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Sprite:
“a little situational awareness and some precautions are enough to glide through with little risk to being a victim”
Yes, I agree, absolutely, IF you’re a tourist or casual traveler. I’ve spoken to probably hundreds of people who have traveled to CR as tourists, and as we all know, they rave about it. Crimes against tourists do happen in CR, but as far as I know it’s no better or worse than anywhere else.
The true impact of the three big negatives of crime, poor infrastructure and turtle-paced bureaucracy is felt when you live AND WORK there for an extended period of time, (retirees are less affected because they don’t have financial/business objectives to meet, which are often dependent upon bureaucratic and infrastructure issues).
In this case, “a little situational awareness and some precautions” are not sufficient. You need to take it a few steps further.
It’s easy to find a laundry list of things you should and shouldn’t do when traveling abroad – don’t wear expensive jewelry, don’t flash a lot of cash, don’t walk alone at night in bad areas, don’t drive what are obviously rental cars, etc. In addition to these commonly known items, here’s my list of things expats need to do to stay out of trouble in CR.
1. Home safety – your choices are:
A. Eschew items of value. Live out in the open (no window bars, metal doors, broken glass-topped walls…). Keep your drapes open so everyone can see you have nothing to steal. Live the true pura vida lifestyle. After all, you’re not really free until you have nothing to lose. …Sounds tempting, but it’s probably the kind of thing that gets old fast. Also, if you have a family with kids, that’s probably out, unless you’re a fanatic minimalists willing to subject your kids to such conditions.
B. Live in your own house on your own property. Spend more on the wall around the property than you do on the main house. Top the wall with broken glass and concertina wire. Consider a laser perimeter security system. Build a service house for a live-in guard (doubles as gardener, maybe the wife can work as a maid). The only time they can leave the property is when you’re there. Get at least two scary-looking dogs. Train them to accept food only from you so they don’t get poisoned. Install window bars & portones (metal outer doors) BEFORE you move in.
C. Live in a secure condo or truly gated community. You can come and go as you wish, and have all the material items you want, with no worries.
Personally, I’d pick C. Now I know, many of you will write back saying how sad it would be to pick option B, but the honest truth is that’s exactly how well-off Ticos live. I ignored this reality, and it came back to bite me. Scott lives in a secure condo. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons he has remained relatively unviolated.
Obviously, things are worse in and around San Jose (the countryside is where the old Costa Rica still exists), but rural areas are not immune by any means. Having neighbors close by is very important.
A secure abode will make the biggest difference to your quality of life in CR. You simply do not want to become a slave to your home, or a victim of a break-in.
2. Errands – Some chores are not to be missed. Certain kinds of shopping, going to the feria (open market), etc. But let’s face it, the traffic is horrendous, the roads are dangerous, and sometimes the lines are long. Potholes are quant, but only for the first few months. When you have errands that must be done, ones that bring you no particular pleasure, have a messenger do it. They can take your cédula or passport as ID, effect bank transactions, pay bills, complete tasks for immigration & customs, etc. In San Jose messengers on dirt bikes are ubiquitous. There’s a reason for this. When you do leave your home, it will be for something you enjoy doing, something you can take your time at, and take the necessary precautions. Personally, I feel a bit exposed just walking into a bank, not to mention spending 2 hours in line for the teller. Have you seen the security precautions being taken in banks? Many even have what are nearly air locks as entrances. You can call me “paranoid” if you want, but you’d probably call the bank managers “prudent”. Anyway, let the messenger have most of the exposure. Let him wait in line and have the fender bender, etc.
3. Cars:
A. Drive a normal Tico car, one that does not stick out. Stay away from the super popular models, as the demand for parts is much higher. I believe the INS and/or La Nación has a list of the most stolen vehicles, so check that out before buying.
B. Never leave ANYTHING of value in plain sight inside the car. They’ll bust a $100 window to steal a 20 colon coin.
C. Say yes to the “Cuidacarros” (the guys that offer to watch your car). Most are just honestly making some extra money by helping you to protect your car. Others may be hooked into the local “mafia”, and instead of making an honest buck, they’re essentially extortionists. If you tell them you don’t need their services, they’ll get their cut elsewhere – from the guys they tip off to break into your car. Of course if there’s a secure parking lot available, always take that option.
