If you live outside of Costa Rica, the country itself sounds like Paradise. Vulcans, rain forest, Pacific Ocean to the West, Caribbean Sea to the East, loads of flora and fauna and warm people. Well, let me give you a tiny reality check:
Warm People: Sure. Violence and crime. Poverty. Corruption. Misery. The President has been twisting arms and buying elections. He made sure the so-called Referendum to approve the CAFTA favored him. He made sure no publicity of the "NO" got through the media, and made sure nothing happened to Kevin Casas and Fernando Arias, who put together the infamous "Fear Memorandum". I include a link there, but if you can't read Spanish, let me tell you about the main element of this memo. It's the 2nd point, which translates to:
"2. Estimulate Fear. There are four types of fear:
i. Fear to lose the job (...)
ii. Fear of the attack to the democratic institutions (...)
iii. Fear of the foreign influences of the NO (...)
iv. Fear of the effect on the Government of the NO (...)"
Funny, all those where followed. Would like to know something? People in the maquiladoras and foreing enterprises were said that they would be fired if they voted NO. Some enterprises requiered their employes to take a picture of their vote with their cellphones' camera. The Government SHAMELESSLY funded the campaing of the YES. The Presindent himself, who should remain neutral, took ever possible chance to campaing for the YES.Now please take a look at this picture of the concentration of the NO. Well, part, because cameras can't really take the full lenght of this concentration. This was a concentration of people concerned, nobody was pushed, nobody was bought. I know what was it like, because I was there. The YES flew airplains over it with banners, perhaps hoping to get a revolt and be able of labeling the NO as a bunch of hooligans. However people took it with humor and soon many guys jumped on the roofs with giant Oscar Arias heads and made a parody. The day before the vote a campaing-truce was declared, which the YES broke, and yet wasn't punished. And even so, with all this, lots of ballots were destroyed and the numbers modified to favor the YES.
The President and his brother, the Prime Minister (which is a clear violation to the Costa Rican Political Constitution) dished out $2 million in "counseling services" with no public control, since it was "donation money that doesn't need to be justified or cntrolled". Well, last time I checked, all Public Employe must be subject of control, all our expenses are PUBLIC and subject to control (save what we do with our declared salary), and we get no PRIVATE MONEY. Receiving private funds is ilegal. It's corruption. So, if the money is private, it's corruption, if it is not, then he must declare and justify it's expenses... and it also means that he has to justify the expense and show that he got it on the lowest possible price. After this, he declared he felt insulted because people were asking him about that money, and he has always been "transparent". Well, yeah... he makes no effort to hide all the corruption going on.
The Housing Minister took $1,5 million and spent it on "counseling". That money was donated by the Taiwan Government to build 150 houses for the poor. Just one question: IF he works at the Housing Ministery, why do they need counseling to plan and build houses? Shouldn't they have people who does that in the Ministry? What all those employes do? File their nails?
There are at least two "Peace" programs going on. One is to stop violence on the streets. Well, crime has just grown exponentially. People being kidnapped and made take all their money out of their cards, "instant kidnaps" where someone is held hostage for 24 hours and made the family pay the ransom, as well as cars that prey on women on broad daylight, pull them into cars to rape and kill them. Today in the news there was this reportage of a kinder garden kid taking a gun to class. You think Colombia is dangerous? Today Colombian authorities said all the "capos" fly to take refuge in Costa Rica. Well, one fo our Security Minister was removed of his charge after he let out that the President's campaing was financed with narco-money.
There's this North-west province, Guanacaste. Really pretty and really poor. Some Megaprojects installed there. People where happy because they thought they'll have more jobs. Well, the projects are poorly designed. A community, Sardinal, is being FLOOD with SHIT, and I do mean shit, human fecesm from one of the megaprojects. Does anyone does anything? No. Bunch of paupers and "indians". They get sick and living there is nearly impossible, but the Government does nothing.
Rain Forest, Flora and Fauna. Recently the President allowed to exterminate 262 ha.s of forest to make a mine. A private mining project. In the middle of an INTERNATIONALLY PROTECTED area. Ecologists argue that the Constitution's 50th article says that the Government should protect the proper living environment, as well as the environment in general. If it applies to plants and animals, to the forest, do you think we could apply it to that "bunch of paupers and indians" in Sardinal, so they don't have to live drowned in foreing crap?
As a Costa Rican, and fuck, you know I don't call myself that often, but please, do not come here to vacation. Spend your money somewhere else. Please do not let these pigs pull more profit out of the poor. Do not condone their coruption. And if you don't care for the people and the country, and all you want to do is spend a good time, well, then think about how fun is to be raped, kidnapped, killed and robbed out of everything you have. Oh, and there's a global recession out there, so I don't really think you could "lose" some cash and some blood in here.
If you intend to invest, onyl consider that the USD here is being artificially kept up, but the country doesn't really have what it takes to keep it that way for long. I tell you, this is being kept up until "certain stocks" manage to get to be located safely elsewhere. So, think twice.
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