No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveCosta Rican photojournalist who covered U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Pope...

Costa Rican photojournalist who covered U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Pope John Paul II dies at 84

Mario Castillo, a Tico photographer who captured images of Pope John Paul II and U.S. President John F. Kennedy during their visits to Costa Rica, died on Wednesday, Oct. 30. He was 84.

Castillo spent his last years working for the daily Al Día from the newspaper’s opening in 1992 until 2012, when he retired.

A devoted fan of Cartaginés, his province’s football team, “Castillo was an institution among Costa Rican photographers,” Al Día recalled in a story about him on Thursday. “His work was brilliant especially in sports photography, and during the Nicaragua conflict during the 1980s,” the daily stated.

A photo Castillo took in 1983 of the Nicaraguan Contras’ Southern Front appeared in The Tico Times’ lead story on Friday. 

During an interview with Al Día days before his retirement, Castillo said the event that impressed him the most in all his years “was the accident of a small plane that crashed into Reventado River [in Cartago], in 1964. I assisted the Red Cross crews to get the pilot out using a tractor,” he told the paper.

His funeral was held on Thursday in Paraíso, west of Cartago.

Nicaraguan Contras

One of Mario Castillo’s photos while covering the Nicaraguan Contras’ Southern Front. Mario Castillo/Tico Times 

Trending Now

The Most Clueless Gringo in Costa Rica: A Satirical Take on Expat Life

If part of your online day includes mindless scrolling through reels, you’ve probably seen the Dos Equis beer parody commercials. The original ads featured the...

Nicaragua Hosts Historic 2025 AmeriCup Basketball Tournament

The 2025 AmeriCup, the men’s basketball Copa América, tips off this Friday in Nicaragua, marking the most significant international sporting event in the country’s...

Guatemala Prisons Erupt in Violence With Guards and Workers Taken Hostage

Gang members rioted this Friday in two prisons in Guatemala and took several guards and civilian employees hostage, a week after uprisings in which...

Honduras Community Demands Justice in Environmental Murder Case

Three defendants accused of murdering an environmental activist in Honduras 11 months ago appeared before a court this Thursday for a preliminary hearing, the...

Earthquake Shakes Costa Rica’s Central Valley

An earthquake shook Costa Rica early Friday morning. The tremor occurred at 12:45 a.m. with a magnitude of 4.4. Its epicenter was located 1...

Panama Canal Warns of Traffic Decline as Economic Uncertainty Grows

The Panama Canal will take in about $400 million less in the next fiscal year due to a drop in ship traffic caused by...
L. Arias
L. Arias
Reporter | The Tico Times |
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica