Religious Marriages Down While Civil Marriages Increase
In Costa Rica, for every 100 marriages, only 24 take place in a church, while 76 are civil marriages. According to the Registro Civil, of the 23.880 marriages registered in 2006, 18.182 were civil while 5.698 where catholic.

Incofer Rehabilitates Train Between San José and Caldera
The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer) said it has invested some ¢80 million colones (us$154.000) in repairing a number of sections of the track between San José and the puerto Caldera on the Pacific coast that runs the "tourist" train.

Costa Rica Opposes Whale Hunting
In the next meeting of the International Whale Commission, in May in Alaska, Costa Rica will vote against the hunting of whales, Minister of the Environment Roberto Dobles announced.

French Trade Mission
A delegation of 21 businessmen belonging to the French Business Movement, the largest organization of its kind in France, visited Costa Rica in order to asses opportunities for investment, and the state of infrastructure and development.

More Tourists Arrive Via Liberia
Twenty percent more tourists arrived at Daniel Oduber International Airport, in Liberia, Guanacaste, the year that ended this January and as compared to the same 12-month period, official sources disclosed.

Five Percent of the Cocaine
The U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica Mark Langsdale pointed out that the 23 tons of cocaine that have been confiscated in the joint U.S.-Costa Rica anti-drug plan in the last 7 months represent only 5 percent of the drug produced in South America.