So you are thinking about Nicaragua?

Maybe as a place to live, invest, buy real estate, or spend a few weeks a year.  Well, you have definently made a wise choice.  Nicaragua unquestionably is one of the best countries in the World to live full or part time, invest in a local business, buy real estate as an investment or permanent residence, or to simply enjoy on vacation.

Now it´s time to do your homework – and you have come to the best place on the internet.

Every week we spend hours putting together the latest/breaking news – and post them here every Monday and Thursday.  We pile through all of the stories that come our way – and bring you what we find to be the most important that you need to know.

Since we post twice per week – you know that we have the latest and most up to date news on Nicaragua that there is.  No weeks old news.  It doesn´t do us any good posting it here – and certainly doesn´t do you any good reading it.

You can subscribe to our list on the right hand side of the site – and we will send you the latest breaking news by email every Monday and Thursday at 5 PM EST time.

If real estate is your thing – as it is ours – we encourage you to list it on our site. We don´t charge any commissions to list it with us – and it will stay active and live 24/7.

You can also get all the hottest Nicaragua real estate listings sent directly to your email address every Tuesday at 5 PM EST time.  Once properties get listed on our site – we immediately send those out your way so you can be the first to know if that beach front lot 2 hours outside Managua or that renovated colonial in Granada is your thing.

Of course – if you have a business that you would like to advertise to our Nicaragua specific audience – we would love for you to list it with us. We try to make things as easy and straight forward as possible.

MANAGUA - Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, is to present a Citizen Action Plan that includes projects for next year, announced Rosario Murillo, Coordinator of the Council of Communication and Citizens of the government. Government initiatives in economic, social, health, education, housing spheres among others are the result of careful planning, Murillo indicated. He also explained issues contemplated by authorities for the planning that will have support of the Bolivarian Alliance for the peoples of our America (ALBA). Government projects include a processing plant of corn meal and milk industries as well as development of ALBA programs of solidarity: Zero usury, Zero Hunger, education, attention for children and others, he pointed out. The Sandinista leader explained that programs done up to now will be strengthened and improve to be more effective and have a greater impact on the Nicaraguan population. Murillo also referred to scholarship programs for young Nicaraguans to study specialized careers in Venezuela without cost to their families. He added that we have not forgotten that thousands of Nicaraguans have recovered sight thanks to Operation Miracle of ALBA. All this, he pointed out, must be in the citizen plan of action because we have managed to transfer the benefit of planning to the entire territory. He ...

Continue reading this entry

After reporters corrected Nicaragua’s deputy foreign minister Manuel Coronel Kautz for calling Dutch Member of European Parlaiment Hans vanBaalen a German, Kautz proceeded to publicly dismiss Holland as a “crappy little country.” Now that’s what I call diplomacy. The foreign ministry later apologized, but maintained its accusation that van Baalen was a meddler for holding a press conference in the capital in which he lambasted a Supreme Court ruling, which was executed by Sandinista judges like a guerrilla ambush, to open the way for President Daniel Ortega to seek reelection. There is some debate over how best to translate “paisucho”, the title Kautz gave Holland. Translations range from “shitty country” to “two-bit country” to my translation of choice. Van Baalen, a highly photogenic bureacrat who insists politics is more like rugby than tennis, called Ortega, a revolutionary who was jailed and tortured, a “coward.” A foreign ministry official promptly asked van Baalen to leave the country. Van Baalen’s visit made for great entertainment in a country where going to the stadium to drink $0.75 beers while watching potbellied pro baseball players drop fly balls is about as showbiz as it gets. It was also a nice exercise in free speech ...

Continue reading this entry

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says Dutch MEP Hans van Baalen was in Nicaragua to see how the army felt about attempting a coup d’état, but found no officers willing to go along with the idea. This is the Nicaraguan President's explanation for the diplomatic row which has arisen since a visit by the MEP. The European Union parliamentarian was supposedly deported from the country last week, but only heard about it when he was leaving anyway. In response, Hans van Baalen has called the accusations “utter nonsense”. The conservative VVD MEP is on a tour of Central America as the president of the world federation of liberal and democratic parties, Liberal International. He is currently in Honduras, where he is trying to mediate in the political conflict between ousted President Manuel Zelaya and his de facto successor Roberto Micheletti. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/ortega-accuses-dutch-mep-coup-plans

