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Source: http://www.vozdeguanacaste.com/en/feed

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<title>La Voz de Guanacaste Launches Emergency Campaign to Save the Organization</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/la-voz-launches-emergency-campaign-save-organization/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/la-voz-launches-emergency-campaign-save-organization/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Roberto Cruz]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 18:25:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Region]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donations]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102324</guid>
<description><![CDATA[La Voz de Guanacaste—an independent, bilingual regional media outlet with over 20 years of experience—has launched an urgent fundraising campaign today: Don’t Let La Voz Disappear. The nonprofit organization is … <a class="readmore" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/la-voz-launches-emergency-campaign-save-organization/">Read more</a>
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/la-voz-launches-emergency-campaign-save-organization/">La Voz de Guanacaste Launches Emergency Campaign to Save the Organization</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[La Voz de Guanacaste—an independent, bilingual regional media outlet with over 20 years of experience—has launched an urgent fundraising campaign today: Don’t Let La Voz Disappear. The nonprofit organization is facing one of the most critical moments in its history: the imminent risk of shutting down operations due to defunding caused by the withdrawal of international funding.
“We need to tell you something we never thought we’d have to say: La Voz de Guanacaste is at risk of closing,” s<a href="https://www.instagram.com/vozdeguanacaste/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ays the video accompanying the launch of the campaign</a>. “If we don’t manage to raise $10,000 with your help before August 30, we will have to close. And when we say ‘close,’ we mean it literally: no more newsletters, no more investigations, no more reliable regional journalism.”
La Voz began in 2002 as La Voz de Nosara, committed to investigative, serious, verified journalism deeply rooted in the communities of the Guanacaste province. Since then, it has published in-depth reports exposing the effects of uncontrolled urban growth, the housing shortage in Guanacaste, and the tragic stories of slow deaths due to chronic kidney disease among farm workers.
<div id="attachment_102306" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-102306" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Foto-11-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Foto-11-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Foto-11-300x200.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Foto-11-768x511.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Foto-11-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Foto-11.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />For nearly 20 years, La Voz de Guanacaste printed and distributed its newspaper throughout the province and the Greater Metropolitan Area. During the pandemic, it transitioned to a fully digital platform.</div>
In 2015, La Voz became a nonprofit organization with diverse sources of funding—such as philanthropy, service sales, advertising, and international grants—committed to independent journalism with a single mission: to inform the communities of Guanacaste, not to generate profit. All revenue is reinvested in the organization.
However, the shutdown of many international organizations that used to support independent media has severely threatened its sustainability.
<h3>How to Support</h3>
Anyone can support this campaign by visiting www.vozdeguanacaste.com/en/donate, or by donating via SINPE Móvil at 84702648 or by making a bank transfer to BCR account IBAN: CR32015201001032580094.
<blockquote>If any of our stories ever helped you understand Guanacaste better, made you feel closer to this province, or you simply value journalism done responsibly, now is the time to support us,” says the La Voz team.</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_102310" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-102310" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-3B-1024x349.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="349" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-3B-1024x349.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-3B-300x102.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-3B-768x262.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-3B-1536x523.jpg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-3B.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />In addition to journalism, La Voz de Guanacaste organizes workshops, exhibitions, fairs, and other activities that promote citizen engagement, especially among vulnerable populations.</div>
 
<h3>A Call to Businesses to Become Matching Partners</h3>
As part of the campaign, La Voz is seeking up to four visionary companies to join as matching partners, each contributing $2,500 to match the donations made by readers and the audience.
Businesses interested in becoming matching partners can contact Ana Margarita Quesada Ortega directly at info@vozdeguanacaste.com.
Coopeguanacaste is the first to step forward, demonstrating its cooperative’s commitment to the Guanacaste communities and investigative journalism.
<blockquote>We support La Voz de Guanacaste because we firmly believe in the value of local, independent, high-quality journalism. Their work strengthens democracy and gives a voice to communities that deserve to be heard,” said Daniela Aiza Chavarría, Head of Corporate Communications at Coopeguanacaste, R.L.</blockquote>
In addition to the social impact of saving the region’s investigative journalism outlet, businesses that join as matching partners will receive brand exposure valued at more than $5,000 throughout the campaign, which runs through July and August.
<h3>Recognized Journalism</h3>
The journalistic and organizational work of La Voz de Guanacaste has received regional, national, and international recognition. Notable awards include:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">2023 – Award for best journalistic content on children and adolescents in regional media for the collaborative investigative project Migrant Childhood: What is it like to grow up in a country where you weren’t born?, awarded by UNICEF and PANI.</li>
<li aria-level="1">2020 – National Award Jorge Vargas Gené/Óscar Cordero for the cross-border investigation Drawn Border.</li>
<li aria-level="1">2020 – Ortega y Gasset International Journalism Award for best investigation for the collaborative report Transnationals of Faith.</li>
<li aria-level="1">2020 – Fetisov Journalism Award in the category of Contribution to Civil Rights for the collaborative report Migrants from Another World.</li>
<li aria-level="1">2018 – Honorable Mention, National Journalism Award Pío Víquez.</li>
</ul>
2018 – Ángela Acuña Braun National Award for Gender Equality and Equity.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/la-voz-launches-emergency-campaign-save-organization/">La Voz de Guanacaste Launches Emergency Campaign to Save the Organization</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>La Voz launches community campaign to donate books to public libraries in Guanacaste</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/community-campaign-donate-books-public-libraries-in-guanacaste/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/community-campaign-donate-books-public-libraries-in-guanacaste/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noelia Esquivel]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Identity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Book]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[libraries]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Literature]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102275</guid>
<description><![CDATA[You can purchase a copy of Cuentos de Guanacaste para Niñas Poderosas (Guanacaste Stories for Powerful Girls)—and we’ll donate another to a public library in the province. 
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/community-campaign-donate-books-public-libraries-in-guanacaste/">La Voz launches community campaign to donate books to public libraries in Guanacaste</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[“A book for you is a book for the children of Guanacaste.” With that message, La Voz de Guanacaste and its community of readers and supporters are launching a new campaign to donate inspiring children’s books to public libraries across the province.
For just ¢3,000, when you purchase a copy of Cuentos de Guanacaste para Niñas Poderosas (Stories from Guanacaste for Powerful Girls), you’ll also be donating a second copy to a local library—a simple yet meaningful way to support childhood literacy and female representation.
This book, produced by La Voz, brings together the stories of eight courageous women from across Guanacaste who blazed trails in their communities, opening doors for future generations of dreamers. Among them are Lucrecia Pastrana, volunteer firefighter; Jimena Ruiz, adaptive surfing world champion and María Bolandi, Guanacaste’s first female marimba player.
The stories were researched and documented by La Voz’s editorial team, adapted into children’s tales by author Carla Pravisani, and beautifully illustrated by artist María Zúñiga.
According to Noelia Esquivel Solano, editor of La Voz, this book is both a tribute to the women who’ve left a lasting mark on Guanacaste and a source of inspiration for the girls and boys who are dreaming and building their own futures today.
<blockquote>We believe that stories can transform lives—and these stories, filled with fearless women, can plant seeds of hope and ambition in the hearts of Guanacaste’s children.”</blockquote>
<h3>How to get your copy:</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Price: ¢3,000 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Home delivery available via Correos de Costa Rica (¢3,000 extra)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Order by messaging us on WhatsApp at 8470-2648</li>
</ul>
<img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102270" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2022-marzo-Libro-Ninas-Poderosas-Cesar-Arroyo-6.jpg" alt="" width="1333" height="2000" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2022-marzo-Libro-Ninas-Poderosas-Cesar-Arroyo-6.jpg 1333w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2022-marzo-Libro-Ninas-Poderosas-Cesar-Arroyo-6-200x300.jpg 200w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2022-marzo-Libro-Ninas-Poderosas-Cesar-Arroyo-6-682x1024.jpg 682w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2022-marzo-Libro-Ninas-Poderosas-Cesar-Arroyo-6-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2022-marzo-Libro-Ninas-Poderosas-Cesar-Arroyo-6-1024x1536.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px" />
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/community-campaign-donate-books-public-libraries-in-guanacaste/">La Voz launches community campaign to donate books to public libraries in Guanacaste</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>63 people from all over the province write poems about Guanacaste</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/63-people-province-write-poems-guanacaste/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/63-people-province-write-poems-guanacaste/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[César Arroyo]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2025 22:52:25 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Region]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[heritage]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Literature]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[poetry]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102225</guid>
<description><![CDATA[To Daniel Matul, a teacher who compiled the poems, the book is a political statement and an act of cultural insurgency.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/63-people-province-write-poems-guanacaste/">63 people from all over the province write poems about Guanacaste</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Poetry is written in Guanacaste. From the teenager experiencing that fierce first love to the elderly woman who paints internal, melancholic landscapes; from the tranquil shores of Lake Arenal in Tilarán to the wild waters of the Tempisque River. 
The book “Territorios Eternos” (Eternal Territories) is overwhelming proof that the literary bug has bit people here.
Sixty-three authors, with or without literary experience, ranging in age from 15 to 94, and from different districts, brought to life this anthology, which breaks away from the folkloric, touristy and behind-the-times Guanacaste.
To Daniel Matul, a teacher who compiled the poems, the book is a political statement and an act of cultural insurgency.
“It’s proof that the voices included in [the anthology] don’t need external validation, because it produces its own knowledge, aesthetics and discourses. And in doing so, it not only enriches national literature, but also transforms it from its foundations,” he explains.
So what does this Guanacastecan poetry talk about?
<h3>Identities</h3>
Younger people between 15 and 35 are the ones who give voice to the first chapter, entitled “Identities.”
One of the pens that nourishes this segment is that of Edwin Sánchez, from La Cruz. He began writing poetry as a teenager thanks to motivation from his teachers at the La Cruz Experimental Bilingual High School, who encouraged him to write or gave him his first poetry books.
Although he works as a medical electronics engineer, he has never stopped writing poetry. One of his verses, written in English, describes the scenic beauty of La Cruz, the night and the volcanoes.
“It might have been impossible for me, growing up in San José, to have been able to feel that line and write it here. Because I grew up in Guanacaste, there are many elements that condense, are in you, and in one way or another, ultimately manifest themselves,” says Edwin.
“…Sundown
Moon coming on my back.
Venus starts the night.
Guitars start the ride.
Ehécatl touches my face.
La Cruz Huanacaxtle is complete…”
<h3>Utopias</h3>
The second part is written by people between the ages of 36 and 65. Mature voices that, according to professor Daniel Matul, speak of “the utopias of a province that has 200 years of aspirations and dreams.”
For a chapter that talks about desires and yearnings, perhaps there’s nothing better than a pen that writes from a dissident perspective, like that of Ronald Campos.
From a family in Tilarán and raised in this canton in the Guanacaste highlands, Ronald is a specialist in Spanish literature and literary theory. He has been writing for over 20 years, but since 2010, his research has focused much more on raising awareness about experiences between men: romantic, erotic, and mystical. In addition, his poetry also denounces hate crimes, violence against trans people and homophobia in Costa Rica and in other countries.
“We must reaffirm the fact that Guanacaste is not a single homogeneous identity, but rather that there are different identities. Since I started writing, I’ve asked myself, what place do dissident lives have? Do LGBTIQ people have recognition? More so in the province of Guanacaste. So here, too, there’s a political gesture in saying, ‘This is our reality, this is our validity,’” Campos comments.
According to Campos, a writer and literature professor at the University of Costa Rica, the country’s literary production and literary studies tend to focus on the Central Valley, and there’s a lack of awareness of what’s being produced in the outlying provinces.
“This anthology tells us in this way, in a voluminous way, that there is lyrical poetic production in Guanacaste; there’s a plurality that hasn’t been made visible, that hasn’t been looked into, that hasn’t been made known. And now there is no way to make it invisible, to deny it; we must know it, we must read it and disseminate it,” he expressed his opinion.
“…I left home avoiding
having to offer you, Father, forgiveness
for not being the man you expected,
a cane [to support you] in your work, in your old age,
for deciding to love another man…”
<h3>Roots</h3>
Guanacaste is a province with deep roots, and the people more than 66 years old who have written this segment speak with the authority that comes from being rooted to this land. But they don’t limit themselves to describing its landscapes or customs, talking about haciendas and tortillas.