Sometimes I feel bad being so negative. This is Scott’s forum for promoting investment in CR, and I’m not helping. However, my perspective is different. Indeed I myself wish to eventually retire there. As a matter of fact, if I could I’d move there again tomorrow. But one thing’s for sure, I’ll do it differently next time. Follow my advice, and you’ll have a much better chance at preserving your dream as well.
Scott, I haven’t exchanged money on the street since they started the mini-devaluations back in the 90’s. Before that the difference between the official rate and the black market was significant. These days I wouldn’t even think of it.
You’re obviously right, it’s not a good idea to leave a watch on the beach. The point I was trying to get across was the cat and mouse game between two Ticos, one eying his precious few personal effects like an eagle, the other scooting closer and closer to them like a vulture, then backing away every time my friend started to walk towards him. It was very telling.
I hope your luck holds. Just being aware that these things occur helps. But I find that most people are like me, and tend to ignore the warnings in the process of justifying their move to Costa Rica. When they fail to mitigate the risks of living in paradise, they find themselves in paradise lost.
Sorry Sprite, Ticos themselves seek to wall-off their homes and neigborhoods to protect themselves. When Gringos do it, they are in fact in the process of assimilation.
I agree with your other point, though, that we shouldn’t single out Costa Rica. We could do MUCH worse elsewhere.
Where do I begin? Over the decade that I lived in Costa Rica, in and around San Jose, here are all the incidents I can remember. Of course, I’ve omitted the ones I blocked out:
My car was broken into twice while on the street. Once to steal a 20 colon coin I left on the dash, another to steal the spare tire.
My car was broken into 3 additional times, while in a driveway with a locked gate, again for a few measly coins or a crappy spare tire. Obviously, the damage done to break and enter cost exponentially more than the items stolen, not to mention the time, frustration, and sense of violation and insecurity that goes along with it.
I can’t count how many times I was conned. I was swindled while exchanging money on the street twice. The third and forth time they tried it I was ready for them. Once an Attorney charged me $100 just for a notary stamp – that was theft as far as I’m concerned (this was in 1985, so $100 was worth something). I was also conned in highly inventive ways while doing business on numerous occasions.
I don’t know a single Tico who hasn’t had their house broken into. After we built our house, but before we got the window bars up (that’s how the story always goes), we went out for about 4 hours. This was the first time we left the house alone for more than 1.5 hours. When we got back it was dark, and when I opened the front door and walked into the living room, there was a stiff breeze. I turned on the lights, and saw that we had no windows. That’s right, they stole our 5 picture windows. Upon further inspection I found out they stole another $3,000 worth of equipment that I used in my business. As a result of this incident, our “dream” home became a nightmare of insecurity, and I lost my business. For us, this was the beginning of the end in CR.
I remember once I was at the beach with a Tico friend. We were in the water, and he had left his watch & towel on the beach. He was very vigilant though, as are all Ticos. There was a guy there, just sitting, that edged over to his things every time we turned around. My friend had to start walking towards him a few times before he finally went away. Talk about bold.
The items in our luggage have come up short a few times, and I was pick-pocketed twice.
These are the incidents that happened to me. Now, on to my Tico family there. A week after we visited my mother-in-law 2 years ago, her house was broken into by three armed punks while she was home. They cold-cocked my brother-in-law, and held a gun to my mother-in-law’s head. While this type of incident is much rarer, my fear was that it happened because I had been visiting previously – a gringo in a rental car. We gringos are easy marks there, but now I wonder if I put my in-laws in danger as well.
Theft is endemic in CR. Get used to it. While anecdotal, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that assault and more violent crime in CR has risen tremendously since the war in Nicaragua. After that debacle, there were a bunch of highly trained (thank you Oliver North), hungry & bored ex-contras, all armed to the teeth, leftover. What do you think they did? Well, to give you an idea, this was when the security business in CR really took off. Prior to that, I remember a huge deal being made over someone braking a window downtown during a demonstration. “What is the world coming to?” they said…
As I said, ALL of my brother & sister in-law’s homes have been broken into at least once.
