Punta Dominical Concession Scandal

The more of my countrymen that move to CR, the more U.S. style monkey business is going to be seen. For those Ticos that are up to the game, it will prove profitable. However, as in the U.S., the average citizen is going to get the shaft. And watch out, here comes CAFTA as well.
I have spoken to some thoughtful Costa Ricans on this matter and they do not seem to see what is going on as a great problem. (Either that or they are just too polite to say so to a gringo.) The U.S. dollar makes economic and political conquests (CAFTA). The money that has been flowing into CR for the last decade has got to have its negative effect as well as the positive. The La Nacion article can’t be describing the only incidence of this kind. There have to be others as well. At what point will it be said that the Tico has lost his innocence and, more importantly, his well known tolerance?

Alvaro,

As one of the few Ticos active on this site, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we truly appreciate your participation. To be sure, your frequent comments are usually well thought-out and informative, and offer us Gringos a valuable Tico viewpoint.

However, I have to take issue with your statement that “I believe that saying that Latins in general are used to corruption is a very prejudice remark, a lack of respect to other people’s cultures and a very ignorant statement on your behalf…We are definitely not used to corruption and we don’t tolerate it.”

C’mon maje. Tico drivers are not used to offering a few colones to the Oficial de Transito to get out of a traffic ticket? Tico importers are not used to using their “patas” to lower their import taxes? Tico voters are not used to their politicos siphoning off taxes for personal benefit? Wake up and smell the cafe con leche!

These are examples of endemic governmental corruption that exists all through Latin America, and are due primarily to chaotic legal systems. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think that any Latin American country, except perhaps Cuba, has undergone a true constitutional reform. Instead, the old Roman Codes upon which they were founded have been patched multiple times throughout the decades, resulting in a system where it is nearly impossible to do business in a completely legal fashion. Codes, laws and administrative rules are simultaneously archaic, contradictory, and vague. Bribery, therefore, becomes the grease which keeps the wheels turning.

This kind of corruption in the U.S. is rare. Our constitution and body of laws, while not perfect by any means, are at least more easily followed by people trying to conduct business, to the point where bribes are (usually) unnecessary. Furthermore, our public employees are well-paid, and are therefore not seduced by petty offers to turn a blind eye.

That said, of course corruption thrives on an entirely different level – where big business meets government. There is no such thing as a completely libertarian or laissez-faire system, where the government is completely hands-off business. In my opinion there can’t be, as businesses themselves require a common legal framework to operate. Otherwise they become mafias. Furthermore, many industries, from pharmaceuticals, to energy and nuclear power, to banking, to military-industrial complexes, simply could never have come about without strong governmental/industrial partnerships.

These partnerships exist all over the world, including the U.S. and CR, and probably represent a more insidious type of corruption than offering 1,000 colones to the Transito on the way to Guapiles.

Finally, corruption also exists equally throughout the world at the regular business level. Both the Gringo & the Tico businessman encounters the same quandary. Do I spend a bunch of money to conform to the law, or do I skirt the law and save the money? The answer depends upon the likelihood of getting caught, and the extent of the resulting penalty. If you can make more money by operating illegally, even after paying any fine, the answer is obvious, no matter what language you speak.

Let’s continue to speak frankly and honestly, and think twice before denouncing others.

On petty corruption, Latinos beat us Gringos hands-down. On businesspeople looking for loopholes, we’re probably even. On institutionalized corruption (and certainly the military-industrial complex), Ticos simply can’t touch us. However, they may be able to gain some ground by dumping the system of publicly financing elections, and allowing money to more completely control public policy, like we do here in the U.S.

I only wish we would have the courage to throw a few of our politicians in jail, like you guys did. Bravo!

Tuanis!

excellent reply gringotico. i really respect and envy persons who are articulate and organized enough to express what many of us know to be representations of the way things are. thank you for an argument that will clarify my own expressions to help enlighten others with what i view as restricted viewpoints. i have a philipino friend that i go round and round with re: the corruption issue. hard to bribe a cop in the u.s.but we aren’t pristine, just different level and scale. only the wealthy, for the most part, can subvert justice here. maybe latin american(among others) corruption is more egalitarian. power to the people! je je.