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Few rules govern treatment of transgender prisoners in Costa Rica

There are few set criteria governing how transgender inmates should be handled by Costa Rican prisons. Many men who identify as women are sent to men's prisons.

PHOTOS: Faces from La Reforma prison

Located in San Rafael de Alajuela, La Reforma prison is the biggest in Costa Rica. The Tico Times recently visited the prison and took portraits of some of the inmates.

PHOTOS: A look inside Costa Rica’s San Rafael Prison

Inside cellblock A-2, simple wooden frame bunks line as much floor space as possible. Inmates, many shirtless in the heat, lounge on their bunks if they’re lucky enough to have a bunk. The cellblock is crowded – designed to hold 40 with 108 living inside – but people squeeze by each other like strangers on a crowded sidewalk. Anything that doesn’t fit on the floor hangs from the ceiling and the walls. “Just wait till nighttime,” says a toothless inmate doing a 30-year sentence who called himself Francisco, “that’s when it gets bad."

Prisoner in Colombia gets liposuction on the sly

A Colombian prisoner given permission to undergo surgery to fix a breast implant took advantage of her trip to the operating room to get liposuction.

Costa Rica high court: prison officials must address ‘cruel and degrading’ conditions

Costa Rica’s Supreme Court ordered prison officials to come up with a plan to relieve overcrowding in the San Sebastián prison within one month. The court said prisoners "are sleeping on pieces of mattresses or on the ground, putting up with the cold” and rats climbing out of the drains at night.

Prison overcrowding in Costa Rica jumps 50 percent in 10 years

In 2005, the country’s prisons were 4 percent overcrowded. Today there are an additional 4,793 people behind bars, bringing the overcrowding rate to 54 percent. There are a total of 13,923 people in prison in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica court orders better prison beds for conjugal visits

If people get squeamish at the thought of sleeping in hotel beds, image this: Prisoners at La Reforma penitentiary sued for nicer mattresses for their conjugal visits.

Costa Rica’s Supreme Court orders release of Nicaraguan unjustly imprisoned for 17 months

Justices ordered Costa Rica's Prison System and the Judicial Investigation Police to open an investigation on the case.

Latin America’s prisons in critical condition

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Latin America's prisons are overcrowded, violent and sometimes lack even the most basic services, despite the fact that several of the region's current leaders themselves spent time behind bars.
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Costa Rica Faces Economic Blow as Intel, Pfizer, and Qorvo Announce Restructuring

Intel announced that it will shut down its chip assembly and test plant in Costa Rica, part of a broader global restructuring aimed at...

Costa Rica Fails to Meet Human Rights Standards for Deportees

The Ombudsman's Office has confirmed that Costa Rica was unprepared to provide adequate care for deportees who have entered the country since February. This...

Panama Farmer Receives Land Title After 60-Year Wait at Age 109

A 109-year-old Panamanian farmer has received the land title for the property where he lives and works—six decades after first requesting it from the...

Costa Rica Food Culture: From Bar Bocas to Fast Food Chains

Once upon a time in Costa Rica, you could walk into a bar, order a beer, and receive a free boca – a small...