“Crime is not a major problem in Costa Rica”??? Who are you kidding? It is one of three major problems which cause gringos to eventually leave (bureaucracy & poor infrastructure being the other two). Sure, I guess if you’re from some crime-ridden urban community in the U.S., you won’t be bothered by any of this. But if not, after a while you come to resent the fact that constant paranoia is mandatory if you don’t wish to be victimized, and unless you live in a condo or a TRULY gated community, you literally become a slave to your house.
There is another way to deal with this issue – don’t keep anything of value. Also, leave an easy way in and out of your house to minimize the damage when they break in to steal a fork. Use a messenger to brave the traffic, stand in lines, and complete your errands in order to minimize your exposure. A million Ticos who employ messengers can’t be wrong.
If I sound traumatized, well, I am. And yet I still dream about going back. Next time, it will be a secure condo. Too bad, I truly loved living out in the open up on the mountainside, with cloud forest trees and a bubbling brook. But in order to do that, you’re talking broken glass topped walls (which cost more than the house itself), vicious dogs trained not to take food from strangers, alarm systems and a live-in guard. Otherwise, you’ll be the easiest target on the block. Window bars? Steal doors? They’re worthless alone. Ever heard of a “pata de chancho”?. It’s essentially what the swat team uses to bust into doors, and they have them there. 3-5 seconds will do it.
While there are many things I don’t like about living in the U.S., I must admit that being able to leave my home alone whenever I want and for however long I want with no worries, is very liberating.
Do I want to scare people away from living and investing there? No. I want to help people do it with their eyes wide open, lest the same things happen to them that happened to me.
To be clear, the vast majority of Ticos are some of the finest people you’ll ever meet. It’s the few bad apples, as well as the underfunding, incompetence, and corruption of the police force, coupled with a very lax judicial system, that spoil it all. In my humble opinion, much of this is caused directly by the “War on Drugs” (remember, that was the one before the “War on Terror” – I know, it’s easy to forget, there are just so many…). The illegality makes the potential profits so enormous that whole countries are now consumed by it. Not to mention the fact that the drug trade also helps to fund the terrorists themselves…
Some how I can’t see government installed and run cameras lasting very long. The environment in Costa Rica is very hard on metal and electronic equipment. How long did the automatic change machines work at the toll booths?
I logged on to reply to this query, being right up my ally, and found that Diego already said it all. I’m in total agreement. I HATE it when that happens!
One further suggestion when you come up against a bureaucratic brick wall, ask the representative to help you out “as a personal favor” (un favor personal). That seems to do the trick sometimes…
Exports & imports 2005-2006
Honduras: imports 25% exports 18%
Guatemala:imports 0% exports 35%
Nicaragua:imports 42% exports 106%All in all, pretty stellar numbers. I have to ask you again, where are you getting your information from? Your assertion does doesn’t hold water.
Furthermore, the trade deficit only tells half the story. The Current Accounts deficit (direct foreign investment, services and such) is just as important, or even more so. It’s what has kept the U.S. afloat all these years of soaring trade imbalances. These numbers are harder to come by, but I can only imagine that CAFTA has resulted in increased foreign investments in these countries as well. How could it not?
CINDE, the Costa Rican government’s marketing department for promoting foreign investment, has a terrific web presentation on their sight at http://www.cinde.org. Anyone who browses through it should get a better appreciation for just how ready Costa Rica is for CAFTA.
Now I hope for three things:
1. The large and vocal minority won’t gum up the works too much.
2. The CR government will wisely invest the profits they will reap from CAFTA.
3. The inevitable detriment to Costa Rican society and values as a result of its accelerating entrance into the global community is minimized.
Yeah, well, we’ll see how it goes… I’m glad they chose the way forward, but sad too that yesterday is gone.
Ripple33,
It seems CAFTA doesn’t even exist in my head until Costa Rica is a part of it. I can’t believe that didn’t register! My first big “senior moment” (that I can remember…).
However, I took the time to confirm your assertion that “All of the countries that have recently signed CAFTA have had their imports increase while their exports have decreased.”
Where are you getting your information?????
According to http://www.indexmundi.com, exports from Central America spiked after the agreement went into effect:
% rise in exports from 2005-2006:
Honduras: 18%
Nicaragua: 107%
Guatemala: 35%Me, I’m a ditz. What’s your excuse?
