indigenous rights

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will speak at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, meet with indigenous leaders and promote mass transit during his one-day stay in Costa Rica.

Visiting the San José Cabecar indigenous community, located in the mountains of Talamanca, Limón, is not something many people have the chance to do. This community is one of the few in Costa Rica that has maintained a significant part of its identity; they still use natural medicine, hunting and fishing techniques, traditional cultural activities and language.

La Sele wasn't the only Costa Rican team in Brazil for the World Cup this month. A team of nine teenagers representing Costa Rica's indigenous groups also competed in the international "Indigenous Cup."

BUENOS AIRES, Puntarenas – As government mediators return to San José and peace slowly returns to the Salitre indigenous reserve in Costa Rica’s southeastern region, the charred skeleton of a makeshift home remains as the only visible vestige of an intense conflict earlier this week.

BUENOS AIRES, Puntarenas – Just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, government officials successfully negotiated a peace agreement between indigenous Bribrí residents and local farmers in Costa Rica's southeastern indigenous reserve of Salitre, where violence broke out Saturday due to a land dispute.

While most of the nation was celebrating Costa Rica's long run in the World Cup Saturday, a large group of farmers in the country's southeastern indigenous territory of Salitre were taking up arms.

Honduras' Garifuna people on Tuesday asked an international court to help them recover ancestral land, which they say has been lost to development and is threatening their culture.

PETÉN, Guatemala – For much of Guatemala’s monolingual Mayan population, the ability to access medical attention is often impeded by their inability to speak Spanish. The right to adequate health care without discrimination is enshrined in their country’s constitution; however, since hospitals work only in Spanish, indigenous people often are marginalized and restricted from obtaining basic treatment due to their vernacular.

The colorful work of Argentine photographer Lucas Iturriza will be displayed in western San José's La Sabana Park to celebrate Costa Rica's diversity.

Second in a two-part series on medical missions to one of the most remote communities in Costa Rica.