Costa Rica

Reviving Rainforests: Your Help is Needed

S. Jacob Scherr | Posted 11.24.2009 | Impact


S. Jacob Scherr

Last year, NRDC launched its Revive a Rainforest campaign to restore forests in Costa Rica. With the help and generosity of our many online supporters, the first stage of our Revive a Rainforest campaign was a true success.

Inspirational Stories From No Impact Week: The DC Green Muslims, Volunteering In Costa Rica And Confronting "Poverty Consciousness"

Huffington Post | Matthew Palevksy | Posted 11.05.2009 | Green


Starting Sunday October 18, HuffPost hosted the inaugural No Impact Week, where people around the globe examined and reduced their ecological footprin...

Switzerland, Slovakia qualify for World Cup

AP | STUART CONDIE | Posted 10.14.2009 | Home


— Switzerland and Slovakia earned Europe's final two automatic berths for next year's World Cup on Wednesday night, while Argentina tried to beat out Uruguay and Ecuador for South America's last certain spot in the 32-nation field.

Costa Rica played at the United States, which clinched its sixth straight berth last weekend, and the Ticos hoped to stay ahead of Honduras and gain the final automatic place from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Ukraine finished second in their groups and joined Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Ireland and Russia in the European playoffs. They will be drawn into four pairs on Monday, and the winners of home-and-home, total-goals matches on Nov. 14 and 18 will qualify for next year's 32-nation field.

By the end of Wednesday, 23 of the 32 nations will have been determined for next year's tournament in South Africa.

In addition to the U.S., Mexico had ensured a berth in CONCACAF, while Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia and Spain had clinched automatic berths in Europe. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay had earned berths from South America, and Australia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea won Asia's spots. Ghana and Ivory Coast joined host South Africa, which qualified automatically as host.

Hondurans agree on constitution; no deal on Zelaya

AP | JUAN CARLOS LLORCA | Posted 10.14.2009 | Home


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' opposing factions agreed Tuesday on nearly every point of a pact to end the political crisis except the central issue: ousted President Manuel Zelaya's return to the presidency.

Negotiators said Zelaya's camp has promised that if he returns to power, he will drop his efforts to change the Honduran constitution, an initiative that led to his June 28 ouster.

Juan Barahona, a Zelaya supporter who has led street protests against the coup, walked out of the talks Tuesday in protest of the agreement on the constitution. He vowed to continue fighting for a new constitution on his own even if Zelaya is restored to office.

Critics say Zelaya was seeking to extend his time in office by removing a constitutional ban on presidential re-election, as his ally Hugo Chavez has done in Venezuela. Zelaya denied that was his intention, but soldiers flew him into exile at gunpoint after he ignored court orders to drop a referendum to ask Hondurans if they wanted an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

Zelaya sneaked back into Honduras on Sept. 21 and is holed up at the Brazilian Embassy. The United States and other countries have suspended aid to the Central American country to pressure the interim government to restore Zelaya.

US player Davies: several broken bones in accident

AP | JOSEPH WHITE | Posted 10.14.2009 | Home


ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. national team forward Charlie Davies is in surgery after a single-car accident in the Washington, D.C., area.

U.S. Soccer Federation Neil Buethe says Davies was in stable condition and that his injuries are not life-threatening. Davies, who plays for the French club Sochaux, was expected to required more than 5 hours of surgery.

One person died in the accident, which took place at about 3:15 a.m. Tuesday in the southbound lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia. The U.S. Park Police identified the fatality as Ashley J. Roberta, 22, of Phoenix, Md.

Hondurans agree on constitution; no deal on Zelaya

AP | JUAN CARLOS LLORCA | Posted 10.14.2009 | Home


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' opposing factions have resumed talks aimed at ending the crisis prompted by the June ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

The talks initiated last week produced some signs of progress before breaking off for the weekend.

Zelaya negotiator Rassel Tome says she hopes Tuesday's negotiations will advance on the central point – Zelaya's return to power.

The international community has been pressuring the interim government to reinstate Zelaya before the Nov. 29 presidential election that was scheduled before the coup. Micheletti's government has rejected the plan so far.

Micheletti representative Armando Aguilar says talks could continue for weeks.

Costa Rica Sex Trade Thrives During Global Recession

Huffington Post | Posted 10.13.2009 | World


The Miami Herald reports that the global recession has boosted Costa Rica's sex trade as more women from countries throughout Latin America travel to ...

Vegetarian Spider Discovered: Bagheera Kiplingi Eats Mostly Plant Buds From Acacia Plants

A First | Posted 10.12.2009 | Green


A tropical jumping spider that eats mostly plant buds has been identified, a new study says--making it the only known vegetarian out of some 40,000 sp...

Richard Roundtree on Surviving Breast Cancer

Essence | Essence | Posted 10.10.2009 | Home

Read More: Costa Rica, Home News

Don't believe the hype: breast cancer doesn't discriminate. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 about 1,910 new cases of invasive breas...

Countries Billionaires Could Buy: Forbes

forbes.com | Brian S. Wesbury and Robert Stein | Posted 10.06.2009 | Business


Castles in France. Islands in the Caribbean. Private jets. With a collective $1.27 trillion at their disposal, the members of The Forbes 400 could buy...

A Goal for Copenhagen: Keep the Focus on Enforcement

Peter Lehner | Posted 11.24.2009 | Green


Peter Lehner

There's no silver bullet that can resolve the carbon emissions problem in Copenhagen, but there are steps that can be taken to help developing nations strengthen their institutions and, with that, enforcement.

Zelaya Returns Through Bold Direct Action

Tom Hayden | Posted 11.22.2009 | World


Tom Hayden

Zelaya traveled over the Nicaraguan border and followed back roads with a small security force until reaching the Brazilian embassy in Teguchigalpa, undetected all the way by the coup government.