Ripple33,
First of all, what did you do to the other 32 Ripples?
Thanks for your response. Let me try to give you another side of things, not that I think I’m going to “turn” you. However, I just don’t think CAFTA is the spawn of the devil as you do. It’s simply one more step among many in the natural and inexorable process of globalization.
You are right in that breaches of CAFTA will go to the WTO. You are also right that CAFTA, and globalization in general, means a loss of sovereignty for all (including the US). However, bi-national and multi-national treaties are all bound by international laws and bodies. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be worth the paper it’s written on. A treaty can’t exist where both parties have the right to force their own interpretation, you need a 3rd party referee.
You are also right that CAFTA is not “free trade”, whatever that it. It’s an agreement to start stepping down tariffs and government subsidies which give national companies an advantage over foreign companies. Each government has the right to negotiate these items, and the CR government has been doggedly doing so for years now. The idea is to eventually eliminate tariffs and subsidies over time.
You suggest that if we want “fair trade” we simply do away with all tariffs and subsidies. This would be disastrous, as it would give no time for companies in signatory countries to prepare. The U.S. would truly overwhelm Costa Rica economically if this were to happen, and U.S. farmers and other heavily subsidized industries in both countries would vanish overnight. Now THAT would be painful.
You go on to state that taxes are there to “provide affordable services to the people”. This is not true in a market economy where taxation has two main functions: 1. To fund government agencies; 2. To minimize the disparity of wealth. One of the primary roles of government in such an economy is not to “make things cheap for people” (like food, housing, education and healthcare in Cuba), but rather to create an environment where the private sector can offer the highest quality products and services at the lowest cost. Does it work perfectly? No, but better than Cuba. We’re (the US) still not doing it right anyway.
BTW, Costa Rica does subsidize their farmers, with minimum pricing regulations (canasta basica), tax breaks for agricultural investments, lower tariffs on the importation of agricultural machinery, emission exceptions for rural vehicles, etc. CAFTA does not necessarily eliminate these, just as it won’t in the U.S. It will, however, begin to step them down gradually so the businesses will have the chance to survive the transition.
Finally, you say that “All of the countries that have recently signed CAFTA have had their imports increase while their exports have decreased”.
1. CAFTA has not been enacted. The U.S. has not yet ratified it.
2. The balance of trade is only one component of international exchange. The other, and many times more important part, is the balance of investment (“Current Accounts”). This doesn’t get the press that the trade imbalance does, but it should. I truly believe that with the passage of CAFTA foreign investment in CR will increase significantly. It’s the perfect place to set up administrative offices for corporate Central American operations (unless it fails to integrate).
3. You (and most other people) have a mind set that exportation is good and importation is bad. This is not necessarily the case. If CR can save money by importing a product more cheaply than they could produce for themselves, then more importation is a good thing. This frees up capital to invest in the production of goods and services which can be produced more cheaply in CR, and then subsequently exported at a profit.
Yes, the US will continue to do business with CR even if CAFTA is not passed, but it will be limited. CAFTA signatories will continue their march towards economic integration, becoming stronger and more competitive every day, and Costa Rica will remain on the margin.
However, the reverse is also true. If CAFTA is passed in CR, this will not impede them from continuing to strengthen their economic ties with countries outside of CAFTA, like China. As a matter of fact, they will be able to conduct more business with such countries because they’ll be part of a larger trading block, with greater power of negotiation, as well as an economy more heavily imbued with international standards of quality and industrial processes.
CAFTA is by no means a magic pill. It will not, alone, make Costa Rica a better place. It’s up to the Costa Rican people and their government to do that. However, neither is it an evil plan by the US to te Costa Rica. It’s somewhere in the middle. The discussion should be centered on just how much in the middle it is.
In the end, it will be a compromise which will ward off the extremes. I think that CR will die on the vine if they opt out. The same will happen (at least to the part of Costa Rica we all love) if they completely submit themselves to US influence. The negotiation of this treaty, and the manner in which the CR government utilizes the resources created by it, represent the means by which Costa Rica will avoid the worst of these two fates.
Alfred,
Thank you for your kind words, regardless of how undeserved they may be. You are forewarned, however, that “well thought out and informative” is not proof of veracity. Furthermore, it’s easy to counter what other people say, but a bit harder to put forward actual answers, particularly to the tough questions you pose.