72-year-old Ana Rita Apuy, from Cañas, prefers to talk about much more internal landscapes. Not so much about what happens in the countryside, but rather what those who live in the countryside feel.
“Sometimes, I feel that Guanacastecans deal with an internal suffering passed down from generation to generation, because it’s a constant struggle, from the land, from the cattle, from so much ingratitude that exists, I think, toward the region,” she says.
Ajoy recalls that she has been writing since she was little. She would look for a piece of paper, start writing and “something would come out.”
<blockquote>I think it’s not so much that I like it; it’s a necessity. Sometimes I wake up at two in the morning with an idea and I get to writing. Sometimes months go by without anything coming out; it’s like a desert; it’s something emotional,” she confesses.</blockquote>
Ana Rita adds that one of the book’s greatest contributions is bringing to light people who, like her, like to write and who have lived in anonymity.
“One day I built an altar
in my heart.
I invented a song to sing
on dark, lonely nights
with giant shells I once collected
on the vastness of the beach…”
<h3>Heritage</h3>
The final pages of the book are a tribute and recognition to those who have filled the province with lyrics and poetry for decades, such as Ofelia Gamboa, Guadalupe Urbina and Miguel Fajardo.
Cultural manager Ligia Zúñiga Clachar, from Liberia, is one of these honored poets. She began writing in the 1970s when she attended meetings of the Guanacaste Literary Center founded by Marco Tulio Gardela.
From that moment on, she began a relationship with poetry that hasn’t stopped. She has published three books of poetry: “Cielo Aparte” (Heaven Aside- 1990), “La última Cifra del Sol” (The Sun’s Last Figure- 2005), and “La llama del sol” (The Sun’s Flame- 2022).
“I touch on the social side of the world, for example: discrimination, wars, the metaphysical side of human beings. That moves me deeply for this planet to toughen up and end the injustice and the immense pain of so many people,” Zúñiga remarks.
“…Your land became a sponge
for foreign money,
extractors of your sap.
Rich woods flew away
without leaving nests, or young ones;
enriching the estates
of other hearths”
<h3>Poetry Epicenter</h3>
Poet Ligia Zúñiga, from Liberia, continues to be an active member of the Guanacaste Literary Center, which has been collecting and disseminating literature from the province for 51 years. This year, they are organizing the third edition of the Eternal Guanacaste Central American Poetry Festival with support from the University of Costa Rica’s Guanacaste campus.
The festival has hosted poets from Central America, Peru, and Mexico, and poetry readings have been organized in high schools in different cantons.
“There are very aware teachers in the different high schools who share this vision and are collaborating with us on these activities. Last year, we were able to get 1,630 young people from our province to listen to Central American poetry,” Zúñiga comments proudly.
This third edition of the festival will be held in commemoration of the 135th anniversary of the entire province of Guanacaste and will be a tribute to Professor Marco Tulio Gardela, who passed away in March of this year.
If you would like a copy of “Territorios Eternos,” you can call 8338-4237 or email danmatul@yahoo.com.
Want more poetry?
In celebration of the Bicentennial of the Party of Nicoya’s Annexation to the country, UNED Publishing House published another poetry collection put together by writer Miguel Fajardo Corea called “Guanacaste: poesía entre siglos (1824-2024)” (Guanacaste: Poetry Between Centuries), which features 77 poets from its 11 cantons. <a href="https://editorial.uned.ac.cr/gpd-guanacaste-poesia-entre-siglos-1824-2024-9789968041645-66f2163ab8d9c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You can get it here</a>.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/63-people-province-write-poems-guanacaste/">63 people from all over the province write poems about Guanacaste</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Mayor’s offices of Nicoya and Tilarán turn down trip to Israel; Santa Cruz and Cañas will attend</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayors-offices-nicoya-tilaran-turn-down-trip-israel-santa-cruz-canas-attend/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayors-offices-nicoya-tilaran-turn-down-trip-israel-santa-cruz-canas-attend/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noelia Esquivel]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jun 2025 20:27:29 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Region]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Guanacaste's municipalities]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ncoya City Hall]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102188</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The mayor of Santa Cruz, Jorge Arturo Alfaro, and the vice mayor of Cañas, Karina Herrera, uphold their participation in the event.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayors-offices-nicoya-tilaran-turn-down-trip-israel-santa-cruz-canas-attend/">Mayor’s offices of Nicoya and Tilarán turn down trip to Israel; Santa Cruz and Cañas will attend</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The mayor’s offices of Nicoya and Tilarán turned down their participation in the MuniWorld event, organized by the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel (FLAI) in Tel Aviv, from June 17 to 19. 
Nicoya’s mayor, Carlos Armando Martínez, declined to elaborate on the reasons that led him to cancel his attendance.
<blockquote>Last Friday, I made the decision to decline my participation in the ExpoMuni event… and, out of respect for the parties involved, I won’t make further comments on this matter,” Martínez responded to The Voice via WhatsApp.</blockquote>
Tilarán’s vice mayor, Marlijson Ramazán— who was expected to attend representing that municipality— didn’t want to explain his reasons for refusing to attend either. “We don’t want to discuss foreign policy issues,” he assured The Voice, and took the opportunity to express his disagreement with the movements that requested that the invitation be rejected.
“They shared images branding us [the invited leaders] as accomplices of genocide, when clearly no mayor’s office is going to agree with any type of genocide… I don’t believe that my participation in a forum would have determined the local government’s position in favor of foreign trade issues or not,” he reiterated. 
An unofficial list circulating on social media lists 16 representatives invited to the event. <a href="https://semanariouniversidad.com/pais/tres-alcaldes-han-rechazado-invitacion-oficial-de-viajar-a-israel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Municipalities such as Turrialba, Cartago, Montes de Oca and the administrator of Cóbano have also declined to participate</a>.
<h3>Community movements pushed for changes</h3>
Organized groups asked the municipalities of Nicoya, Cañas, Tilarán, and Santa Cruz— through letters and audiences— to suspend their participation in the event in condemnation of the <a href="https://news.un.org/es/story/2025/06/1539311" target="_blank" rel="noopener">war crimes against the Palestinian people</a> of which the Israeli government has been accused by the International Criminal Court. The State of Israel has also had <a href="https://news.un.org/es/story/2025/06/1539396" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a humanitarian aid blockade in Gaza for 14 weeks</a>.
The letters sent by the communities affirmed that participating in the Israeli-sponsored event is contrary to the values of the communities of Costa Rica, a “pacifist country and defender of human rights.”
“We must be clear that there are no reasons that justify donations, nor lessons that we can learn, nor associations with governments that, on the one hand, tell us everything we could improve as a canton, but on the other hand, are doing an ethnic cleansing… There may be political conflicts, but nothing justifies the killing of children, women, the elderly,” said Cristina Díaz, who is promoting the movement in Nicoya, collecting more than 400 signatures <a href="https://chng.it/6bW5ZzjKcQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on an online petition</a>.
Díaz and four others attended the municipal council meeting on Tuesday, June 10, to press the mayor of Nicoya for a response to the invitation. Although the mayor was absent from the meeting, Vice Mayor Silvia Gutiérrez was the one who announced the news that Martínez would not be attending the event.
At least three of the Municipality of Nicoya’s council members applauded Martínez’s decision. 
“A genocide is taking place. We’ve been seeing deaths for more than a year, and people who don’t even have food to eat… It’s not just the issue of having a trade relationship and so on, but the fact that being present makes us see that if it’s not with me, I don’t care, and that’s not what we want. We have to have the empathy to see that at this time, there are more than 70,000 people that they have killed, in cold blood, without pain, without even feeling anything in their hearts, to deny them even food,” commented Councilwoman Stacy Briones.
The municipal government of Nicoya <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-cuts-activity-israeli-embassy-bicentennial-agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had already suspended an activity in alliance with the Israeli Embassy once before, in July 2024</a>, after community pressure, so as not to “affect” the bicentennial celebration agenda, Martínez commented at the time.
“We understand and stand in solidarity with both peoples, brothers, I believe,” Mayor Carlos Armando Martínez stated at the time at the municipal council meeting, when he justified the suspension.
<h3>Two Guanacaste mayors say “yes.”</h3>
The mayor of Santa Cruz, Jorge Arturo Alfaro Orias, and the vice mayor of Cañas, Karina Herrera, insist that their participation will serve to bring back knowledge for the development of the cantons.
“[Participating in the event] is very important because we will cover topics such as cybersecurity, local development and meeting with 10,000 municipalities from around the world. This invitation doesn’t cost anything for this municipality. Transportation and lodging are covered by the Israeli government. We will be responsible for food expenses, but any remaining expenses will be sponsored by [me as a public] servant,” said Santa Cruz Mayor Jorge Alfaro Orias at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064536769339/videos/708928474877041" target="_blank" rel="noopener">municipal session on Thursday, June 5</a>.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 11, Santa Cruz resident Kattya Rodríguez presented a letter with 200 signatures to the municipal council to urge the mayor to change his position and for the municipal council to support the petition. The group also requested an audience for the session on Thursday, June 12.
“There is no possible alternative that allows ties with a state that has perpetrated a genocide of this magnitude, with [Costa Rica] being a territory that prides itself on peace and democracy. We need to position ourselves on the right side of history,” Rodríguez told The Voice. 
<blockquote>When governments fail, social pressure is necessary. We find ourselves in that process, organizing because the mayor is very convinced to attend the MuniWorld, and I don’t think he’ll give up easily,” she added.</blockquote>
In Cañas, Vice Mayor Karina Herrera said on Tuesday, June 10, that while she understood the letters and respected the people who sent letters opposing attendance, the local government’s decision remained firm:
“We are not supporting the political issue. I am not a participant in, nor do we support, any type of war, nor violence, nor what is happening in the country, but this event is a learning opportunity. Some of the issues that will be addressed are wastewater, citizen security, water resources, renewable energy,” she said.
When consulted by The Voice, Sheyla Santana, a driving force behind the movement opposing participation from the Cañas mayor’s office, expressed her displeasure with the municipal decision.
“It hurts to see how the Cañas Municipality responds and defends with such confidence and courage the invitation from a genocidal and illegitimate state… The institutional framework aligns itself without question with indoctrination itineraries on occupied lands, legitimizing with its presence regimes that practice apartheid and genocide,” she said.
The Voice of Guanacaste consulted the Israeli Embassy for the official list of people invited, as well as for a position on the social movements that have emerged in opposition to the event and on the municipal decisions. However, they had not shared their position by the deadline for this article.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayors-offices-nicoya-tilaran-turn-down-trip-israel-santa-cruz-canas-attend/">Mayor’s offices of Nicoya and Tilarán turn down trip to Israel; Santa Cruz and Cañas will attend</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Constitutional Court: Sámara Chamber of Tourism must reinstate member kicked out due to statements made to The Voice</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/chamber-of-tourism-must-reinstate-member/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/chamber-of-tourism-must-reinstate-member/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jun 2025 14:23:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Samara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[maritime land zone law]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Papagayo’s maritime zone]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sala Constitucional]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[samara]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102158</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The president of Sámara’s Integral Development Association (Spanish acronym: ADI) had been kicked out of the Chamber of Tourism after expressing to The Voice his disagreement with a bill seeking to legalize commerce within the public zone of the beaches.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/chamber-of-tourism-must-reinstate-member/">Constitutional Court: Sámara Chamber of Tourism must reinstate member kicked out due to statements made to The Voice</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[The Constitutional Chamber ordered the Sámara Beach Chamber of Tourism and Commerce to reinstate Patrick McGoey to the organization after he was kicked out following statements he provided to The Voice of Guanacaste.
<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/samara-chamber-of-tourism-kicks-out-member-for-statements-made-to-the-voice-of-guanacaste/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McGoey had expressed his disagreement</a> with the proposed <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/23148.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Law for the Development and Promotion of the Maritime Land Zone</a> (Spanish acronym: ZMT), which would allow commerce and furniture on the beaches. According to McGoey, who chairs the Sámara Beach Integral Development Association, the bill encourages the privatization of beaches.
