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yes, Arias Dos won. i’m not sure what it all means except that she is pro-corporate so i guess there will be continuing selling off of costa rica.
Laura Chinchilla of PLN received 46.78%
Otto Guevara of ML received 20.89%
Ottón Solís of PAC received 25.11%
There were many different parties running but these were the top three …
Scot
As long as Costa Rica remains socialist, making small accommodations to corporations doesn’t sound too very dangerous. Keeping everything in its proper place and big money at a healthy distance from government is the trick. We weren’t able to do that in the States and we lost our country a long time ago. Costa Rica is small and so far, the Ticos seem to have a handle on immigration, the environment and industry growth. I hope corruption can be managed. The Big Bad Wolf is huffing and puffing at the front door now in the form of a lot of Chinese money, I hear.
My fear is the Chinese relationship mainly because their environemntal, as well as human rights record is utterly pathetic. In addition, they tend to make little effort in hiring locally, so it will be interesting to see how many of the “protected workforce” laws get “sold out” so they can create in-country “sweat shops”. You would expect that any Chinese company opening a factory or plant here would have to meet the same labor & environemntal standards as the American or European based companies do. I for one am very leary of their business practices as are most of the western corporations who have dared to do business with them only to get burned. Chinchilla better tread lightly in this arena.
[quote=”grb1063″] I for one am very leary of their business practices as are most of the western corporations who have dared to do business with them only to get burned. Chinchilla better tread lightly in this arena.[/quote]
All capitalist businesses operate pretty much under the same flag, “PROFIT”. The Chinese capitalists are not much different from other world capitalists except that the Chinese have state run capitalism, a slight jump ahead of the US situation.
Look at any of the other Central American countries which have been steamrolled over by American capitalism over the last century. None of them are in very good shape today and have not been for a long time. How the hell little Costa Rica with no armed forces was able to hang on to most of its dignity and sovereignty in the face of such a huge threat is ponderous. Cuba had to fight a revolution and is still suffering a 50 year long economic blockade to regain and hold her sovereignty.
Ticos, like citizens of most other nations,complain about corruption. The danger of huge amounts of Chinese money and the influence it can buy is going to be a genuine test of Costa Rican political and cultural integrity. As a lot of gringos already know, much of Costa Rica is already up for sale.Chinese commu-capitalism is a far cry from western capitalism Sprite. What does China want with Costa Rica? Bananas, coffee and pineapple or other raw materials they can rape and pillage like they have done in their own country and rendering their water undrinkable? There is portions of China so polluted there are not even any bees to pollinate. Or do they want land and concessions so they can build their factories and import their entire work force like with the new stadium? Even big International and US oil companies are reluctant to do business with China. They will not leave a positve mark on the landscape.
I agree, grb….Chinese capitalism, like all and any other versions, is bad news no matter where it operates. I feel a sense of urgency to enjoy Costa Rica while it is still enjoyable.
[quote=”sprite”]I agree, grb….Chinese capitalism, like all and any other versions, is bad news no matter where it operates. I feel a sense of urgency to enjoy Costa Rica while it is still enjoyable.[/quote]
Hi folks.
Being a tico, I appreciate your opinions about the way the current goverment is doing things and the way the next one is going to improve the situation or is going to commit errors that would affect everybody here.
I was one who voted for a different candidate, because I am afraid Chinchilla is going to do many things at Arias´s style that I don´t agree with.
I think we all must criticize in the constructive way what is happening in the country, otherwise politicians, authorities and the goverment could abuse of their power.
For instance, taking about an example a friend from Canada commented me, (a situation he is afraid could happen in the years to come in Costa Rica too), and I will write down exactly what he said, he is deciding moving to Costa Rica, even the immigration law is harder than several months ago for foreigners, because he feels things are becoming worse for citizens in Canada: he is paying around five times more for public services than 15 years ago, even they are trying to expent just the necessary, taxes and other mandatory payments are pretty high, the goverment is controling everything (video cameras in the lights in the streets), money after retiring won´t be enough for having a good quality of life, etc.
So, if we, as the current people living in Costa Rica, if we don´t say that we agree or not about a topic, our people could suffer the bad effects of globalism. Some things are great about it, like keeping in touch with everyone around the world, but on the other hand, there are interests of many big international companies that are usually affecting people and those companies really don´t care about it.
As my Canadian friend said, we are becoming “sheeple” instead of people, and we shouldn´t let it be that way.
It is better, probable the only way available, speaking your mind while it is still possible. It could be the big difference in the years to come for preventing wrong things instead of suffering consecuences and trying to fix them when it is too late.
Rigo,
We North Americans (los estadounidenses) probably should not be offering advice to Ticos because we have lost our country.
We let it be bought right out from under us. Corruption is universal and so is the antidote, public vigilance and participation. Maybe the US is just too big to be a representative republic. But Costa Rica may have a better chance at success because it has a smaller, more homogeneous population and culture.
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