GUATEMALA CITY – Brazilian corruption busters, a “comfort-food” startup by California-based Mexicans and a Costa Rican doctor who treats Panamanian indigenous people won the top three awards Friday at the Fifth Social Innovation Fair at this Central American capital's San Carlos University. The winners – earning $30,000, $20,000 and $15,000 respectively from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation – demonstrated to the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) that their projects are highly innovative, sustainable, cost efficient, replicable and have made the greatest impact of the 13 programs presented, said Nohra Rey, spokeswoman for the ECLAC committee of judges. This year's finalists included Costa Rica's first-ever participant among approximately 4,800 social development programs from countries across Latin America and the Caribbean that have been presented in the five editions of the fair. Costa Rica's Integral Health Care for the Highly Mobile Indigenous Population is a “pioneer initiative,” ECLAC said, in that it is a publicly funded project that attends to a group whose medical needs were previously unmet. Most other projects in the fair are grassroots, community-based efforts or initiatives of nongovernmental organizations. Spearheaded by Dr. Pablo Ortiz and based in the Southern Zone ...

Continue reading this entry

A landslide in San Vito de Coto Brus in Costa Rica's Southern Zone killed a 15-year-old high school student on Friday afternoon. The landslide occurred as a 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook much of Costa Rica's Central Valley and Southern Zone at 3:20 p.m. Friday. Local firefighters and the National Police reported the landslide at 4:30. Shortly after, officials announced that it had caused the death of Yuliana Sandoval. Authorities believe that heavy rainfall in the area and Friday's shakes are the principal causes of the landslip. The debris from the landslide covered more than 100 meters of ground and forced the closure of the highway in San Vito de Coto Brus. On Saturday, crews were working to clear the roadway. According to the National University's Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (OVSICORI), the epicenter of Friday afternoon's quake was 20 kilometers northeast of Parrita, a farming town near the Pacific coast southwest of San José. OVSICORI reported that the earthquake struck along the Sierra Brunqueña fault line at a depth of 19 kilometers. The fault connects Quepos and Puriscal. The quake was felt in San José, Heredia and Alajuela in the Central Valley, Jacó on the Pacific coast and Guácimo in Limón, on the Caribbean slope, according to ...

Continue reading this entry

Costa Rica swallowed a tough pill Saturday night as the men's national soccer team, affectionately called La Sele, lost 0-1 to Uruguay, making it nearly impossible for them to qualify for the World Cup. The game was the first of two matches Costa Rica must play against “los charrúas” – the Uruguayan national team. Only one of the teams will go on to play in the World Cup in South Africa next summer. Both Costa Rica and Uruguay failed to qualify during the initial qualifying rounds, and are playing off for the last spot in the Americas. Costa Rica, which competes in the North and Central American region known as CONCACAF, came in fourth place at the end of the general qualifying round. Uruguay, which competes in South America's CONMEBOL region, finished in fifth place. The final match is scheduled for Wednesday and will be an uphill battle for the Ticos, as it will take place on Uruguayan turf, a notoriously difficult pitch. La Sele must win in order to have a chance at competing in South Africa next year. Uruguayan head coach, Oscar “Washington” Tabárez, said after the game, “With all due respect, Costa Rica will need to accomplish a rare feat.” And he's ...

Continue reading this entry

When many Marin high school students hit the ski slopes during winter break, two dozen members of Terra Linda High School's Nicaragua Service Club will venture to Managua to aid schoolchildren. "I feel like it is really important for the students to see how most of the rest of the world lives," said Laura Merlo, whose son, Alan Merlo, is the president of the service club. "It is good to feel a connection with people in another country and from a different socioeconomic class." The club - launched two years ago when Terra Linda High School counselor Susan Gatlin shared videos of the conditions in Nicaragua with students in Peggy Koorhan's Spanish class - aims to raise awareness about the plight of the impoverished by assisting the El Divino Ni-o School in the capital city of Managua. The school is attended by about 200 poor preschool through third-grade students, many of whom could not afford the required uniform. The small school is an oasis separated from a formidable barrio by a security fence and provides hope and a nurturing environment free from the dangers of the violent crime that has gripped much of the city. "It really made us think about the difference of ...