<blockquote>We firmly believe that the beach should remain a shared space for the enjoyment of all, both locals and visitors,” McGoey had said at the time.</blockquote>
On October 24, 2024, two days after the article was published, the Chamber of Tourism notified McGoey of his disaffiliation “for carrying out activities contrary to the stability and harmony among associates.” They also pointed out that the statements he provided defamed the tourism organization.
The president of Sámara’s ADI filed an appeal for protection against the Chamber of Tourism on March 16, 2025, considering the action a form of censorship of his freedom of expression.
In the appeal, McGoey argued that the disaffiliation occurred without due process by not giving him the opportunity to present his defense. He also indicated that the immoral conduct he was accused of committing was not explained in detail.
“It was only a letter of expulsion from William [Juárez, Chamber of Tourism fiscal advisor] and there was no further explanation,” he told The Voice.
The court ruled in favor of McGoey: the chamber did not follow due process or give him the opportunity to present his defense, the resolution states.
“The resolution of October 24, 2024, is invalidated, and the appellant is reinstated in the full exercise of his rights as a member of the Sámara Beach Chamber of Tourism and Commerce Association, without discrediting the defendant association’s ability to initiate a new procedure,” states the <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Resolucion.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution dated May 30, 2025</a>.
The Chamber of Tourism’s fiscal advisor, William Juárez, stated that they will accept the resolution. “Either it’s done or it’s done… An order from the court must be accepted as is,” Juárez commented. “The court is right. We carried out the adverse procedure,” he admitted.
The court also ordered the chamber to pay damages caused to McGoey due to his expulsion.
“It’s a step in the right direction… but I won’t be satisfied, nor will I relax until this situation is over. The court said they have to re-affiliate me. They haven’t contacted me, and I’m not in the [Chamber’s] WhatsApp group again. They must also pay my legal fees,” McGoey commented.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/chamber-of-tourism-must-reinstate-member/">Constitutional Court: Sámara Chamber of Tourism must reinstate member kicked out due to statements made to The Voice</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>SINAC files complaint about encroachment onto Las Baulas Marine Park with the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/sinac-files-complaint-encroachment-baulas-marine-park/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/sinac-files-complaint-encroachment-baulas-marine-park/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noelia Esquivel]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jun 2025 18:22:20 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Nature]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Environmental Prosecutor]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Minae]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Public Ministry]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sinac]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102138</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The complaint was filed in April of this year by officials from Las Baulas National Marine Park, who submitted a report asking the Public Ministry to verify an encroachment on the protected area.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/sinac-files-complaint-encroachment-baulas-marine-park/">SINAC files complaint about encroachment onto Las Baulas Marine Park with the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The National System of Conservation Areas (Spanish acronym: SINAC) filed a complaint with the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office based in Santa Cruz against a citizen with the last name of Mulley for the alleged crime of encroachment onto Las Baulas National Marine Park land, located in Tamarindo’s bay, between the districts of Tamarindo and Cabo Velas in Santa Cruz.
According to the Forestry Law, the crime involves illegal occupation or construction in a state-owned area. Now the case is being investigated by the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office under file number 25-000012-1791-PE.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the Public Ministry confirmed to The Voice of Guanacaste that the complaint was filed on April 14, 2025.
Previously, Playa Grande community residents have reported on their social media that trees have been cut down and signs placed— especially in the Ventanas Beach area— offering properties for sale within the protected area.
Now, officials from Las Baulas National Marine Park have submitted a report to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office and requested that “the Public Ministry’s forensic engineering team verify [the indicated encroachment],” MINAE explained.
The Voice asked MINAE and the Public Ministry for a copy of the report in which the officials from Las Baulas National Marine Park detail the complaint. However, both institutions indicated that they can’t share the document because it deals with private information within the file.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/sinac-files-complaint-encroachment-baulas-marine-park/">SINAC files complaint about encroachment onto Las Baulas Marine Park with the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>The National Museum will investigate whether a monument in Nicoya contains original Indigenous pieces</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/national-museum-investigate-monument-nicoya-contains-original-indigenous-pieces/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/national-museum-investigate-monument-nicoya-contains-original-indigenous-pieces/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[César Arroyo]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 May 2025 22:11:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cultura]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Identity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Annexation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ceramic]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chorotegas]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Leonidas Briceño School]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102107</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The inspection will be carried out following a social media post questioning the origin of the pieces.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/national-museum-investigate-monument-nicoya-contains-original-indigenous-pieces/">The National Museum will investigate whether a monument in Nicoya contains original Indigenous pieces</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The central parks of communities in Guanacaste keep their Indigenous heritage alive through representations that honor their ancestors. Giant metates, domes with pre-Columbian crocodiles, and paintings of Chorotega ceramics adorn many cantons and districts throughout the province.
In Nicoya’s Recaredo Briceño Park, the base of the monument to Leonidas Briceño features pieces of metates and stone-carved animal figures that are now the focus of the investigation.
The organization Contemporary Indigenous Museum <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Y1aZXbpBz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported on social media that the monument contains original ancestral pieces</a> and called on the appropriate institutions to closely examine the bust of Leonidas Briceño. In response to this claim, the National Museum confirmed it will conduct an inspection in June to determine the origin of the archaeological pieces.
The social media post states that “Indigenous history can no longer be used as ornamentation nor covered in concrete” and calls for the conservation and respect of ancestral heritage. According <a href="https://www.museocostarica.go.cr/nuestro-trabajo/proteccion-patrimonio/comision-arqueologica-nacional/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to Law 6703</a>, archaeological heritage is the property of the State and must therefore be safeguarded by the National Museum.
<div id="attachment_102103" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-102103" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-MONUMENTO-LEONIDAS-BRICENO-Cesar-Arroyo-8-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-MONUMENTO-LEONIDAS-BRICENO-Cesar-Arroyo-8-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-MONUMENTO-LEONIDAS-BRICENO-Cesar-Arroyo-8-300x200.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-MONUMENTO-LEONIDAS-BRICENO-Cesar-Arroyo-8-768x512.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-MONUMENTO-LEONIDAS-BRICENO-Cesar-Arroyo-8-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-MONUMENTO-LEONIDAS-BRICENO-Cesar-Arroyo-8.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Details of metates and stone-carved figures incorporated into the monument of Nicoyan teacher and congressman Leonidas Briceño.Photo: César Arroyo Castro</div>
“The intention was precisely to see how this could be resolved, without needing to find actors or point fingers at who did it or when it was done,” says Gustavo Gutiérrez, founder of the Contemporary Indigenous Museum.
The organization, Gutiérrez explains, is responsible for spreading information on topics related to Indigenous peoples.
The Voice investigated the origin of the monument, but neither the Nicoya Municipality, former officials, nor descendants of Leonidas Briceño knew any further details about its construction.
<h3>A man from Matambú standing on top of metates</h3>
Leonidas Briceño was born in the indigenous territory of Matambú in 1875. He was a teacher and congressman representing the province of Guanacaste, and the grandson of Cupertino Briceño, a signatory of the Act of Annexation of the Partido de Nicoya, who immortalized the phrase “from the homeland by our own will.”
One of the few existing records is the publication of the inauguration speech for the monument in 1945, delivered by the delegate of the Nicoya Progressive Board, Blas Melisandro Arauz, which was published in the newspaper La Tribuna in August 1945.
 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-102099" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-29-at-13.17.14.jpeg" alt="" width="958" height="740" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-29-at-13.17.14.jpeg 958w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-29-at-13.17.14-300x232.jpeg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-29-at-13.17.14-768x593.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 958px) 100vw, 958px" />The article mentions that the idea of building this bust “floated in the air for some time and finally was almost forgotten,” but a board established in 1936 took on the task of building this monument “based on Chorotega culture.”
The news omits details such as who was responsible for the monument or the origin of the pieces that make up the monument.
According to archaeologist and director of the National Museum of Costa Rica, Ifigenia Quintanilla, during the June visit, they will document and conduct an assessment of the monument.
During the inspection of the monument they will observe the type of raw materials used in its construction, the characteristics of the designs, and the shapes they display to determine the region and period to which they belong.
<div id="attachment_102095" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 672px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-102095" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-28-at-11.16.04-662x1024.jpeg" alt="" width="662" height="1024" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-28-at-11.16.04-662x1024.jpeg 662w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-28-at-11.16.04-194x300.jpeg 194w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-28-at-11.16.04.jpeg 714w" sizes="(max-width: 662px) 100vw, 662px" />Teacher and pastor Aníbal Montero Rojas and Eugenio Briceño next to the monument a few years after its construction.Photo: Courtesy: Danilo Chong Kan</div>
Another important aspect to consider is that the pieces cannot be subjected to alterations that change their meaning in a way that offends the memory of Indigenous peoples.
“The important thing is to first go and do the visit. Not to jump to conclusions because, in reality, all I’ve seen so far are photos from Facebook,” Quintanilla emphasizes.
<h3>Possible solutions?</h3>
This is not the first case where the use or alteration of original Indigenous pieces in public spaces has been detected. At the lookout point in the canton of La Cruz, there is a rock with carvings on which a commemorative plaque was placed. Currently, the National Museum is working together with the local government to find a joint solution.
“In a time of trafficking of artifacts, perhaps for some people preserving or creating things that included archaeological elements didn’t seem like something violent. And now, maybe we see it with different eyes. The key is to analyze each case specifically, its historical context, and from there make decisions,” Quintanilla reflects.
It is precisely this context that makes the monument so unique, as it was built in 1945, just seven years after the first law mentioning the need to safeguard archaeological heritage.
<div id="attachment_102097" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 970px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-102097" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Monumento-Leonidas.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="586" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Monumento-Leonidas.jpg 960w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Monumento-Leonidas-300x183.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Monumento-Leonidas-768x469.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />A group of students in front of the Leonidas Briceño monument around the 1940s.Photo: Courtesy: Mario Rojas</div>
“Every historical moment, the visions and reflections we have about things are different. This monument itself is already historic; it has its own age. It’s not something that was made recently with full knowledge of the law,” the archaeologist states.
If the investigation determines that the pieces are original, Quintanilla assures that the museum—an institution with a national scope that protects heritage defined as belonging to all citizens—must respect the community’s wishes and communicate with the local government to decide the steps to follow.
“Something very important for us is to understand the community’s perspective. We wouldn’t want to come in and cause harm. Because perhaps we could provoke a negative reaction by trying to recover archaeological objects that may have been there for a very long time,” she adds.
Finally, the archaeologist highlights that this situation can be a great opportunity to reclaim the monument and raise greater awareness about Leonidas Briceño’s role in the history of Nicoya.
“If it is decided to leave it as is, more information can be added, but that all depends on going there, seeing it, and having conversations. After all, we are talking about a diagnosis that we have not yet made,” she emphasizes.
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<title>Challenges and eco-points: how schools in Guanacaste aim to earn the Blue Ecological Flag</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/challenges-eco-points-schools-guanacaste-earn-blue-ecological-flag/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/challenges-eco-points-schools-guanacaste-earn-blue-ecological-flag/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noelia Esquivel]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 28 May 2025 16:13:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Nature]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Region]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Guardians of Nature]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MEP]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The ecological blue flag]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102088</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The MEP and the organization Guardians of Nature launched a fun and dynamic pilot project in Guanacaste, through which schools will aim to see the Blue Ecological Flag raised in their schoolyards.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/challenges-eco-points-schools-guanacaste-earn-blue-ecological-flag/">Challenges and eco-points: how schools in Guanacaste aim to earn the Blue Ecological Flag</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[This year, 457 schools in Guanacaste will strive to earn the Blue Ecological Flag (Spanish acronym: BAE) through a new methodology based on completing eco-challenges. These range from reducing energy and water consumption and forming student brigades to creating gardens for pollinator species.
By completing each of the 24 eco-challenges, schools accumulate points that will later earn them anywhere from one to five stars on their blue ecological flag.
The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and the organization Guardians of Nature partnered to launch this pilot project, starting with the four regional education offices of Guanacaste: Cañas, Liberia, Santa Cruz, and Nicoya.