Monopoly is a fun game, until you lose. Laissez-faire capitalists and libertarians seem to think that the world should be run by these same rules. Well, it is. National economies have all sorts of rules and regulations which are enforced by the State to keep the “Haves” from “Having it all”, to one extent or another. Cuba is one extreme, as Fidel has insured that everyone, except his political elite of course, is pretty much equally poor. The U.S. may not be completely on the other side of the spectrum, but there are few countries more to the right (we still have food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, progressive taxation, etc. – many of the trappings of socialism, but with enough market-driven factors built in to give our political leaders plausible deniability).
Once you get past national boundaries, on the other hand, the rules of monopoly seem to take over. There are some global bodies in existence which provide the minimal framework within which businesses can operate, such as the World Trade Organization, but not enough to hinder the mafias, nor keep the larger multinationals from overpowering the smaller countries, nor inhibit the dictators who use their country’s wealth and industry as their own mad money.
Is this any way to run a world? Probably not, but nonetheless, it is what it is. In it’s defense, free trade in a global economy, connected at broadband speeds, is a new paradigm, and some growing pains are to be expected.
What do you do when the whole world is playing monopoly? Sit it out and starve? No, you learn to play the game, take your lumps, and get wise to the rules.
Any country no matter how big or small that opts out will stagnate while the world around them moves on. Some simply don’t have the internal resources to last a day. Others have enough to make a go of it for a while, but the sad end to it is inevitable. Walling yourself in is no solution.
Every person, and every country, has unique value. All one has to do is exploit that value for one’s own, or one’s country’s benefit. If small country X has $1,000, and can produce computer software for $10 per CD and computers for $500, they can choose to either produce 100 CDs or two computers. If they can export the CDs for $20 each and import the computers for $250 each, they’ll end up with no CDs and 4 computers. If they want to use some of the CDs themselves, they can choose to only import 3 computers and they’ll still be ahead.
Trade is GOOD! Trade is also a NATURAL HUMAN ACTIVITY FROM BEFORE TIME. What a country does with the profit is an INTERNAL MATTER to be decided BY ITS OWN PEOPLE. If they want to put into place agreements with their trading partners to facilitate and enhance this beneficial trade, GREAT! Such agreements are NEGOTIATED between the parties, just as the Costa Rican government has been stubbornly and steadfastly doing for years.
No, it’s not an even match, the U.S. holds many a carrot and stick. But multinational companies and trading blocks make up the dominant structure of our economic world today, whether you live in New York City or Talamanca. In other words, just like in Five Points back in the 50’s, unless you want to stay home all day, every day, you have to join a gang.
The gang offers you protection, kinship, more resources than one could provide for oneself, and an opportunity to learn street sense. In exchange, you get beat up a few times, and you learn some moves yourself.
Regarding foreign companies operating in Costa Rica (we are by no means the only ones), I think underdeveloped countries have wizened up to varying extents, if not to the finer points of keeping them from plundering their natural resources, then at least to institutionalizing the bribe so it’s all apparently legal.
I believe Costa Rica in particular has done a good job of working with foreign companies to strike a balance between the public good and the profit motive. Foreign companies frequently offer the best employment opportunities for Ticos, and for the most part enjoy excellent reputations among the masses.
Even if they are foreign-owned companies, there is still much benefit.
1. Gainful employment
2. Higher wages (often)
3. World-class training
4. State-of-the-art industrial tools, materials & processes
5. Introduction to the workings of the global economyFurthermore, let us not forget that most of these companies are publicly traded. Anyone, including Ticos, can and do buy shares.
Finally, while size does matter, history is replete with small companies overtaking larger ones in the never-ending business cycle. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, while the small and agile can be quite formidable.
Oh, I forgot. Who are the in-country executives at these companies? Mostly Ticos!
Ands how about all the locally-owned companies and Tico entrepreneurs. There are quite a number of them, all of varying sizes. Some are more protected from competition by the State, some less. Some will not survive CAFTA, others will thrive.
I personally know a large number of VERY well-off Tico business people that own beautiful spreads in Bello Horizonte and condos in Flamingo. Ticos are smart, highly educated, and natural-born salespeople. I think they’re ready, and deserve, to play in the majors.