Continue reading this entry

MANAGUA — Nicaraguan police have seized a large cache of weapons and explosives from suspected members of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel after a police car chase outside Managua, a spokeswoman said. The weapons included 61 automatic rifles, mostly AK-47's and four M-16s, two grenade launchers, 10 hand grenades, 20 sticks of dynamite and more than 19,000 rounds of ammunition, Vilma Reyes told a press briefing. They were found inside a car the suspected drug traffickers fled from after being chased by police on the Panamerican highway, outside Managua, she added. The police operation was deemed a success, despite the suspects' getaway, thanks to police and military intelligence work in tracking the movements of the alleged Sinaloa members inside Nicaragua, the spokeswoman said. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iV-GWhJS_2i3_PeYJPUqd3qJLFDQ

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Magistrate Sergio Cuarezma, a member of the Supreme Court, spent Oct. 19 like any other Monday, quietly catching up on e-mail and fingering through stacks of rulings by sunlight when the court’s power went down, as it tends to do without explanation here in Central America’s poorest country. Despite lingering in his office most of that day, he said, he was never informed of an afternoon session in the court’s constitutional chamber, of which he is a member. Six judges from the governing Sandinista party, including three who were summoned as replacements when opposition magistrates did not attend, met at the end of the day and unanimously decided a constitutional ban on re-election did not apply to President Daniel Ortega, who is seeking to run again in 2011. In his office on a recent afternoon, Mr. Cuarezma said he was powerless to change the ruling, which he considered illegal. “I feel the whole world is backward,” he said. “The Sandinistas control everything. What can I do?” Mr. Ortega, a former rebel leader who was president during the 1980s, has been among the most calculated in the region in stymieing opposition to his bid to maintain power. He has solidified his party’s ...

Continue reading this entry

MANAGUA – Followers of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, leader of the official Sandinista party, attacked dissident Sandinistas who were protesting on the one-year anniversary of nationwide municipal elections they consider “fraudulent.” The brawl took place outside the Supreme Electoral Council, or CSE, located in front of the central headquarters of the national police in Managua. The protesters sought refuge in police headquarters, where the Ortega followers pursued them with rocks and tubes for shooting firecrackers, according to video reports seen on television. An Efe photographer witnessed Ortega loyalists in an SUV throwing eggs at a television news crew and a dissident who was being interviewed. The president’s followers, some with their faces covered, threw rocks and firecrackers at the police facilities and broke a glass door. Police chief Aminta Granera, who was at a meeting with the National Council to analyze the protests scheduled for Monday, went to the scene of the incident and was met by dissidents who denounced the aggression. “Please speak, say what you’re thinking, what you feel. They’re trampling on your constitution, your country, your free homeland that a lot of people died for,” a young dissident shouted at Granera amid a throng of reporters. The dissident Sandinistas urged the police chief to ...

Continue reading this entry

On October 20, the Nicaraguan Supreme Court removed a constitutional barrier to the re-election of leftist president Daniel Ortega in the 2011 elections. The court acted on removing the restriction after a petition from Ortega and a group of mayors was delivered to the court a week earlier. By ruling to remove the barrier, the court has made a re-election for Ortega possible without the need of a national assembly or voting referendum to change the constitution. Daniel Ortega is a former leftist guerrilla fighter and leader of the Sandinista rebels, who fought against the US-backed government forces in the 1970's. In 1979, Nicaragua underwent a revolution where the Sandinistas and Ortega took control of the country and declared it a socialist state. Ortega was formally elected president in 1984. After years of failure in economic development and public policy, Ortega and the Sandinistas lost power in 1990 and the opposition party banned running consecutively or more than two terms. Ortega returned to power in 2007, after running on a reconciliation platform and has since closely allied Nicaragua with other leftist states in Latin America, such as Venezuela and its leader Hugo Chavez, who ...

Continue reading this entry

The Costa Rican men's soccer team face Uruguay on Saturday, exactly one month since the Ticos' match with the United States that missed them a ride to South Africa. It's been a tough month for the Costa Rican men's soccer team. In their last World Cup qualifying match on Oct. 14, the Tico team, or La Sele, was 15 seconds shy of clinching a place in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when United States midfielder Jonathan Bornstein scored in the 94th minute to tie the game 2-2 and forever earn the title of villain in the hearts of the Costa Rican faithful. Had the Ticos held on to win, they wouldn't be where they are now – preparing to play in a two-game, do-or-die playoff series with Uruguay for the final World Cup slot allotted to the Western Hemisphere. The playoff will be decided by the combined score of the two games. "The loss is behind us now," said Costa Rica midfielder Luis Marín in an interview with FIFA.com. "Of course it was a heavy blow, but mentally we've handled it well. Coach René Simoes spoke to us about it and we also looked at how we ourselves were to blame. ...