The program also includes tools to enhance schools’ participation experience, such as automated reporting on actions taken, quarterly prizes in partnership with private companies, and an educational platform with more than 120 resources to support them in completing the eco-challenges.
<blockquote>Before, the format took up endless hours of paperwork, and now it’s much more accessible,” says Alice Canales, principal of the Barco Quebrado School in Nicoya. “It allows us to have more time to work on what really matters, not just filling out reports,” she adds.</blockquote>
Another innovation of the pilot project is that, by completing challenges, schools can earn ecoins—or ecomoney—which they can later exchange for monthly raffles of products and services.
“This is a pilot we’re launching in Guanacaste, and the goal is to expand it nationwide within three years,” explains Guardians of Nature founder Jessica Sheffield, who also mentioned that they will seek support from local governments to help fund the purchase of the flags, since in recent years, the MEP hasn’t always had the budget to cover them.
You can explore all the information <a href="https://movimientoguardianes.org/banderaazulecologica/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about the pilot project on this website.</a>
Schools have until December 5, 2025, to submit evidence of the completed eco-challenges. If your school has questions about the Blue Ecological Flag Program, you can write to: <a href="mailto:info@guardianesdelanaturaleza.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">info@guardianesdelanaturaleza.org</a> or <a href="mailto:pbae.ce@mep.go.cr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pbae.ce@mep.go.cr</a>.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/challenges-eco-points-schools-guanacaste-earn-blue-ecological-flag/">Challenges and eco-points: how schools in Guanacaste aim to earn the Blue Ecological Flag</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Matapalo ASADA, in Santa Cruz, declares that they’re in a “critical situation.” What’s going on?</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/asada-matapalo-state-critical-explanation/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/asada-matapalo-state-critical-explanation/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2025 17:32:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Santa Cruz]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[asada matapalo]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[AyA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[matapalo]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102063</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Since 2020, AyA determined that the Matapalo Asada has a negative water balance, but users have not stopped growing.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/asada-matapalo-state-critical-explanation/">Matapalo ASADA, in Santa Cruz, declares that they’re in a “critical situation.” What’s going on?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[“Unsustainable” is the word Mariana* uses to describe the real estate growth in the community of Matapalo. After the COVID-19 pandemic, she noticed that luxury homes began to multiply in the mountains around her home.
“I’m talking about houses with ocean views, swimming pools, and everything… They’re not normal houses,” she described. She’s outraged about more than the change in landscape. How did they acquire water availability letters if the Matapalo ASADA (community water board) is in the red? Why do they tell some people that there’s no water, while giving others water?
In 2020, the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) determined that the Matapalo ASADA has a negative water balance. That means that the aqueduct doesn’t have sufficient flow to meet the community’s water demand, as stated in document <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-con" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSD-UEN-GAR-2020-01424</a>.
Since then, the institution has recommended that the ASADA deny new water availability letters until the community aqueduct increases its registered flow rate with the Water Administration (Spanish acronym: DA).
The negative water balance was estimated based on the 8.6 liters per second (l/s) of flow that the ASADA has under concession, coming from three wells registered with the DA. However, the aqueduct also uses a fourth, unregistered well and the <a href="https://da.go.cr/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Proyecto-Acueducto-Regional-Costero-Santa-Cruz-Acueducto-Nimboyores.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AyA’s Nimboyores coastal aqueduct</a> as sources of water.
Currently, water demand in the area reaches up to 19 liters per second, according to <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Analisis-tecnico-Sistema-de-Abastecimiento-Corona-del-Cabo-I-y-II.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a technical study presented by the ASADA to AyA</a> in April of this year. Taking into consideration the four wells and Nimboyores, the ASADA has an approximate water capacity of 23 l/s (18 l/s extracted from the four wells and 5 l/s received from Nimboyores), the study details.
“If a well goes out of operation, the production flow decreases due to the dry season, or if the Matapalo aqueduct receives a flow lower than the 5 l/s from the [Nimboyores] coastal aqueduct, a deficit results,” according to the study.
The ASADA’s president, Efraín Obando, told The Voice that the community aqueduct does have enough water to cover the community’s services.
“We have plenty of water. The problem is that the flow rate hasn’t been declared,” Obando commented, adding that the land where the unregistered well is located isn’t in the ASADA’s name, and this prevents it from being recognized by the Water Administration.
To Obando, the ASADA urgently needs to have more water flow in order to not depend on the Nimboyores aqueduct. According to the president, its service is deficient. “It’s not continuous. The service gets to them three or four days a week. There are days when we don’t get water,” he remarked.
<h3>Users Increase Despite Non-Feasibility</h3>
The declaration of non-feasibility didn’t stop the area’s growth or the increase in users connected to the ASADA, who, according to the ASADA’s president, had received approved water availability letters before the declaration of non-feasibility.
Between December 2021 and April 2025, the number of users increased by 58.7%, which means 312 new connections, according to data provided to The Voice by the ASADA’s system operator, Balbino López.
“From 2022 until now, there have been zero renewals and zero letters issued… There are people who already had the letter requested for building permits. And the law says that once you have the letter and the ASADA has committed to providing you water, water has to be provided,” Obando explained.
But Mariana*, a community resident, says she has witnessed that new letters have been issued. She stated that she obtained her water availability letter in 2024, after gathering information that other availability letters were being issued, but she was being denied it.
“They told me they would give it to me but that I shouldn’t tell anyone,” she commented. “What I disapprove of is that they told us [the community] that there was no water when you’re seeing construction going on.”
<h3>AyA denies request for increased flow.</h3>
In April of 2025, the ASADA submitted a study to AyA to justify increasing the flow rate in one of its wells. The well currently supplies the community aqueduct with 3.5 l/s, but a pumping test demonstrated that it can supply up to 15 l/s.
With this new flow rate, the ASADA would increase its water capacity by up to 66% (including the real flow rate used by the ASADA and the well that isn’t registered with the AyA). According to Obando, this would be enough to solve the supply problems and again have feasibility to issue water availability certificates. In other words: to once again have a positive water balance.
However, AyA rejected the flow increase because it had to do with the well that isn’t registered with the DA.
“It has been decided to reject the proposal. This is because the ASADA does not have the flow rates registered with the DA of MINAE (Ministry of Environment) to cover future water demand,” states AyA’s response.
AyA’s negative response also mentioned that approving the ASADA’s proposal isn’t possible because the Huacas-Tamarindo aquifer, which feeds the wells, is under restricted use due to overexploitation.
*Mariana is a fictitious name used at the request of the person interviewed.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/asada-matapalo-state-critical-explanation/">Matapalo ASADA, in Santa Cruz, declares that they’re in a “critical situation.” What’s going on?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Guayabo de Bagaces ASADA halts water sale to wind project after community complaints</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guayabo-bagaces-asada-halts-water-sale-wind-project-after-community-complaints/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guayabo-bagaces-asada-halts-water-sale-wind-project-after-community-complaints/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noelia Esquivel]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2025 20:24:50 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Bagaces]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[marched]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102031</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The board of directors of the water system had agreed to sell 23,000 liters of potable water per day between March and May to the El Quijote Wind Project, operated by the Heredia Public Utilities Company.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guayabo-bagaces-asada-halts-water-sale-wind-project-after-community-complaints/">Guayabo de Bagaces ASADA halts water sale to wind project after community complaints</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[The ASADA of Guayabo de Bagaces has suspended the water sale agreement with the El Quijote Wind Project for its construction phase. Interim water system administrator Warner Murillo confirmed the decision in a phone interview with The Voice of Guanacaste.
The board of directors had previously agreed to sell 23,000 liters of potable water per day between March and May. Project personnel transported the water in tanker trucks to use it during the construction of the wind project—an initiative by the Heredia Public Utilities Company (Spanish acronym: ESPH), located in Guayabo. The project involves an investment of ¢33 billion, aimed at expanding electricity supply in the cantons of Heredia province.
However, last Thursday, a group of residents shut down the ASADA in protest of the sale of water to the project.
Murillo explained that the agreement was suspended due to the community’s complaints. “If they shut down the ASADA, it affects our work plan and the water supply to users. [We made the decision] to avoid those kinds of confrontations,” Murillo said.
For the community, selling potable water for the construction of the project was unreasonable, as they say ASADA subscribers already face water supply issues.
“We are not against the wind project, nor against jobs, nor against the progress or development of the community. What we oppose is the double discourse used by the ASADA. When it suits them—like now—they claim we have water to spare, even to sell, knowing full well that we’ve always had serious rationing issues that leave us without water for several hours over many months each year,” <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid027ykK1uqgWhtmMSkJnXNtYyaJyZ1wtGF3VFqLNuedu8AnmhxdraLVz7R2XMF9hho6l&id=100039176785873" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Elizabeth Ugalde, a local resident,</a> in a comment on the ASADA’s Facebook post about the water sale agreement.
The ASADA administrator maintains that the water sale did not affect the system’s flow rate, but that community pressure led them to cancel the agreement. He admitted there were some water outages during the period of the agreement with the project, but attributed them to system breakdowns.
<blockquote>The agreement was to sell water [to the wind project] for three months, as long as the sector wasn’t affected—for example, by a drought or a lack of water supply. The spring is producing much more than the town needs to sustain itself,” he stated.</blockquote>
According to him, the ASADA’s current consumption is 18 liters per second, serving 1,400 active users, while the available supply is up to 33.77 liters per second.
The Voice requested a copy of the agreement with the project and details on how much revenue has been generated from the water sale. We also asked AyA to verify whether the water sale agreement had been approved. As of the time of publication, the requested information had not yet been provided.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guayabo-bagaces-asada-halts-water-sale-wind-project-after-community-complaints/">Guayabo de Bagaces ASADA halts water sale to wind project after community complaints</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Max Goldenberg and Guadalupe Urbina unite their worlds in “Multiversos Paralelos”</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/max-goldenberg-guadalupe-urbina-unite-worlds-multiversos-paralelos/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/max-goldenberg-guadalupe-urbina-unite-worlds-multiversos-paralelos/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[César Arroyo]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 09 May 2025 17:09:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Identity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Guadalupe Urbina]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[guanacastecan music]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Max Goldenberg]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=102009</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The book contains sheet music for 24 songs, each with its own QR code to listen to Max and Guadalupe's version.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/max-goldenberg-guadalupe-urbina-unite-worlds-multiversos-paralelos/">Max Goldenberg and Guadalupe Urbina unite their worlds in “Multiversos Paralelos”</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[In his rehearsal room behind his house, <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/max-goldenberg-songs-guanacaste-style/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Max Goldenberg</a> settles into a chair and does what he does best: paint a new universe with his voice and guitar.
Listening to Max Goldenberg play live is like witnessing a historic event and being aware of it. The sweet sadness with which he sings at 80 years of age awakens a nostalgia for the present moment.
<blockquote>I have no training. I’m not a musician except by ear,” says Max without reproach, since that ear has led him to compose around 150 songs.</blockquote>
With the intention of documenting the scores of his music, the Costa Rican Public Universities Publishing House (EDUPUC- Editorial de las Universidades Públicas Costarricenses) published the songbook “Multiversos Paralelos.”
The book contains 12 songs by the Nicoyan artist and 12 others by another living legend in Guanacaste’s music: <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guadalupe-urbina-women-compared-mares-anyone-can-ride/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guadalupe Urbina</a>.
<h3>A bridge between two universes</h3>
Musicians and researchers Óscar Jiménez and Javier Alvarado were in charge of the project. Through the cultural promotion program of the State Distance Learning University (Spanish acronym: UNED), they proposed creating this songbook with the main intention of having students and teachers use it in their music classes.
<div id="attachment_102003" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-102003" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-Max-Guadalupe-libro-Cesar-Arroyo-1-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-Max-Guadalupe-libro-Cesar-Arroyo-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-Max-Guadalupe-libro-Cesar-Arroyo-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-Max-Guadalupe-libro-Cesar-Arroyo-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-Max-Guadalupe-libro-Cesar-Arroyo-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-mayo-Max-Guadalupe-libro-Cesar-Arroyo-1.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />“Let it be an option for young people to continue this work that we, in some way, covered to the best of our ability,” says Max Goldenberg.Photo: César Arroyo Castro</div>
Their vision is to expand the repertoire with which many people learn Guanacastecan music and to diversify the literature for instrumental teaching.
