Costa Rica: a model country ?
January 7, 2010 - 5:12am
Costa Rica always stands out in Latin America:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/opinion/07kristof.html
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What sets Costa Rica apart is its remarkable decision in 1949 to dissolve its armed forces and invest instead in education. Increased schooling created a more stable society, less prone to the conflicts that have raged elsewhere in Central America. Education also boosted the economy, enabling the country to become a major exporter of computer chips and improving English-language skills so as to attract American eco-tourists.
I'm not antimilitary. But the evidence is strong that education is often a far better investment than artillery.
In Costa Rica, rising education levels also fostered impressive gender equality so that it ranks higher than the United States in the World Economic Forum gender gap index. This allows Costa Rica to use its female population more productively than is true in most of the region. Likewise, education nurtured improvements in health care, with life expectancy now about the same as in the United States - a bit longer in some data sets, a bit shorter in others.
We went to Costa Rica and Guatemala this year for holidays. It was a remarkable contrast. Though separated by less than 800 km and a landscape that is remarkably similiar, Guatemala is a mess. We went to Guatemala to visit some foster children. Guatemala relies heavily on charity tourism. Almost everybody at arrivals except us were wearing group t-shirts designating which church or NGO group they belonged to.
Upon returning home, I did some research on the history of both countries. Costa Rica abolished their army and they have not looked back since.
In 1954 or thereabouts, the Eisenhower administration sponsored a regime changing revolution in Guatemala, overthrowing the socialist government, which spawned a 30 year civil war. Now Guatemala is still a very dangerous country, with malnutrition second only to Haiti. But there is lots of untilled farmland for rent.
I did a blog on the trip which touches a bit more on the history and has links to a few wiki pages on both countries.
I came away convinced that Canada should abolish its army as well. Really, what good is our army if we are invaded by our only neighbour?
I've lived in Costa Rica, as well as a number of other countries in Latin America, CR ain't no paradise.
Pro-proud friendly people, everything on a small scale easy to access other parts of the country.
Con-thievery is beyond belief, makes Vancouver look like a paradise, if they don't have knives they have pens.
Drug trafficking and it's concomitant ills have deeply impacted the populace and not for the better.
Short-time/part time employment is endemic because the obligations that employers have to meet for full time staff are considered onerous/overly expensive, under employment too is widespread.
The food is shit.
Panama is much more welcoming and low key place, not in anyway perfect or wealthier but easier to adjust too since there are fewer sectors of the population who are hard pressed to survive.
Food is marginally better.
Your right, it's not a paradise. But they have made better progress than most every other LA country. And things are getting better.
True story: We were warned (and had read) about the 'entrepreneurial' police force in Costa Rica. If you are stopped for speeding, for instance, just pay the fine on the spot. So we were told by a friend who loves the place and visits often. We rented a cellphone (don't ask how much) when we picked up our rental car for that very reason. You can pay the fine and avoid the hassle but the police might send the ticket in anyways and it goes to the car rental agency who have your credit card number and an agreement ... you know the rest of the story.
The cellphone had the number of the car rental agency in it, and they promised they would assist us with these kinds of issues, so we would only have to pay once.
As it turned out, we had a flat tire. I'm in the process of attempting to jack up the car when a pickup truck pulls up and stops behind us. Out step two dudes. The one in the green polo shirt shirt and jeans shows me some shiny metal thing but I can't remember much about it because I was looking at the gun on his hip.
They were police officers. I was the first one they approached. I don't know spanish so they switched to english, and tried their best to put me at ease. They said it was a bad idea to leave the luggage on the road like I did (to get the jack out) because that is an invitation to have your luggage stolen. My wife is fluent in spanish, so pretty soon we had all things sorted out.
Then they both shook their heads at my efforts to jack the car up (it had no future). They went to the nearest farm and borrowed a block of wood to put under the jack and then proceeded to change the tire for me. I could have done it myself but I have this rule that you don't argue with a man with a gun.
I was very grateful and I offered them a gratuity. It was only about $20 US (I know, I'm cheap too), but they absolutely refused to take it, even with my lovely wife stepping in to express our thanks and properly offering more.
OK - the food sucks, but I have developed a taste for black beans now. Just not everyday, twice a day.
The people are really great. It really helps to know spanish but if you don't and you rent a car, get one with a GPS system. We had an excellent map of the country, but there are virtually no road signs, so maps are kind of useless. As I said, my wife is fluent in spanish and has no problems asking for directions.
Costa Rica is a beautiful country. They deserve our support.
Costa Rica's first female president
SAN JOSE, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla declared victory Sunday night in Costa Rica's presidential election, after her main rivals, Otton Solis and Otto Guevara, conceded defeat and congratulated her as the country's first female president in history.
And this is a great article...
Why Costa Rica scores well on the happiness index
James Painter BBC News, Feb 7, 2010
It would be nice to see Canada adopt the Costa Rica model of governance going forward instead of the George Bush doctrine of going backwards.
-Just hoping for an election sooner then later
Chinchilla is a notorious backstabbing thief and so it should all be business as usual.
The Canadian military has limited use in defending our territory, as you rightfully point out, but it would be a fallacy to think that Canada would benefit from abolition in the same way Costa Rica has - there's no history of the military's involvement in politics in Canada so there's no reason why it would improve democracy here.
But I agree that Costa Rica is a remarkable success story in Latin America and there is probably no other country in the region that could claim such a well run democracy.
A professor of mine was an expert in Latin American politics (particularly Nicaragua) and told an interesting story once about how seriously take government impartiality during elections - prior to an election a traffic roundabout had been newly landscaped with white flowers on green grass. Problem is that the colours of the Partido Liberación Nacional are white and green. Even though it seems like a stretch that white flowers on a roundabout could be construed as an endorsement for one party over another, it was dug up just to be sure.
Costa Rica is also one of only three countries to establish a Ministry of Peace and Justice. (Nepal and the Solomon Islands are the other two) A 'dialogue' of peace curriculum is being developed and will be available throughout the school system beginning in elementary schools and continuing through to University. Canada should do the same.
"BePeace was taught in public school pilot projects for four years. From 2004 through 2007, 304 teachers were trained in BePeace, which impacted approximately 9,170 students. In addition, from 2006 through 2007, 259 students were trained in BePeace mediation practices and 50 parents received BePeace classes. Annual evaluations indicated a reduction of violence in the classrooms." http://www.rasur.org/projects.html