Paul Watson

On May 13, 2012, The Costa Rica Star reported on the arrest of Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by German law enforcement officials in Frankfurt. From that day on, The Costa Rica Star reported extensively^[7] on the saga of the Canadian eco-activist, once eliciting comments from Paul Watson himself through the website's Facebook commenting plugin. The Costa Rica Star has also published press communications written by Paul Watson for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as well as an official response from the International Whale Protection Organization^[8] on this contentious matter.

The United States War on Drugs

The Costa Rica Star routinely reports on matters related to the War on Drugs as they affect Costa Rica and Central America. In July 2013, an article entitled Snow Job: U.S. Air Force Flies Cocaine from Costa Rica to Miami^[9] was the first English-language news report of a cargo airlift operation involving 24 tons of seized cocaine flown out of the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport for destruction on U.S. soil.

In August 2013, The Costa Rica Star reported on the drug interdiction operations of the USS Rentz, which seized 963 kilos of cocaine from a fishing vessel flying the Costa Rican flag near the Galapagos Islands. The Costa Rica Star reported that the fishing vessel sank after being taken in two by the USS Rentz, a fact that the U.S. Embassy denied on Twitter;^[10] however, ship logs and reports from Costa Rican law enforcement agencies confirmed the sinking.

Social Experiment Controversy

In early 2014, The Costa Rica Star published an old and inaccurate article^[11] about changes to Costa Rica's stance on perpetual tourism, which were purportedly slated to take place in March 2014. The article caused commotion among the expatriate community of Costa Rica, which turned into consternation once it was revealed as old and incorrect. The Costa Rica Star claimed that the publication was part of a social experiment to illustrate the dangers of misinformation,^[12] but one reader who was not amused organized a petition to boycott advertising on the site.^[13]

The Brian Pallister Investigation

On April 16, 2016, The Costa Rica Star heeded a request by Canadian news media outlets to look into the assets owned by Brian Pallister, a conservative politician and the Leader of the Opposition of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly at the time. The investigation revealed^[20] that Pallister was president of a Finca Deneter Doce, Sociedad Anónima, a holding company for three pieces of real estate in the highly sought-after coastal district of Tamarindo, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste. Pallister had been under fire for spending too much time in Costa Rica when he should have been minding his legislative duties. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Winnipeg Free Press cited^[21] the investigative work^[22] of The Costa Rica Star even as a spokesperson of the Progressive Conservative Party asserted that Pallister did not conduct business or owned properties in Costa Rica, although public records proved otherwise.