“The same five songs continue to be sung in schools the same as ever, so by putting them on sheet music like this, there’s no excuse anymore. Here are 24 songs from the new repertoire, and it’s also important for the country to value living composers,” Óscar comments. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kvNo019weH8?si=WEKrMUmE1QuErpTU" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The repertoire isn’t just expanding with more songs but also with a greater diversity of genres. That’s why they tried to make the songs included in the songbook reflect the rich variety of rhythms that exist in Max and Guadalupe’s songs.
“Max and Lupe resist being classified as folkloric artists, no matter how much people would like to understand them that way, because they have an extremely broad worldview and integrate songs and genres from all over the world into their compositions,” Javier adds. 
The songbook contains sheet music for the 24 songs, each with a QR code, through which people can listen to them. The recordings were made with support from the National University, and Javier and Óscar created the sheet music for each song, a difficult task because each one is composed orally and not written down.
“These are songs composed from the body, from the guitar. But it’s important to do this exercise because it’s the bridge we find between the oral and the written,” Javier explains.
The book is currently on sale at bookstores in all of <a href="https://libreriaucr.fundacionucr.ac.cr/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2322" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the public universities in the country</a> for ¢14,000 (about $28).
<h3>Music from the body</h3>
Towards the end of the book, there is a chapter called “El saco de mañas” (The Bag of Tricks), which talks about rhythm and the guitar strumming styles of Max and of other musicians from the province, such as Adán Guevara Centeno, Goyo Díaz and, of course, Guadalupe.
“Javier told me, ‘Guadalupe, it’s very important that we preserve your way of playing the guitar because it’s a very particular way.’ I have a lot of problems with the tendons in my left hand, so I have to play in a certain way so as not to overextend my fingers. Then he told me, ‘We should document that,’” the composer recalls.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rlOnnvAcewE?si=Q3cogjn2XM7aTf0r" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Keeping a record of the particular characteristics of each artist is a way to preserve those details that can’t be captured in sheet music, but it’s also an invitation to those who want to learn these songs to add their own interpretations.
<blockquote>One gets a little scared that the books will remain on the shelves of scholarship. So I would really like to see that strength and creativity in music,” says Guadalupe.</blockquote>
Both of the book’s compilers, Javier and Óscar, share Guadalupe’s vision and hope that people will connect these songs with other genres, experiment and take risks. Because they have faith that as long as the repertoires of these types of music are being redefined, they will remain alive.
“I would like young people to be more daring, to not be satisfied with just learning music theory and playing an instrument, but to explore and openly express everything they have to say, especially in an environment like the one we live in, which is so rich and provocative for doing beautiful things,” adds Max.
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<title>Epic Nosara built without SETENA’s environmental supervision</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-built-without-setenas-supervision/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-built-without-setenas-supervision/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Apr 2025 15:20:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nosara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[epic Nosara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya's City Hall]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Setena]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101958</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Epic Nosara's environmental viability permit hides a catch: the developer failed to inform Setena that construction had begun.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-built-without-setenas-supervision/">Epic Nosara built without SETENA’s environmental supervision</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[This text was originally published in Nosara, a monthly newsletter in which we dig deeper into stories and news from that diverse and complex district. If you don’t want to miss any edition, subscribe <a href="https://nosara.vozdeguanacaste.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by clicking here</a>.
The developers of the Epic Nosara real estate project posted a sign of the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (Spanish acronym Setena) on the exterior of the construction site, indicating that the project had received an environmental permit. However, the sign is misleading. 
Pacific Trust and Escrow Services, the company listed as the developer of the project, applied for environmental viability and received approval from Setena on January 31, 2024 (according to <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/RES-0135-2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Resolution No. 0135-2024-SETENA</a>). However, they failed to comply with a key requirement: notifying the environmental authority prior to the start of construction so that Setena could verify that what is being built coincides with what was approved.
The project boasts a complex of six villas distributed on five lots located near the tennis courts of Playa Pelada and bordering the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge (RNVSO).
<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101784" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png" alt="" width="3126" height="626" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png 3126w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-300x60.png 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1024x205.png 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-768x154.png 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1536x308.png 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-2048x410.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 3126px) 100vw, 3126px" /></a>
The developer only required an environmental permit for one of the five properties where it is building, according to the Environmental Evaluation, Control, and Monitoring Regulations (<a href="https://pgrweb.go.cr/scij/Busqueda/Normativa/Normas/nrm_texto_completo.aspx?param1=NRTC&nValor1=1&nValor2=99253&nValor3=135644&strTipM=TC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decree No. 4389</a>). The other four properties did not require a permit since construction did not exceed 1,000 square meters and they were not located in an environmentally vulnerable area.
According to Setena’s file, the environmental permit granted to Pacific was for the construction of a two-story house, a pergola for family events, a courtyard, gardens, setbacks, and shala.
Although the environmental institution approved the permits, “they did not have the right to start construction” because they were required to notify Setena prior to building, Setena’s Secretary General, Andrés Cortez, explained to La Voz de Guanacaste. 
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/">Real estate companies remove Epic Nosara from their listings</a></h3>
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<div class='entry-summary'>
The real estate companies Century 21 and Nosara Real Estate Agency had listed Casa Corcovado for sale in their catalog, one of the six villas in the luxury real estate project, Epic Nosara.
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After obtaining environmental authorization, the developer then notifies Setena so that a registered Setena environmental regent can supervise that the approved environmental standards are complied with. Otherwise, it’s a project that is built blindly.
“If they start to do something differently [from what was outlined in the viability permit], the regent has to notify Setena,” Cortez explained. The official also specified that, since environmental monitoring has not been initiated, the project lacks both a digital log and Environmental Control and Follow-up Procedures (Spanish acronym ICOS). Both tools are part of the building registration and supervision that must be carried out by the environmental institution.
According to the construction file, <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Carta-de-Nombramiento-CASA-EN-NOSARA-PACIFIC.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacific Trust appointed geographer Luis Edén Navarro</a> as project manager in June 2024.
The geographer assured The Voice of Guanacaste that he was unaware that construction had started. “I did not know that it had started (…) The thing is that the people did it [the construction] quietly. They didn’t tell me anything,” said Edén.
Edén added that during the morning of April 24, he received a call from Epic Nosara’s developer, Steven Ferris, asking him to start the notification process. “How is it going to be almost built if I wasn’t informed when construction work started?” Edén said he told Ferris. 
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/">Mayor of Nicoya opens an investigation into the actions of officials in the Epic Nosara case</a></h3>
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The mayor of Nicoya, Carlos Armando Martinez, promised to investigate the file of the permits granted without water availability. “We will not tolerate any irregularities,” Martínez promised.
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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On Wednesday, April 23, The Voice of Guanacaste sent more questions about the case via email and WhatsApp to Pacific Trust’s representative, Steven Ferris. However, he did not respond. 
Environmental lawyer, Alvaro Sagot, explained that the regent’s logbook and reports act as the “eyes of the state”.
“An environmental (viability) permit is not a go-ahead and do whatever you want. In the logbook, the consultant has to anticipate and report on everything that is being done to Setena. He has the responsibility that nothing is being done which was not previously authorized” he said.
<div id="attachment_101951" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="max-width: 2570px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-101951" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Xrzbknp4-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Construction of Epic Nosara shut down as of April 4, 2025Photo: Luis Diego Alfaro</div>
<h3>A sixth villa hidden from Setena and the municipality</h3>
The Municipality of Nicoya conducted an inspection at the Epic Nosara construction site on April 1st, after L<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Voz de Guanacaste revealed irregularities related to the granting of construction permits</a>. Building was authorized despite the fact that the project does not have water supply for construction or future operation purposes.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-shut-down-construction/">Epic Nosara Case: Municipality of Nicoya shuts down construction</a></h3>
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<div class='entry-summary'>
The Municipality of Nicoya shut down construction work on Epic Nosara as a result of The Voice of Guanacaste’s investigative report.
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-shut-down-construction/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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During the visit of the local government, the municipal officials identified a sixth house that does not have the corresponding construction permit from the local government, as detailed in inspection report No. MN-INSP-059-04-2025.
“As for house #6, it does not have construction permits at all (…) its walls have been erected and even the roof is in place”, details an excerpt of the document shared by the press department.
The sixth villa also eludes Setena’s radar, according to the files sent by the institution. This means that its construction, and possible environmental impact, were not scrutinized when the environmental permit was granted. Nor when considering that construction work on the other lots did not require viability approval.
According to attorney Sagot, if it is proven that the sixth house is within the lot that obtained environmental viability, the developer could lose the Setena permit, and the municipality could even seek the property’s demolition. 
“Failing to put a single tree in the logbook, that alone is cause for a criminal, civil or administrative sanction. Not to mention if what is being built is, in addition, another house,” he concluded.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-built-without-setenas-supervision/">Epic Nosara built without SETENA’s environmental supervision</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>How are teachers renewing the concept of guanacastequidad?</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/teachers-renewing-concept-guanacastequidad/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/teachers-renewing-concept-guanacastequidad/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[César Arroyo]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Apr 2025 21:07:20 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Region]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chorotega]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[European]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[folklore]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Guanacastequidad]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101922</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For the past 11 years, the program Vivamos la Guanacastequidad has sought to become a more inclusive educational platform for those who live in the province.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/teachers-renewing-concept-guanacastequidad/">How are teachers renewing the concept of guanacastequidad?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[“Guanacastequidad” is a long word, complicated to read and say out loud, but it carries familiarity and renown after almost two decades of circulating through schools and high schools in the province.
Professor and philologist Marco Tulio Gardela created this concept in 1989, with the purpose of characterizing the Guanacastecan identity. Over the years, he managed to bring guanacastequidad into public education to preserve and strengthen that vision among students.
But not all communities fit into Gardela’s vision of Guanacaste. That’s why, for more than 10 years now, teachers have been working to broaden the idea of what it means to belong to this province.
<h3>Living the Guanacastequidad</h3>
Faced with the ongoing threat of globalization, Marco Tulio Gardela came up with the idea of creating a program to protect Guanacastecan culture. At least that’s how Griselda Pérez, the coordinator of the “Vivamos la Guanacastequidad” program at the Nicoya Regional Education Office, sees it.
The program was launched through a decree in 2006 that declared it to be of educational interest, with the aim of strengthening the province’s native culture through the school curriculum. Since then, it has included actions such as the use of the Guanacaste flag and the singing of the Guanacaste anthem at all civic ceremonies.
Griselda Pérez explains that Gardela’s vision was very folkloric.
<blockquote>Undoubtedly, we are grateful for Don Marco’s vision—it was the vision of the time—but it was also exclusionary to some extent,” she explains.</blockquote>
With the aim of enriching Gardela’s perspective, since 2014 the program’s coordinators have tried to broaden the range of characteristics that define a Guanacasteco. To do so, they created a purpose for the program—something that wasn’t included in the original decree.
“The decree only works with a concept that is also very romanticized. We no longer talk about guanacastequidad… we talk about guanacastequidades,” says Pérez.
<h3>A Guanacaste with many Guanacastes</h3>
Folklore, within guanacastequidad, is “just one leg of the stool,” according to Pérez. The program proposes that the content of all school subjects should be “guanacastequized.”
<div id="attachment_30098" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-30098" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017.04_marcoaureliogardela_em-2_0-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017.04_marcoaureliogardela_em-2_0-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017.04_marcoaureliogardela_em-2_0-300x200.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017.04_marcoaureliogardela_em-2_0-768x511.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017.04_marcoaureliogardela_em-2_0.jpg 1247w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Marco Tulio Gardela was the professor and philologist who created the concept of guanacastequidad. He passed away last March 2025.Photo: Eka Mora</div>
This means that guanacastequidad is not separated from the curriculum, but rather, the subject matter is connected to some form of learning rooted in the province.
