploring how it might use the port of Cleveland as an entryway for selling its products throughout the U.S. Midwest. Cargo would arrive in Cleveland via the St. Lawrence Seaway. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081117/costa-rican-businesses-check-out-cleveland.htm Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:05:09 EST Costa Rica is finally ready to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The country signed the accord in 2004 along with the rest of Central America, the United States and the Dominican Republic. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081111/ending-4-year-battle-costa-rica-approves-cafta.htm Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:22:36 EST A Costa Rican official says U.S. authorities have intercepted a submarine-like vessel packed with tons of cocaine. Security Minister Janina del Vecchio said in a statement Tuesday that the 70-foot (20-meter) vessel was intercepted by the U.S. Navy in international waters near Costa Rica. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080917/us-navy-seizes-cocaine-laden-sub-off-costa-rica.htm Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:16:28 EDT Costa Rica's highest court on Thursday overturned an intellectual property law demanded by the U.S. prior to the enactment of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080911/costa-rica-top-court-blocks-us-trade-pact-approval.htm Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:38:14 EDT A Texas woman wanted by the FBI for international parental kidnapping has been awarded refugee status in Costa Rica and cannot be extradited to the United States. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/98341-costa-rica-u-s-extradition.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080726/wanted-us-woman-freed-in-costa-rica.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080726/wanted-us-woman-freed-in-costa-rica.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:23:12 EDT A Texas woman wanted by the FBI for international parental kidnapping has been awarded asylum in Costa Rica and cannot be extradited to the United States. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080725/us-woman-gets-asylum-in-costa-rica.htm Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:36:19 EDT Costa Rica is saying goodbye to its 84-year-old insurance monopoly as it opens the industry to national and international competition. Lawmakers late Tuesday approved legislation to end the government-run Insurance Institute. President Oscar Arias is expected to sign it into law. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/costa-rica-to-end-insurance-monopoly.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:18:47 EDT Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., which makes fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, said Monday it bought two Costa Rica fruit companies and an affiliated sales and marketing business for a total of $403 million. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080609/fresh-del-monte-produce-buys-costa-rica-producers.htm Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:21:17 EDT Costa Rica has broken up its state-run telecommunications monopoly. The law signed Wednesday by President Oscar Arias meets one of the requirements demanded by Washington for the implementation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080605/costa-rica-ends-telecommunications-monopoly.htm Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:39:55 EDT Doctors have ordered Costa Rican President Oscar Arias not to talk for a month due to a cyst on his vocal cords, his office said Wednesday. Arias, a 67-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, had been losing his voice for several weeks and traveled Tuesday to be examined at the Philadelphia Ears, Nose and Throat Associates medical center, his office said in a statement. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080522/doctors-tell-costa-rican-leader-to-rest-voice.htm Thu, 22 May 2008 01:29:55 EDT Endangered scarlet macaws born in captivity are reproducing in the wild for the first time on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast. The ZooAve Center for the Rescue of Endangered Species has released 100 of the birds into the wild in the last decade. But biologists didn't spot offspring until last year, said biologist Laura Fournier. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/44727-aptopix-costa-rica-bird-rescue.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080508/captive-macaws-now-reproduce-in-the-wild-in-costa-rica.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080508/captive-macaws-now-reproduce-in-the-wild-in-costa-rica.htm Thu, 08 May 2008 03:09:10 EDT Costa Rica has suspended legal cooperation with the United States and filed a diplomatic protest over what it called the "disrespectful" treatment of its attorney general at the Miami International Airport. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080426/costa-rica-protests-us-airport-security.htm Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:14:55 EDT