G.R.E.A.T. stands for “Gang Resistance Education And Training,” and it’s a new program here sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and carried out by Costa Rica’s Public Security Ministry.
The changes should streamline the process for Costa Ricans looking to travel to the United States. Some will qualify for waived interviews; some applicants can complete the process through the mail.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Costa Rica has been without a U.S. ambassador for a year and a half, but it doesn’t look like Stafford Fitzgerald Haney – whom President Barack Obama nominated for the job back in July – will be relocating to San José anytime soon.
The processing fee to renounce U.S. citizenship went up 422 percent, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in San José on Wednesday. Starting on Sept. 12, the fee to renounce U.S. citizenship is increasing from $450 to $2,350. U.S. citizens living abroad have been giving up their passports in record numbers in recent years, and the State Department seems primed to make some money in the process.
Tim Callaghan and Phil Gelman were both involved in relief efforts in one of the most high-profile, horrific disasters in the Western Hemisphere in the last five years: the Haiti earthquake and cholera outbreak in 2010.
David Gimelfarb disappeared on Aug. 11, 2009. His parents, Roma and Luda Gimelfarb, travel to Costa Rica every year to continue the search. This is the fifth year since David's disappearance, and police say they still have no clues as to what happened.
Is it a stand-in for ugly American? A warmhearted nickname? A slanderous sobriquet? There are few things expats come across here that can set off such impassioned debates over the word's weight.
The Obama administration named S. Fitzgerald Haney, an international businessman with experience in marketing, financial services and manufacturing in Latin America, as its pick for the next ambassador to Costa Rica.
A look at the history of the U.S.' "Star-Spangled Banner" and Costa Rica's "Noble Patria, Tu Hermosa Bandera." Plus a free download of our July 4 Picnic program.