<blockquote>If we teach math through life on a hacienda, then teachers calculate areas, perimeters, and explore geometric figures based on so-and-so’s farm,” she exemplifies.</blockquote>
Or if students have to write a composition for Spanish class, it could be about a traditional Guanacastecan recipe. If they’re learning about renewable energy in science, they should study real-life examples from the province.
But perhaps the most innovative aspect of the program since 2014 is its proposal to include within guanacastequidad the cultural practices that arise from all corners of the province.
“Each person experiences that particularity within the context where they live, whether they’re in La Cruz, Bagaces, on the coast, or in the mountains. Before, we were very distant from the intercultural aspect because, honestly, it made us a little afraid,” says Pérez.
In order to include other ways of living guanacastequidad, they’ve had to row against the current of the “official version” of what it meant to be Guanacastecan—a version that was promoted for many years.
“Many students felt excluded; they didn’t feel Guanacastecan. If you don’t eat rosquillas and tanelas, why should you have to on July 25th? Just because you don’t shout doesn’t mean you’re not Guanacastecan. Just because you don’t eat arroz de maíz doesn’t mean you’re not Guanacastecan,” says the coordinator.This shift has led students from cantons like Hojancha and Nandayure (mainly populated by families who migrated from the western Central Valley), to internalize the concept of guanacastequidad and feel more included.
Keyler Morera is a Guanacastecan teacher who works teaching primary education in Filadelfia. He is also the first Guanacastecan to join the Afro-Costa Rican Civic Parliament. He has written about the lack of representation of the Afro population within the guanacastequidad curriculum, and he believes that in an attempt to preserve what little remained of the Chorotega heritage, it ended up being taught in classrooms that everything was of Indigenous origin, even Afro-origin instruments like the quijongo and the marimba.
<div id="attachment_99355" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-99355" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18-1024x769.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="769" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18-300x225.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18-768x576.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18-500x375.jpg 500w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-agosto-Afroguanacastecos-Cesar-Arroyo-18.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Keyler Morera is a teacher and the first person from Guanacaste to join the Afro-Costa Rican Civic Parliament.Photo: César Arroyo Castro</div>
“What has been taught has been wrong, it’s been incomplete, and we must acknowledge this as part of the reclamation of our ancestors, not just African, but also Chorotega, who deserve to have their history told as it should be,” says Morera.
For this reason, the program also seeks to strengthen the intercultural aspect of the province by highlighting the contributions of the three historical roots: indigenous, european, and afro.
<blockquote>We are going to stop saying ‘I am pure Chorotega blood.’ Let’s start recognizing ourselves as natives of other places as well, and that doesn’t make us any less Guanacastecan,” emphasizes Pérez.</blockquote>
Along those same lines, the teacher and researcher from the National University Chorotega Campus, Daniel Matul, expresses that the “Eternal Guanacaste” proposed by Gardela, today is no longer one, but several eternal territories that are renewed through the daily actions of its daughters and sons.
<h3>Guanacastequidad for the love of the cause</h3>
What the program proposes on paper doesn’t always work out perfectly in practice. Griselda Pérez explains that there is nothing that forces teachers to implement the program, which is why they need to be convinced that strengthening local identity is a necessity.
This poses a challenge, as the coordinator believes that for many teachers, guanacastequidad is limited solely to the folkloric aspects, and not to the rest of the curricular content.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/marco-tulio-gardela-the-maestro-of-guanacasteness/">Marco Tulio Gardela, The Maestro of Guanacasteness</a></h3>
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<div class='entry-summary'>
Guanacastequidad, or Guanacasteness, is the essence of being from Guanacaste. The creator of the concept, the professor and philologist Marco Tulio Gardela Ramirez, is not Guanacastecan by birth, but by…
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/marco-tulio-gardela-the-maestro-of-guanacasteness/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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Professor Keyler Morera shares that a major problem is that most teachers buy lesson plans (detailed descriptions of pedagogical activities) from people in San José, who create them with the Central Valley context in mind.
“So, in the end, the lesson plans are not being made the way they should, in terms of being guanacastequized. And the other issue is the reality in the classroom, because many times you create a beautiful lesson plan, but it can’t be applied. It should be that way, but it’s not always achievable; it’s something we try,” he explains.
Many of the current challenges of the program could be addressed with a modification to the decree, something that, according to Pérez, could bring more problems than solutions.
“We haven’t been able to change the decree. To some extent, it’s even a danger for the program because politically, there may not be the will to sustain it today, like there was back then when there was the political will to sign the decree,” she comments.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/teachers-renewing-concept-guanacastequidad/">How are teachers renewing the concept of guanacastequidad?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Epic Nosara Case: Municipality of Nicoya shuts down construction</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-shut-down-construction/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-shut-down-construction/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 10 Apr 2025 21:37:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ASADA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[epic Nosara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya's City Hall]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nosara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ostional]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pelada beach]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101902</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Municipality of Nicoya shut down construction work on Epic Nosara as a result of The Voice of Guanacaste’s investigative report.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/epic-nosara-shut-down-construction/">Epic Nosara Case: Municipality of Nicoya shuts down construction</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The Municipality of Nicoya shut down construction work on Epic Nosara as a result of The Voice of Guanacaste’s investigative report, which revealed irregularities in building permits being granted by the local government for the real estate project without the project having water use approval.
“Last Friday, April 4, this project was shut down completely. The developers have already been notified,” Mayor Carlos Armando Martínez state at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=544849705325839" target="_blank" rel="noopener">municipal council meeting on Tuesday, April 8</a>.
<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101784" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png" alt="" width="3126" height="626" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png 3126w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-300x60.png 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1024x205.png 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-768x154.png 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1536x308.png 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-2048x410.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 3126px) 100vw, 3126px" /></a>
Epic Nosara is a complex of six luxury villas, each with a pool, being built near Pelada Beach and the Ostional refuge.
This media outlet revealed that the local government granted five construction permits for the project despite even though they did not have water availability approval from the Playas de Nosara ASADA (local water board) or the water department of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). The sixth villa was being built without even obtaining the corresponding permits.
In an inspection conducted on Tuesday, April 1, The municipality confirmed that the company responsible for Epic, Pacific Trust and Escrow Services, did not have water use approval.
“The development company only has a drilling permit for exploration and use of groundwater (DA-2508-2024). This permit only authorizes drilling for exploratory purposes and does not confer the right to exploit the water resource,” states the inspection report No. MN-INSP-059-04-2025.
In addition, they confirmed that the company doesn’t have water use approval from the Playas de Nosara ASADA either.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/">Real estate companies remove Epic Nosara from their listings</a></h3>
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<div class='entry-summary'>
The real estate companies Century 21 and Nosara Real Estate Agency had listed Casa Corcovado for sale in their catalog, one of the six villas in the luxury real estate project, Epic Nosara.
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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</div>
During the municipal council session on Tuesday, April 8, Mayor Carlos Armando Martínez reiterated that he had begun an investigation into the actions of the officials involved in approving the permits “with the intention of clarifying and finding the truth regarding the events reported by The Voice of Guanacaste,” he emphasized.
The municipality, through its press department, indicated that April 30 is the preliminary date for completing the investigation.
“It’s only possible to consider and define measures that logically stem from this course of institutional action when the Preliminary Investigation is completed and formally communicated,” the information provided by the press department indicated.
 
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<title>Young women murdered by their partners: Guanacaste tallies two femicides in 2025</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/young-women-murdered-partners-guanacaste-tallies-two-femicides-2025/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/young-women-murdered-partners-guanacaste-tallies-two-femicides-2025/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noelia Esquivel]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2025 22:07:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Region]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Femicide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gender Violence]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101869</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The femicides of Katherine Tatiana and Marcela Alexandra make this the second most violent start to the year for women in Guanacaste, preceded only by 2023. 
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/young-women-murdered-partners-guanacaste-tallies-two-femicides-2025/">Young women murdered by their partners: Guanacaste tallies two femicides in 2025</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[Marcela Alexandra Hernández López was found burned and half-buried on a property in Las Vueltas de La Cruz, Guanacaste, last Saturday, April 5. Her femicide (murder of a female because of her gender) is in addition to that of Katherine Tatiana López Murillo, from Liberia, who was murdered with a knife on February 20 in Liberia.
With these cases, Guanacaste has a tally of two femicides so far in 2025, making it the second most violent start to a year for women in the last eight years, <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guanacaste-surpasses-number-violent-deaths-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preceded only by 2023, when four femicides were recorded in the first three months</a>.
This was deduced from an analysis of The Voice of Guanacaste’s database on femicides in the province, which we compiled with official data from the Public Ministry and the Judiciary.
Katherine and Marcela’s alleged murderers took their lives at very young ages: Katherine was 21, and Marcela was 19. The investigators’ prime suspects are people who were in or previously had a romantic relationship with the victims: in Katherine’s case, her ex-partner, surnamed Jiménez Mercado— with whom she had a child— and, in Marcela’s case, her partner, whose last name is Tinoco, who was twice her age at 45.
According to information from the Public Ministry, both are being held in prison, waiting while the investigations proceed in order to take the cases to trial. Katherine’s femicide is recorded in case file 25-000584-060-PE and Marcela’s is in case file 25-001083-060-PE.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/femicides-in-guanacaste-when-suspects-flee-across-the-border/">Femicides in Guanacaste: When Suspects Flee Across the Border</a></h3>
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<div class='entry-summary'>
Alina’s last hours alive were recorded on a security camera. It was the evening of Sunday, February 19, 2023 and, according to what she told a cousin in text messages,…
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/femicides-in-guanacaste-when-suspects-flee-across-the-border/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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This kind of violence doesn’t just happen in Guanacaste, since the country records an average of one femicide per week, reaching a total of 15 by April of 2025, a number that alarms activists and researchers of gender-based violence. 
The rate of femicides committed by the women’s partners increased from 0.59 in 2022 to 1 in 2024. This means that in 2024, there was one death for every 1,000 women, according to data presented by Sylvia Mena of the Feminist Network Against Violence Toward Women in the panel discussion <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHHB_S7l0JE&t=4007s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“From Outrage to Action: Responses to Femicide,”</a> held on March 27 at the National University’s main campus.
<blockquote>If we ask ourselves what is the reason for this increase, we need to consider the weakening of specific public policies for the prevention of violence against women and the weakening of the institutionality of gender, of INAMU (National Institute of Women), in addition to the prevailing social violence in the country and symbolic violence,” Mena added.</blockquote>
<h3>Law Reform Punishes Several More Types of Relationships</h3>
Since 2007, the country has recognized and punished femicides under the <a href="https://observatoriodegenero.poder-judicial.go.cr/images/Normativa/Nacional/Expecializada/N_8589_LPVCm.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Law Penalizing Violence against Women</a>. In 2021, the Legislative Assembly reformed legislation to recognize not only violent deaths that occur at the hands of couples (married or common-law) as femicide, but also those who are dating, living together or in casual relationships, even if there are divorces, separations, or breakups.
Cases in which the perpetrator took advantage of a bond of trust, friendship, authority or blood relationship up to the third degree are also considered femicides, regardless of whether or not they live under the same roof.
The maximum penalty for the crime of femicide is 35 years in prison.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/the-math-behind-illegal-relationships/">The Math Behind Illegal Relationships</a></h3>
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<div class='entry-summary'>
During 2018 in Guanacaste, 1,047 girls younger than 15 years old became mothers. Only one father in that same age range was reported
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The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/young-women-murdered-partners-guanacaste-tallies-two-femicides-2025/">Young women murdered by their partners: Guanacaste tallies two femicides in 2025</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Real estate companies remove Epic Nosara from their listings</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2025 22:46:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[century 21]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[epic Nosara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya's City Hall]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[nosara real estate]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101834</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The real estate companies Century 21 and Nosara Real Estate Agency had listed Casa Corcovado for sale in their catalog, one of the six villas in the luxury real estate project, Epic Nosara.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/">Real estate companies remove Epic Nosara from their listings</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Casa Corcovado, one of the villas in the luxury real estate project Epic Nosara, was listed for pre-sale on real estate company websites with prices up to $5,800,000 (around ¢2.8 billion). However, both Century 21 Nosara Real Estate and Nosara Real Estate Agency have removed it from their catalogs.