As far as Mexicans overrunning our borders, if you thought a simple trade agreement with the U.S. could enrich a country and it’s peoples from overwhelming poverty in a decade, well, you have high expectations. Countries are “coming on line” in the global economic market, and as they and their trading partners develop, things will shake out, and countries will find their niches. There may also be additions to the structure of global governance to provide a more solid framework for an even more globalized economy. Such systems are naturally “benevolent”, as they must strive to keep the mafiosos in check, as well as protect the smaller players, in order to keep the game going.
However, I’m afraid this “benevolence” is limited to the Monopoly rulebook. Parker Brothers can’t replace flesh and blood world leaders to help keep it a fit economic model for human participants, not just a metal boot, horse or thimble.
Sorry to drone on…I’m even getting bored with myself.
As I’ve said before, there are plenty of good reasons to dislike CAFTA. IMHO these are NOT among them:
artedwards: “There is only one reason CAFTA is written so it’s confusing, it is so they (the States legal system) can interpret it anyway they want to.”
1. Has anyone ever read economic legislation (tax codes, anti-trust laws…) that isn’t confusing? It’s a hard argument to make that, while all these other laws are confusing due to the complexity of the issue, CAFTA is confusing so “they (the U.S.) can interpret it any way they want to.”
2. Breaches of bi-national or multi-national economic treaties can be aired at the World Trade Organization (http://www.wto.org/). Rulings from this organization have often gone against the U.S. (including a complaint Costa Rica brought regarding bananas, if my memory serves me).
artedwards: “Costa Rica has done well for itself up to now, why would Costa Rica need CAFTA?”
Because the world has changed around us, and it’s not logical to think that what has worked up until now will continue working in the future.
artedwards: “Costa Rica will be controlled by outside money which controls the States government which will control the Costa Rican government.”
Guess what…we’re all controlled by outside money – including the U.S. as Peg points out. The emergence of a world-wide economic market has led to an inevitable loss of sovereignty, even without signing on to free trade agreements. These agreements are simply attempts to make it easier and cheaper to trade goods, since such international trade has become so important in a shrinking, economically co-dependant world. I think it would be difficult to find someone in the CR government that would argue that the increase in exports over the last decade has hurt the CR economy.
artedwards: “I don’t necessarily care for legalized prostitution but look what is causing the people of Costa Rica to consider changing that, “outside tourist money” and it ain’t the men that is doing it.”
Prostitution is already legal in CR, and has been for quite some time. Pimping is illegal.
davidcmurray: “The salvation may lie in Costa Rica’s future trade relations with the rest of the world. Certainly China looms as a dominant figure on the world economic stage, but so do the economies of India, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Russia and others. Maybe for a country this small having a few trading partners other than the U.S. and Europe will suffice.”
Certainly, broadening its trading partners is a positive thing for any country to pursue (and it should be obvious that one way to accomplish this is to lower trade barriers…). According to COMEX (the CR gov’t department which handles external trade), in 2006 the U.S. accounted for 41.5% of exports, the EU 15.6%, Asia 17.5% (13.2% from just Hong Kong and mainland China), Central America 13.8%, Other 11.6%.
1. If not being a signatory to CAFTA will dampen CR trade with the U.S. and the EU, it will also dampen it with other existing and forming trading blocks.
2. The smaller the country, the more important it is to be part of a trading bloc or two. Costa Rica, by itself, has VERY little economic power of negotiation.
3. Signing on to CAFTA does not prevent Costa Rica from continuing to develop trade relations with countries outside of CAFTA.
davidcmurray: “CHINA HAS NO FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE USA, do you think that the US is going to stop dealing with China because they have no trade agreement???? NO WAY”
1. China has enjoyed “Most Favorite Nation” (MFN) trading status with the U.S. since 1980. This is essentially a type of unilateral free trade.
2. China is not comparable to CR when it comes to trade with the U.S. If the U.S. loses CR as a trading partner, there’s not much skin off the U.S.’s back. This cannot be said for China.
Ripple33: “If CAFTA is enacted the price of everything will go up (utilities, telecommunications, insurance, medicines ect).”
