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The United Nations Refugee Agency has given Assistance to Costa Rica to help Nicaraguan Migrants

              On Friday, February 7th, 2019, The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that they will be giving 4.1 million dollars to Costa Rica to help the country with asylum seekers from Nicaragua. The people of Nicaragua are fleeing because of the continued gross misuse of power by President Daniel Ortega. Ortega took power in 2007 and has since been dismantling all restrictions on his power. People have been protesting this human rights atrocity. The government has been violently repressing these protests. That is the main cause of people fleeing to seek asylum. According to official data from the Costa Rican government, there are around 87,000 asylum seekers in Costa Rica with 80% of those being Nicaraguans.

Teen Obesity on the Rise

           A new study from the Health Ministry of Costa Rica has revealed that upwards of 30% of teenagers are considered overweight or obese. The Minister of Health had this to say about the results of the new study "Adolescence is an important stage of life that offers a perspective for the adoption of future habits." he continued with “The results of this study are important because they give us an approach to food consumption habits and physical activity levels of adolescents at the national level, which allows us to determine where to direct the possible initiatives by correcting habits brought from childhood and thus mitigating the negative effects on their health.”

         According to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has tripled since 1975. Costa Rica's children are a bit ahead of the curve of the rest of the world at their 30% mark, but it seems that the government is setting up plans to help bring that number down after the revelation of this new study.


Worst Fiscal Deficit in Decades registered for 2019

     Costa Rica has recorded a fiscal deficit of 6.9% of GDP. That is the highest percent in over 30 years. The Minister of finance foretasted a deficit of 6.2% at the beginning of the year, but said that payment of interest of public debt was the cause for the larger than predicted number. He further explained "In a country that collects 13% of GDP in taxes, 49% of what the State collects goes in interest payments. It is essential to exchange expensive debt for cheap debt,"


Costa Rica Ranked one of Top Healthcare Nations

          In an article from the Global Retirement Index, Costa Rica ranked 3rd in world for best Healthcare. Costa Rica's healthcare ranked so high because of their two systems. The Government run public healthcare and the private run healthcare. Both systems are very accessible to all citizens. this coupled with the constant advancements to equipment and clinics are the reason Costa Rica has ranked so high

        Even with all of these advancements, the prices are low compared to nations like The United States. The top two spots of the list went to Spain and Portugal.

Central America Ferry Could be done by July

      A ferry from Costa Rica to El Salvador has been in the works since 2018 and might finally be completed in July of this year. The Costa Rican Government has been heavily promoting the work between Caldera Port Corporations and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to get this finished. It is estimated that the ferry can hold as many up to 100 container trucks and would play a big role in lowering good prices by reducing transit times from other Central American Countries. This ferry line would work as an alternate to the current route that has been deemed inefficient by all parties involved.