The Voice verified this on their websites after we revealed that the Municipality of Nicoya approved the construction of the project without obtaining water permits from the Asada of Playas de Nosara or the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae) for its construction and future operation.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101815" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/casa-corcovado-.png" alt="" width="733" height="155" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/casa-corcovado-.png 733w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/casa-corcovado--300x63.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 733px) 100vw, 733px" />
The founder of Century 21, Bram Shook, confirmed to The Voice that they removed the Casa Corcovado villa from their listings. The Voice also wanted to ask Shook about the processes they use to verify properties before listing them. The businessman stated that he was unaware that the project lacked water approval and said he preferred not to comment further on the matter.
<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101784" style="text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-family: 'Neutra Text', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal;" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png" alt="" width="3126" height="626" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png 3126w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-300x60.png 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1024x205.png 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-768x154.png 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1536x308.png 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-2048x410.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 3126px) 100vw, 3126px" /></a>
Casa Corcovado also appeared in the online catalog of the company Nosara Real Estate Agency. The Voice confirmed this through a Google search, but the listing has also been removed from that platform.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101818" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Casa-corcovado-2.png" alt="" width="745" height="150" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Casa-corcovado-2.png 745w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Casa-corcovado-2-300x60.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px" />
This outlet contacted the WhatsApp number of Nosara Real Estate, available on social media, to ask whether they were aware that Epic Nosara lacked permits and to learn about the processes they follow to verify compliance with legal requirements before listing real estate projects. However, by the time of publication, we had not received a response.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/">Mayor of Nicoya opens an investigation into the actions of officials in the Epic Nosara case</a></h3>
</div>
<div class='entry-summary'>
The mayor of Nicoya, Carlos Armando Martinez, promised to investigate the file of the permits granted without water availability. “We will not tolerate any irregularities,” Martínez promised.
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/real-estate-companies-remove-epic-nosara-from-their-catalog/">Real estate companies remove Epic Nosara from their listings</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>María Bolandi is the first musician and Guanacastecan to enter the Women’s Gallery</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/maria-bolandi-first-musician-guanacastecan-womens-gallery/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/maria-bolandi-first-musician-guanacastecan-womens-gallery/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[César Arroyo]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2025 21:42:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Identity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Centenarians]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[género]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[INAMU]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[marimba]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Women]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101810</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The recognition highlights the contribution to the defense of women's human rights and María is the first Guanacastecan woman and musician to receive this honor.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/maria-bolandi-first-musician-guanacastecan-womens-gallery/">María Bolandi is the first musician and Guanacastecan to enter the Women’s Gallery</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[In 1930, at just eight years old, María Bolandi already knew how to play the marimba—a talent that has accompanied her throughout her 102 years of life, earning her the title of the first female marimbist in Guanacaste and perhaps in the entire country.
Her remarkable journey was honored on March 20 when the National Institute for Women (Spanish acronym: Inamu) awarded her the Women’s Gallery Recognition, a distinction that highlights the contributions of women in defending, promoting, and advancing their rights.
María Bolandi’s recognition marks a double achievement since she is the first Guanacastecan woman to be inducted into this gallery and, beyond that, the first musician to receive this honor.
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<h3 class='entry-title'><a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/maria-bolandi-the-first-woman-from-liberia-to-make-wood-sing/">Maria Bolandi: The first woman from Liberia to make wood sing</a></h3>
</div>
<div class='entry-summary'>
Four years ago, she was declared Liberia’s favorite daughter for her contribution to regional musical culture.
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<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/maria-bolandi-the-first-woman-from-liberia-to-make-wood-sing/" class="lea-tambien-a">READ ALSO</a>
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The other women in the gallery have dedicated their lives to fields such as science, politics, agriculture, and medicine.
Her daughter, Xinia Sandoval, recalls breaking the news to her on the very day of the event.
“That day, I told her: ‘Mom, we’re going to San José because they’re unveiling a photograph of you for being the first female marimbist in Guanacaste and Costa Rica, breaking the myth that it was only for men.’ ‘Would you look at that!’ was all she said—but with such joy,” Xinia told The Voice.
<div id="attachment_101797" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-101797" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-02-at-10.40.18-1-1024x524.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="524" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-02-at-10.40.18-1-1024x524.jpeg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-02-at-10.40.18-1-300x154.jpeg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-02-at-10.40.18-1-768x393.jpeg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-02-at-10.40.18-1-1536x786.jpeg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-02-at-10.40.18-1.jpeg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />The Minister of Women’s Affairs, Cindy Quesada Hernández, and the Executive President of the National Institute for Women, Yerlin Zúñiga Céspedes, unveil María Bolandi’s portrait.Photo: Inamu</div>
Professors and historians from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) Guanacaste Campus, Noylin Gutiérrez and Rocío Abarca, were the ones who nominated María Bolandi to be part of the gallery. For them, her legacy is significant because while Doña María has been honored in Guanacaste with various recognitions, “her legacy must transcend beyond the province” and can inspire other women “to keep fighting for their dreams and their place in history,” they said.
<blockquote>We have ensured that her story is known throughout the country, giving her the recognition she deserves in her lifetime,” the researchers told The Voice.</blockquote>
<h3>A woman of talent and determination</h3>
<h3>María Bolandi single-handedly raised ten children, supporting them by playing the marimba in venues such as the governor’s office and some of Liberia’s most renowned dance halls: El Mango, El Chunquín, Los Naranjos, La Reynalda, El Yomalé, and El Brasilia.</h3>
Prominent figures in Guanacastecan music, such as Héctor Zúñiga Rovira, author of Amor de temporada, and Jesús Bonilla, author of Luna Liberiana, shared their compositions with her so she could learn and perform them alongside them.
Although her talent was widely praised, María Bolandi had to take on jobs unrelated to her childhood passion. She worked washing and ironing clothes for others, selling chicha and flour empanadas, and cooking on farms, in restaurants, and at the Enrique Baltodano Hospital in Liberia, where she eventually retired.
<blockquote>This recognition is not only for her but for all the women who, through their art and effort, strive to be seen and valued,” said her daughter, Xinia Sandoval, during her acceptance speech.</blockquote>
“She not only mastered her craft with excellence but also turned her talent into a means of economic independence, raising her ten sons and daughters. Through her work, effort, and dedication, my mother embodied the true spirit of the Guanacastecan woman,” she added.
<div id="attachment_101803" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 1034px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-101803" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47-1024x768.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47-500x375.jpeg 500w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-03-at-15.10.47.jpeg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />María Bolandi with Raziel Acevedo, former director of the UCR Guanacaste Campus and researchers Rocío Abarca and Noilyn Gutiérrez.Photo: Courtesy: Noily Gutierrez</div>
Bolandi has also been honored with the title of “Matriarch Queen of Liberia” by the Felipe Pérez Artistic School and “Esteemed Daughter of Liberia” by the Municipality of Liberia.
Alongside her, two other women were recognized: Elizabeth Coto Chinchilla, the first woman to be admitted to the industrial engineering field within the Federated College of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: CFIA), and Joycelyn Sawyers Royal, a national legislator acknowledged for her role in securing constitutional recognition of Costa Rica as a multicultural and multiethnic country.
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<title>Mayor of Nicoya opens an investigation into the actions of officials in the Epic Nosara case</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2025 21:39:13 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ASADA]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101778</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The mayor of Nicoya, Carlos Armando Martinez, promised to investigate the file of the permits granted without water availability. "We will not tolerate any irregularities," Martínez promised.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/">Mayor of Nicoya opens an investigation into the actions of officials in the Epic Nosara case</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[The mayor of Nicoya, Carlos Armando Martínez, stated that the administration requested reports from the Construction and Urban Planning departments regarding the construction permits granted for the development of five houses that are part of the Epic Nosara real estate project. He provided these details <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alcaldia.denicoya/videos/1012110714187840" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the night of Tuesday, April 1, during the Nicoya Municipal Council session.</a>
On Saturday, March 31, The Voice of Guanacaste revealed that the Municipality of Nicoya approved construction permits for the company Pacific Trust and Escrow Services Limited between April 9, 2024, and May 8, 2024, despite the fact that the project does not have water availability from the Asada of Playas de Nosara or the Water Administration of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae).
<a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101784" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png" alt="" width="3126" height="626" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04.png 3126w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-300x60.png 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1024x205.png 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-768x154.png 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-1536x308.png 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Banner-Epic-EN_Mesa-de-trabajo-1-04-2048x410.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 3126px) 100vw, 3126px" /></a>
Following the report, on Sunday, March 31, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AMppoTuoj/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the local government published a statement</a> from the mayor, in which he promised to act “quickly and rigorously” to determine the internal processes that led to the granting of the permits.
During the council session, Martínez stated that he had requested detailed reports from the departments of Construction Control and Public Works, Urban Planning, and those responsible for approving land use and plan endorsements.
<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Falcaldia.denicoya%2Fvideos%2F1012110714187840%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=7796" width="560" height="314" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
“The goal is to have this information so that these documents can be analyzed, and the respective actions will be taken. The actions of the officials involved will be reviewed,” said Martínez.
Additionally, the mayor mentioned that he ordered an inspection at the Epic Nosara construction site to analyze the works on the five properties for which the municipality granted permits.
<blockquote>We will not tolerate any irregularities, and we will act in accordance with the law,” Martínez promised at the conclusion of his speech.</blockquote>
When the mayor finished his remarks, no members of the municipal council—whether councilors or trustees—addressed the irregularities surrounding the construction of the Epic Nosara project or the actions announced by Martínez.
At the closing of this note, The Voice has not received responses from Epic Nosara’s developer, Steven Ferris, nor from the municipality’s construction department. Since Thursday, March 27, we have asked them how they justify granting the permits without the project managers presenting proof of water availability for the construction of Epic Nosara.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mayor-nicoya-investigation-actions-officials-epic-nosara/">Mayor of Nicoya opens an investigation into the actions of officials in the Epic Nosara case</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Municipality of Nicoya approved building the luxury real estate project Epic Nosara without water permits</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[José P. Román Barzuna]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Mar 2025 15:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[constructios department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Minae]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicoya's City Hall]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Playas de Nosara ASADA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Setena]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101700</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The promise of luxurious living at Epic Nosara conceals a question: Where does the water being used to build the real estate complex come from, and how can they guarantee water availability to run it? 
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/">Municipality of Nicoya approved building the luxury real estate project Epic Nosara without water permits</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[This text was originally published in Nosara, a monthly newsletter in which we dig deeper into stories and news from that diverse and complex district. If you don’t want to miss any edition, subscribe <a href="https://nosara.vozdeguanacaste.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by clicking here</a>.
Epic Nosara, a new real estate project in the district, makes the most appealing promises on the market in the area: six luxury villas with pools tucked away in the so-called jungle (that is becoming more and more fragmented), next to the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge and just steps away from Pelada Beach.
The <a href="https://www.epicnosara.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">project’s website</a>, available only in English, describes the place as an “unparalleled escape into beachfront 5-star luxury.” What the Epic Nosara website leaves out is that the project currently lacks water use approval for both its construction phase and to supply the villas once they open.
The Voice of Guanacaste confirmed this with official information provided by the Playas de Nosara Water and Sewer Systems Administration Association (Spanish acronym: ASADA) and the Water Administration of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE).
The Voice had access to the building permit applications for five of the villas located in the Pelada Beach community, registered in the name of Pacific Trust and Escrow Services Limited, as documented in the National Registry, on the billboards placed outside the construction site, in the files registered with the Municipality of Nicoya, the Water Administration office, the Environmental Technical Secretary (Spanish acronym: SETENA) and the Playas de Nosara ASADA.
Despite lacking this mandatory requirement, the Municipality of Nicoya’s Construction Control and Public Works Department approved the construction permits for the five properties –between April 9 and May 8, 2024, Currently, almost a year later, none of the construction sites have yet been approved for legal access to water.