1. Freer trade results in lower prices. Importation taxes are reduced or eliminated making foreign product cheaper. Local manufacturers then are forced to compete, thus producing higher quality products at lower prices as well. “Free trade” agreements have resulting in way lower prices for all sorts of products and services here in the U.S. and abroad.
2. You can’t really use government monopolies (ICE, RECOPE, AyA, INS, CAJA) as benchmarks for whether prices will go up or down, as the current “price” in no way reflects the actual costs. These government monopolies are essentially part of the CR mechanism of collecting taxes. In other words, the “cost” include both the price paid for the services, as well as the tax dollars used to prop up these entities, AND the tax dollars lost by keeping the industry closed to competitors. Furthermore, just as the U.S. government plunders our social security funds, the CR government taps income from these enterprises as well for other purposes.
Ripple33 “Workers rights will not be able to be protected as they have in CR and environmental pollution will go up.”
1. As is clearly seen by the anti-immigration sentiment in the U.S. our ideological version of “Free Trade” evidently does not extend to labor. Similarly, CAFTA has nothing whatsoever to do with worker’s rights in CR. This is purely an internal policy issue. In many ways labor in the U.S. is more protected than in CR (EOE, OSHA, the Bill of Rights). In other ways, the reverse is true (aguinaldo, CAJA). This is not likely to change with the passage of CAFTA.
2. As far as pollution is concerned, this is also a purely internal matter. However, there are plenty of people who are keen to place environmental safeguards in free trade agreements, which could actually decrease pollution (not that I think this is the way to go about it).
Ripple33: “if the US really wanted free trade then all they had to do is remove tariffs”
The U.S. has already removed many tariffs unilaterally, as is the case with MFN as well as CBI (Caribbean Base Initiative). Under this policy Costa Rica has exported all sorts of products to the U.S. without any importation taxes. Coffee, food and textiles are among the few exceptions.
Ripple33: “The people who have researched it have found that this is a very bad agreement”
Some think it’s bad, some think it’s good. This is a very one-sided statement that Ripple33 is not qualified to assert.
Ripple33: “Just a look at over 10 years after NAFTA was enacted is enough to convince most people that this is not a good deal.”
1. While NAFTA has inevitably caused some pain to its signatories, many argue that it has also brought much economic benefit. To make a blanket statement that it’s bad is irresponsible. It’s been both good and bad in many ways.
2. It’s equally important to take into account what might have happened if it weren’t for NAFTA. I believe that NAFTA has had the effect of toughening each country’s economy to better confront the realities of a global market (which is not going away any time soon). For instance, in the US NAFTA most assuredly helped us avoid tougher competition from Asia because manufacturers were able to take advantage of lower-paid labor in Mexico. Certainly, one must also agree that Mexico has undergone significant economic modernization in order to adjust to NAFTA, which I would argue has strengthened them tremendously.
It’s interesting to note that there’s also a Free Trade Agreement in place between Mexico and Costa Rica. I believe that CR has benefited from this agreement, but I also think that Mexico has been the more aggressive partner (Pan Bimbo for example). Is it arrogant to suggest that maybe they learned it from us?
IMHO those who shy away from integration will only find it more difficult to adapt down the road.
While Diego has contributed his interesting and fun concept of a Costa Rica purposefully stuck in the past (an idea I too have whimsically appreciated, especially as part of an overall strategy to increase tourism), most of the other contributors just seem to be spouting one-sided and unsupported rhetoric to back up their dislike for the less palatable repercussions of economic integration. The fact of the matter is that this integration is happening whether we like it or not. The only rational course is to embrace and enhance its potential benefits, while at the same time working to mitigate the collateral damage that comes along with it.
The initial tourist visa is good for 90 days, after which you can renew it for another 90. When the renewal period ends, you must leave the country for 72 hours, after which you can start the process anew.
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!
Now THAT sounds authentically Costa Rican. You are doing it the “wrong” way because the “right” way is costly and time-consuming, and the penalty for non-compliance is remote and insignificant. That pretty much embodies what I both love and about Tiquicia.
By the way, if ever the taxman does come a knockin’, the correct response is “Oh yes, I do have the books here, but I locked them in the safe and my wife has the key. Can you come back tomorrow?” Then call your accountant.
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