Continue reading this entry

Los Angeles, California-bred thrash metal rock stars Metallica will bring their 1980's brand performance to Costa Rica next year. New Central and South American tour dates released on the bands W eb site on Tuesday chart a stop in San José, Costa Rica on Sunday March 7, 2010. The band will play in Ricardo Saprissa stadium in Tibás as part of their World Magnetic Tour 2009/2010. T ickets for their Costa Rica show will go on sale to the g eneral public on Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. via the Web at www.specialticket.net or by phone at (506) 2206-7770. Metal-lovers can also purchase tickets in person at Bansbach music stores, authorized Servimás stores and La Barbería. Members of the Metclub, Metallica's fan club, can purchase tickets beginning Nov. 13 through the same mediums. Seat prices start at 15,000 colones ($26.72). VIP tickets, the most expensive, can be purchased for 55,000 colones ($97.96). Metallica is promoting its latest album, "Death Magnetic," released in September 2008 on Warner Bros. Records. The record won two Grammy Awards in 2009 for “Best Metal Performance” and “Best Recording Package” and is the first to feature the band's newest bassist, Robert Trujillo. Trujillo is the band's fourth bass player, while Death ...

Continue reading this entry

Foreigners looking to gain residency through a falsified marriage could face up to six years in prison under a new law signed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias on Wednesday. The law looks to put an end to a practice by which foreigners pay a Costa Rican to act as a spouse in order to gain legal residency in the country. According to top officials during a news conference Wednesday, the loophole results in unwanted foreign residents in the country (such as criminals). Jannina del Vecchio, public security minister, said the current system results in the exploitation of poor people through “ ridiculous payments ” for legal status, while also threatening the security of Costa Rican residents. "It's not rare for these (foreigners) commit illicit acts and undertake activities that counter our values and traditions," she said. Evita Arguedas, a lawmaker who backs the legislation, added, "It's common knowledge that many foreigners caught in criminal activity have legal resident status in their favor – thanks to falsified marriages." Not only will the foreigner be at fault for a fake marriage, but other people involved could face similar penalties, including prison terms. Notaries that certify false marriages will lose their authority for a period of six ...

Continue reading this entry

Nicaragua (MNN) ― A week ago, Category-1 Hurricane Ida struck Nicaragua around sunrise, affecting communities along the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts. Thousands were displaced by flash floods and mudslides triggered by Ida, but no casualties were reported. Speaking to us from Nicaragua, Kim Brown with Food for the Hungry said the storm hit without warning. "It caught most people totally off-guard," Brown said, "and we've had very heavy rains, particularly in that part of the country." FH works primarily on Nicaragua's Pacific coast, but teams are working alongside Christian Medical Action in response to this disaster. Two years ago, the groups paired to provide a "holistic response" for Nicaraguan victims of Hurricane Felix. Brown predicts FH's response to the current disaster will be similar to methods used two years ago. "That included things like emergency foods, roofing materials, helping with shelters, helping people get back on their feet," Brown explains. "We always respond to both physical, emotional, and spiritual needs because people are integrated." In 2007, Nicaragua bore the brunt of Category-5 Hurricane Felix's wrath; Felix followed on the heels of Category-5 Hurricane Dean. It was the first time in history that two category-5 storms stuck within the same year. Most damage occurred to ...