The Municipality of Nicoya itself has <a href="https://www.nicoya.go.cr/articulo/168/permiso-de-construccion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">established that for permits to be approved, applicants (individuals or legal entities) need to include potable water use approval as a requirement</a>. Article 117 of the <a href="https://www.invu.go.cr/documents/20181/32857/Reglamento+de+Construcciones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">construction regulations of the National Institute of Housing and Urban Development (Spanish acronym: INVU)</a> also states that “every building must have water service available, so the interested party must process the document proving this,” either from AyA (Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers), the corresponding ASADA, or from a well, officially recognized by MINAE’s water department.
On Wednesday, March 26, one day after the municipality confirmed that they had granted the construction permits, The Voice went to the Municipality of Nicoya with the goal of asking César Espinoza, head of the Construction Control Department, why they had approved these permits without water feasibility. However, the mayor’s office indicated that he was on sick leave.
On Thursday, March 27, we sent our questions to the emails of Mayor Carlos Armando Martínez and the press and construction departments, but as of the deadline for this issue, they had not responded about how they justified issuing the permits without water feasibility.
The Voice tried to contact Steven Ferris Quesada, manager and legal representative of Pacific Trust and Escrow, on several occasions since last Tuesday, with phone calls, messages to his WhatsApp and personal email to ask him where the water they are using to build the complex comes from, how they can guarantee water availability for when the houses are in use, and to ask about the permit details for the sixth villa (because we only located five permit records), but we received no response.
His cell phone number was answered by someone who identified herself as his assistant, who claimed that Ferris could not take the call because he had left the country. However, the Costa Rican General Department of Immigration and Alien Services recorded Ferris’s last immigration movement as an entry into the country, not an exit, as the assistant indicated. As of the deadline for this article, the developer had not responded to the questions sent to his email and WhatsApp, nor to messages communicated through his assistant and an office colleague.
We also called phone numbers registered in the name of his father, Steven Ferris Aguilar, who also holds the title of assistant manager at Pacific Trust and Escrow, but there was no answer.
Although the project doesn’t have legal authorization for water use, from the gravel road that will connect the villas to the beach, it is possible to observe that significant progress has been made on the construction of the buildings. Some of the villas are already up for pre-sale, with prices reaching $5,800,000, according to the Century 21 <a href="https://century21nosara.com/property/epic-nosara-casa-corcovado/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">real estate website</a>.
According to the project’s website, the grand opening will be in November of 2025.
<div id="attachment_101696" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="max-width: 2570px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-101696" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-300x200.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-768x512.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LDA9557-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />The five lots where Epic Nosara is being developed measure a total of approximately 10,000 square meters (about 2.5 acres), according to information from the National Registry.Photo: Luis Diego Alfaro</div>
<h3>ASADA did not provide water</h3>
Pacific Trust and Escrow Services Limited requested a water connection from the Playas de Nosara ASADA in June of 2023, confirmed the president of the community aqueduct, Elizabeth Adams.
The company’s application was for five houses with swimming pools and a community center spread across five lots, with a total of 32 bedrooms for an occupancy of 74 people.
Adams specified to The Voice that the ASADA has not approved the application. According to the president, before approving water authorization letters, the developer must present a technical study detailing the amount of water required, as stated in official document GSD-UEN-GAR-2020-05433 from the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA).
To date, the company has not yet fulfilled this requirement.
<blockquote>This project never submitted a Technical Study to the ASADA…. Since neither the ASADA nor AyA approved this project, I would suggest asking the municipality what is being built, since we are not involved,” Adams suggested.</blockquote>
In addition, due to the increased demand for water resources in the community, this ASADA currently does not have the water capacity to issue new water permits, as revealed by The Voice of Guanacaste in the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9BYOgVPrU6/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 29, 2024 edition of the Nosara newsletter</a>, based on document <a href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GSD-UEN-GAR-2024-01121-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. GSD-UEN-GAR-2024-01121 from AyA</a>.
The developer also submitted documentation to SETENA to obtain the environmental viability certification for each of the properties. Although the institution did approve the environmental viability procedures for the original larger property — which was later subdivided into four more — the applications for the smaller subdivided parcels were archived because “the proposed activity doesn’t require environmental viability,” SETENA explained to The Voice.
<h3>Pacific Trust doesn’t have permission to use a well</h3>
MINAE’s water department approved a permit for the company developing Epic Nosara to drill a well on property 5-00221651. However, the scope of the authorization only allows them to dig the well, but does not authorize the use of its water, explained the coordinator of the institution’s North Pacific Tempisque Hydrological Unit, engineer Leonardo Solano.
“First, we issue the drilling permit…. Once they drill, then they submit the studies to see if they found water or not. If they did find water, we now continue with the concession, but until the well is drilled and we have all the information, we can’t continue with the process,” Solano commented.
The company didn’t request the drilling permit until October 21, 2024, six months after the approval of the building permits by the Municipality of Nicoya, according to an analysis of the water department’s file 25730-P and information provided by the municipality.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101721" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/linea-de-tiempo-NL-nosara_ING-1.png" alt="" width="800" height="763" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/linea-de-tiempo-NL-nosara_ING-1.png 800w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/linea-de-tiempo-NL-nosara_ING-1-300x286.png 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/linea-de-tiempo-NL-nosara_ING-1-768x732.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />
In addition, according to the water department engineer, once they have obtained the water use concession for a well, that well can only supply water to a maximum of two properties. The only exception is if the real estate project is registered with the National Registry as a condominium. However, The Voice confirmed with the registry that these lots are not in that category. This means that even if the company had obtained the permit to use the water, the well they drilled would not be able to supply the five Epic Nosara properties.
<blockquote>The Water Department cannot grant well concessions to more than two properties (if the property is not under the set of rules for a condominium),” commented engineer Leonardo Solano.</blockquote>
<div class="docos-replyview-body docos-anchoredreplyview-body docos-replyview-body-emoji-reactable docos-replyview-body-emoji-reactable-background" dir="ltr">The location where the well was requested to be drilled is less than one kilometer (0,6 miles) from the ocean, so there is a risk that, when exploited, the water will salinize no longer suitable for drinking. This is detailed in the permit granted by the institution. According to Solano, in order for the developer to obtain the water concession, a study needs to be presented demonstrating that there is no risk of salinization.</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div class="docos-replyview-body docos-anchoredreplyview-body docos-replyview-body-emoji-reactable docos-replyview-body-emoji-reactable-background" dir="ltr">Even if it had already been drilled, it is necessary for the company to notify Minae’s water department that the well has been drilled. At the time of closing this edition, the press department of Minae confirmed that “no drilling report or pumping test” required to request the water concession has been submitted.</div>
<hr />
Editor’s note: The penultimate paragraph of this investigative story was slightly edited on March 31, 2025 at 12:30 p. m. to modify a line that could lend itself to inaccurate interpretations. It originally stated that “the well drilled is located less than one kilometer (0,6 miles) from the sea”, when the correct is that the location of where the well was requested to be drilled is less than one kilometer from the sea”. The Voice of Guanacaste can not assure the well is drilled or not, because according to the records of Water Department, as stated originally in this text, they have not been notified of such action. This modification also applies to the version sent to subscribers of the Nosara newsletter, whose edition is prevented by Mailchimp, the platform used for newsletter management.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/municipality-nicoya-approved-building-luxury-real-estate-project-epic-nosara-without-water-permits/">Municipality of Nicoya approved building the luxury real estate project Epic Nosara without water permits</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<title>Mujeres BAC empowers women entrepreneurs in Guanacaste</title>
<link>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mujeres-bac-empowers-women-entrepreneurs-guanacaste/</link>
<comments>https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mujeres-bac-empowers-women-entrepreneurs-guanacaste/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Roberto Cruz]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Mar 2025 16:56:52 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Advertorial]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Paid Content]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://vozdeguanacaste.com/?p=101681</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mujeres BAC has driven the transformation of hundreds of women’s business ventures in Guanacaste, opening markets and reducing structural barriers through credit and ability-building programs.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mujeres-bac-empowers-women-entrepreneurs-guanacaste/">Mujeres BAC empowers women entrepreneurs in Guanacaste</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[Liberia, March 2025. Dozens of women entrepreneurs from Guanacaste gathered on Thursday, March 20, to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Mujeres BAC (BAC Women), an initiative that strengthens the economic growth of women in the country, and in the case of Guanacaste, in key sectors such as tourism, gastronomy and livestock.
The heart of the event was the forum “Together: For you, for us, and for those to come,” which included dialogue and analysis on the role of women in the regional economy and the challenges that still remain on their path toward business fairness.
The speakers were Ana Laura Vega, a representative of the Foreign Trade Promoter (Spanish acronym: Procomer); Antonieta Chaverri, event moderator and executive director of Voces Vitales (Vital Voices); Elsa Bonilla, director of the Creciendo Juntos (Growing Together) Association; and Rebeca Álvarez, director of the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism.
They all emphasized that entrepreneurship is a task they accomplish while simultaneously shouldering multiple responsibilities, which makes creating an environment that supports their growth an urgent need. They also agreed on the need to create collaborative networks and alliances that allow the women of Guanacaste to focus on their businesses without having their development limited by household chores.
<div id="attachment_101678" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="max-width: 1930px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-101678" src="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DSC091871.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1280" srcset="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DSC091871.jpg 1920w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DSC091871-300x200.jpg 300w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DSC091871-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DSC091871-768x512.jpg 768w, https://vozdeguanacaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DSC091871-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />Antonieta Chaverri, executive director of Voces Vitales, underscored the importance of recognizing the diversity of Guanacaste’s women and challenging the stereotypes that limit their growth.</div>
Vega, the representative from Procomer, presented data that highlights the gender gap in the country’s business sector. One of the figures that reflects the persistent challenges is that only 12% of service export companies in Costa Rica are led by women, thus revealing an unequal landscape in international commerce.
Vega also highlighted that the Chorotega Region contributes 6% of national exports, establishing its position as the fourth most important region in this area. These numbers demonstrate the opportunity for businesswomen in Guanacaste to enter global markets.
To alleviate existing inequalities, BAC’s vice president of corporate relations, Laura Moreno, emphasized the importance of a comprehensive approach to ensure the success of female entrepreneurs, in this way demonstrating the private sector’s commitment to financial inclusion.
She explained, “access to financing is key, but true change occurs with comprehensive support,” and she pointed to the many possibilities offered by BAC, such as training, financial education and leadership platforms. “In addition to forums like the BAC Women’s Markets, which allow female entrepreneurs to market their products directly to customers,” she added.
The impact of these efforts is reflected in stories like that of Patricia Montero, a rancher and beneficiary of the BAC Women’s program. She enthusiastically shared her experience of how this program has been key to breaking down barriers in a sector historically dominated by men.
“The livestock industry has traditionally been led by men, and breaking that barrier has been a challenge. Thanks to Mujeres BAC, we have lost our fear, gained knowledge and demonstrated that we can also lead in this sector. Many female colleagues had doubts about taking that step, but when they saw that it is possible to get financing, learn about management and participate in marketing opportunities, they have dared to undertake it and make themselves heard in an environment that seemed inaccessible before.”
BAC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Commerce (MEIC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, promotes the growth of women’s business ventures in Guanacaste. As part of this commitment, a group of 20 female ranchers from the Chorotega Region receive free training and advice on leadership, empowerment and finance, providing them with key tools to strengthen their work and access new opportunities. These actions are part of the National Financial Education Strategy, led by MEIC, which seeks to reduce structural barriers so that more women entrepreneurs can expand their businesses and access markets.
However, challenges remain that require joint action between the private sector, the government and civic groups. Restricted access to credit, a lack of support networks and sociocultural barriers continue to be obstacles that limit the development of many women. Meetings like this not only raise awareness about these challenges but also facilitate the discussion of solutions and strategies to effectively address them.
With initiatives like Mujeres BAC, the bank reaffirms its role as a strategic ally in Guanacaste’s economic development. Beyond offering financial services, BAC promotes women’s financial autonomy and provides them with tools to establish and expand their businesses. With a vision for the future and a firm commitment to equity, the entity continues to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem for women, ensuring that opportunities are fair and accessible to all.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/mujeres-bac-empowers-women-entrepreneurs-guanacaste/">Mujeres BAC empowers women entrepreneurs in Guanacaste</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/">Voz de Guanacaste</a>.
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