Serious Citizenship

Robert Koehler | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics


Robert Koehler

"Most of the time, we are grievously feeling that we're not getting anywhere and that in the ongoing Afghan tragedy, 'peace' or 'humanity' is a rather...

To Defend Democracy, U.S. Must Call the Coup

Laura Carlsen | Posted 10.19.2009 | World


Laura Carlsen

The U.S. State Department has not issued a formal statement to Congress acknowledging the military coup in Honduras. Millions in U.S. money continue to flow to the coup regime.

Oscar Arias, Costa Rica's President, Has Swine Flu

AP | Posted 09.11.2009 | World


SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Nobel Peace laureate and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that he has swine flu, showing that not even a he...

Top Countries To Retire To: Which Fits Your Plans? (POLL, PHOTOS)

Huffington Post | Morgan Korn, Susan Ryan | Posted 08.29.2009 | World


Florida may be one of the most popular places for retirees to settle, but many Americans are packing their passports and choosing locations in foreign...

Ousted Honduran Leader Vows To Camp On Border

AP | MORGAN LEE | Posted 08.26.2009 | World


OCOTAL, Nicaragua — Ousted President Manuel Zelaya encamped his roving government in exile in this sleepy mountain town near the Honduran border...

This Week In Green: Jon Stewart's Pie Face, Congressman Skydiving, Organic Food Rocking, And The Human-Powered Monorail (PHOTOS)

Katherine Goldstein | Posted 08.24.2009 | Green


Katherine Goldstein

Welcome to the inaugural edition of This Week In Green, which is a roundup of my favorite HuffPost Green Stories from this week. Check out the ones yo...

Top 10 Green Countries (PHOTOS)

Huffington Post | Ami Cholia | Posted 08.21.2009 | Green


The United States is slowly starting to embrace shades of green, but a large part of the world is far ahead. See what our global neighbors are up to, ...

US turns up pressure on Honduras coup government

AP | MARK STEVENSON | Posted 08.20.2009 | Home


Ousted President Manuel Zelaya held out hope for a negotiated solution to Honduras' deepening political crisis even after talks in Costa Rica fell apart, but vowed to prepare the way for his return to power regardless of their outcome.

Zelaya accused his opponents of "making a mockery" of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias' attempts to mediate an agreement and called for stronger international pressure on the government of Roberto Micheletti, the interim president sworn in by Honduras' congress after a June 28 coup.

Singling out the United States repeatedly, Zelaya said the international community risks tacitly endorsing the putsch if it does not confront the interim government that abducted and deposed him at gunpoint.

"The international community is facing a dilemma," Zelaya told reporters at the Honduran Embassy in the Nicaraguan capital late Sunday. "They asked the guerrilla movements 20 years ago to put down their arms. ... And now the conservatives come back and take up arms to boot out the leftists who are attempting a process of reform."

Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, chastised the interim government for its inflexibility, warning that its refusal to reinstate Zelaya could provoke violence in Honduras.

Honduran interim govt: no authority to accept plan

AP | Posted 08.18.2009 | Home


A representative of Honduras' interim government says its delegation at talks lacks the authority to accept all the terms of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias' plan to end the crisis.

Vilma Morales says it would be up to Honduras' Congress and its courts to accept Arias' proposals and not up to interim President Roberto Micheletti's government.

Arias on Saturday proposed to resolve the conflict by reinstating ousted President Manuel Zelaya as head of a national unity government, holding early elections and issuing a general amnesty.

Many of the proposals had already been rejected by one side or the other in the dispute over Honduras' coup, which has become a test for democracy in Latin America and for U.S. diplomacy in the region.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Ousted Honduras leader gives talks 1 day deadline

AP | FREDDY CUEVAS and FILADELFO ALEMAN | Posted 08.17.2009 | Home


Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya gave U.S.-backed talks in Costa Rica until the end of Saturday to restore him to office, warning he would return to his country with or without an agreement.

Zelaya said he would consider negotiations a failure unless an agreement that restores him to the presidency is reached by midnight.

He did not say what he would do if the talks collapse, but earlier this week he said Hondurans have a constitutional right to launch an insurrection against an illegitimate government. His foreign minister, Patricia Rodas, has said Zelaya would return to Honduras to install a parallel government if negotiations fail.

"Tomorrow at midnight is the deadline for the rebel government to abide by the resolutions of the U.N. and the OAS to restore me to power," Zelaya said Friday at a news conference at the Honduran Embassy in Nicaragua, referring to demands by the United Nations and the Organization of American States that he be restored to the presidency. "If at that time, there is no resolution to that end, I will consider the negotiations in Costa Rica a failure."

Zelaya, who was forced into exile in a June 28 military coup, said he would return to Honduras in secret if no agreement is reached. The interim government thwarted his last attempt to fly back home by sending military vehicles to block the runway, preventing his plane from landing in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

Honduras: Zelaya Issues Ultimatum: 'Reinstate Me Or Else'

AP | FREDDY CUEVAS | Posted 08.14.2009 | World


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Tuesday that the Honduran people "have the right to insurrection" against t...

Honduras Talks Fail To Reach Agreement

AP | JUAN ZAMORANO | Posted 08.11.2009 | World


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya paid tribute Saturday to a teenager killed during protests and expressed fe...

Roberto Micheletti, Honduras' De Facto Leader, Both Admired And Reviled

miamiherald.com | JIM WYSS | Posted 08.10.2009 | World


TEGUCIGALPA -- Roberto Micheletti has been in national politics for three decades -- long enough to be one of the fathers of the constitution that he ...