Continue reading this entry

In 2006, Merck, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, UNICEF and leading health organizations established a three-year partnership to provide free vaccinations against rotavirus gastroenteritis to all eligible infants born in Nicaragua. Through the partnership – called the Nicaraguan Rotavirus Vaccination Program – Merck expects to donate more than one million doses of ROTATEQ® (rotavirus vaccine, live, oral pentavalent) through the end of 2009, representing a $75 million commitment. Before the program was initiated, hospitals in Nicaragua were overwhelmed each winter with infants and children suffering from the effects of rotavirus disease. Today, Nicaragua’s rotavirus vaccination rates are among the highest in the world, with about 80 percent of eligible children vaccinated with ROTATEQ, and emergency rooms are no longer overwhelmed in winter. Full story and link can be found at: http://www.ethioplanet.com/vybes/2009/11/11/donating-more-than-one-million-vaccines-to-help-nicaraguan-babies/

GUATEMALA, November 11 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu and Commander in Chief of the Nicaraguan Armed Forces Omar Halleslevens have concluded an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of coping with the aftermath of natural calamities. The agreement that expires next year was concluded on Tuesday within the framework of the Russian delegation’s visit to the Nicaraguan capital. In accordance with the concluded agreement, Russia will provide assistance to Nicaragua in order to help it raise efficiency of response efforts to natural cataclysms. It envisages, in particular, the exchange of scientific and technical information, as well as sharing with the Nicaraguan side the Russian experience in taking preventive measures against natural calamities and coping with them. Speaking at the signing ceremony Shoigu noted that the population and infrastructure of Nicaragua often suffer from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and volcano eruptions. “The signed document will become a basis for the modernisation of structures of the national emergency response system,” he noted. Halleslevens for his part noted, in accordance with the agreement the Nicaraguan army will in a short period of time receive from Russia equipment, special machinery and assistance in the training of personnel for liquidating the natural disasters’ aftermath. The Russian ...

Continue reading this entry

The fifth round of free-trade talks with China concluded Friday as representatives from both countries met in Beijing to further define the details of the pending agreement. The discussions, which spanned four days, centered on defining the regulations for the exchange of products and services between the two countries. Negotiators also discussed which agricultural products their perspective countries will open up for trade. According to Costa Rica's chief negotiator Fernando Ocampo, the conclusion of this round of discussions “highlighted the importance of both countries to strengthen the legal aspects that regulate the commercial relationship between China and Costa Rica.” The Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX), which is working from the Costa Rican side to establish the parameters of the agreement, said that the fifth round of talks allowed both countries to establish important regulations in terms of labor laws, which are vastly different between the two countries, necessary sanitary measures and the permissible limits of trade of certain agricultural products. The products of chief interest for Costa Rica are beef and meat from China, while China hopes to acquire significant amounts of Costa Rica pineapples, bananas and coffee. COMEX also reported that Costa Rica proposed an offer to include more Chinese electronics in the agreement, such ...

Continue reading this entry

Amnesty International today expressed concern that the Nicaraguan Supreme Court continues to delay its judgment on the legality of new criminal laws on abortion which entered into force in 2008. The Court was due to issue a judgment in May 2009 on the constitutionality of a complete ban on abortion, even when the life of the woman or girl is at risk and when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. “As long as this total ban is in place, victims of rape and incest – some of them still children themselves – are compelled to bear children,” said Kerrie Howard. Pregnant women and girls are being denied life saving medical treatment and medical professionals are criminalized for doing their jobs." “The lives of many women and girls depend on the Court’s decision,” said Kerrie Howard “We are very concerned at the lack of certainty and that the Court continues to delay its ruling.” Justice delayed is justice denied. Women are dying in Nicaragua because the Court has failed to uphold the human rights of women. Since the ban was first put in place four United Nations treaty expert committees have informed the Nicaraguan government that such a ban places it ...

Continue reading this entry

Part of a bridge that spans the Río Rincón in Puerto Jiménez, a fishing community in the southwest Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, collapsed on Friday when a 95-ton crane attempted to cross it, the daily La Nacion reported. According to the national daily, the 50-year-old bridge was only meant to support 35 tons. The crane sustained severe damage to the cab, but the driver escaped unscathed. No injuries were reported. Friday's collapse came little more than two weeks after a bridge in Turrubares caved under the weight of a school bus carrying 38 passengers, which plunged into the Tárcoles River and claimed five lives. The Turrubares collapse lead to serious questions about the Public Works and Transport Ministry's competence to maintain bridges and forced the resignation of ministry head Karla González. In September, The National Emergency Commission (CNE) declared a “red alert” over the state of bridges in Costa Rica after a study revealed that dozens of the country's river crossings were in potentially dangerous conditions. National Roadway Council (CONAVI) press officials said that a new bridge is under construction between Chacarita and Puerto Jiménez, but for now the only access to the small fishing town is by air or boat. Full story and link can ...

Continue reading this entry