Costa Rica-2006: With Warts

It's sometimes startling how similar the US and Costa Rica are. Both countries have a history of independence that they look proudly back on. Both countries share the mixed blessings of being home to thousands of illegal immigrants. In the US case, it's primarily Mexicans; for Costa Rica, it's primarily Nicaraguans. The people of both countries share the same superficial friendliness. For both the Tico and the gringo, friendly relations with strangers are nice, just don't get too close. Both countries enjoy beautiful natural resources and take token steps to preserve them. Both countries have slow-moving largely ineffectual governments that respond best to monied interests. The governments of both countries spend money they don't have. Both countries share a relatively high standard of living. Even their soccer teams are similar. There are outstanding individual players (Wanchope, McGuire) but together they can't make a winning team.

This is not to say that Ticos and gringos are alike in all things. As ineffective as the US government may be domestically, it is dramatically effective in extending its political will beyond its borders. Not so Costa Rica. As affluent as the US is, its health care system is a disgrace; not so Costa Rica's.

For the gringo tourist, two negative aspects of Costa Rica stand out rather quickly. First is the Ticos' inability to deal with the automobile and all it entails. The roads in Costa Rica are a blight. Traffic in San Jose and environs is horrible. Some of the roads in the countryside (e.g., the "bumpy road" south of Quepos) are deplorable. There is no meaningful plan on the table to do anything about improving the infrastructure. Usually, less government is good government. The Ticos take this dicho and make it into an art form. For every proposal, the Ticos can dream up an amazing variety of ways to investigate and study the problem and otherwise put off making a decision on it for another couple of generations. I strongly suspect that the hot topic on the political table in Costa Rica in the year 2100 will be whether or not to ratify CAFTA.

The second negative aspect of Costa Rica is the regrettable increase in crime. From what everyone says, it didn't used to be like that. Nowadays, everywhere you travel around the country's capital, it seems that the overwhelming majority of houses are surrounded by ugly fences and bars (las rejas feas). A local told me that in Costa Rica the good people are behind bars; the criminals are allowed to run free. With almost everyone in the country living behind bars, I wonder what that does subconsciously to the average Tico's psyche? It's not unusual for a local and certainly for a tourist to be the victim of a purse snatch or pick pocketing; or worse, of a mugging.

Every little business seems to have its armed security guard(s). Apartment houses and condo places have these guards. The actual police are very limited in number and resources.

Why is this happening? The Ticos blame the Nicaraguans, as if criminal traits come with the country. However, this allegation does not seem to be borne out statistically.

My take on the problem is as follows. Unfortunately, although the upper class is growing in numbers, so too is the lower class. The Ticos are being subjected to what we in the US have grown to accept as the current mass religion: consumerism. Life cannot be fully lived unless we have one more toy. It's truly sad to see Tico families go to the Mall for the sole purpose of walking up and down the air conditioned length of it looking at impossibly expensive merchandise and purchasing at most a burrito at Taco Bell.

What can be done to stem the growing crime rate in Costa Rica? In the short term, increased police and stiffer court sentences might help. More importantly, in the long term, the government must think of creative ways to expand the size of the middle class, not just the upper class. In this regard, looking to the US as an example is not the best answer. The recycled President must take imaginative and effective steps to reduce crime in his country and he must do it soon. In the past, he has shown exactly this kind of creativity, and was awarded a Nobel Prize for it. Let's hope he continues to possess that energy and desire for improvement.