Political Issue: Bias (Note: The only political issue was the 2014 presidential elections)
In 2014, prominent members of economic, business, and political sectors, such as, Ronald Jiménez, president of the Union of Private-Sector Chambers and Associations, Francisco Llobet, president of the Costa Rican Chamber of Trade, Jorge Sequeira, director of the Costa Rican Investment Board (CINDE) met at a forum titled “Costa Rica: Where are We Going?” They talked whether or not Costa Rica would face another economic crisis and how severe it would be. Soon they discovered that Costa Rica didn’t have and probably wouldn’t have another economic crisis, instead Costa Rica had a political crisis. It was extremist politicians
According to U.S. industrialist and businessman Richard Beck, “The current problem is the extremist politicians who exist in Costa Rica, many of them in the Legislative Assembly. [They] support extremist unions that have a very clear and very strong goal of getting what they want. They represent a factor of incredible instability.” They were talking about Costa Rica’s leftist Broad Front Party. This party had a presidential candidate that could potentially overthrow 50 years of political dominance of the National Libertarian Party. The National Libertarian Party was conservative and wanted to stay that way, however, their candidates weren’t the bet. Soon, a challenger appeared. It was Villalta from the Broad Front Party. He started challenging the societal norms such as same-sex marriages and touched up on highly controversial topics. He also criticized the policies of the National Libertarian Party and that they failed. Villalta managed to capture the hearts of the younger politicians and campaigned for human rights. Foreign officials were unsure about this Villalta. He was the complete opposite of the norm and could potentially cause societal chaos due to all of his “new-fangled” ideas. They weren’t sure how a conservative country would accept this. It could potentially risk foreign relations. “We have to recognize that in the Legislative Assembly there are lawmakers who definitely have an agenda backed by a significantly new political party, and that political party has a very clear goal,” Beck said. “We can have dialogue. But how are we going to have dialogue with people who have said, for example, that our primary enemy is solidarity – one of the most exemplary movements that we’ve had in this country? How are we going to come to an understanding with leaders and politicians who have said that we must take to the streets to solve our problems?” In the end, Villalta didn’t become president. (Sources: 3 articles from Tico Times) |
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Social Issue: Poverty
Poverty is a huge problem in Costa Rica. The National Statistics and Census Institute 2014 National Household Survey (INEC) revealed that 318,810 households lived in poverty. 94,810 lived in extreme poverty. In the Brunca region, 36.2 percent of the households were in poverty. The Chorotega region has 12.1 percent in extreme poverty. The reported average monthly income is $1,800. This isn’t the most accurate figure due to lost purchasing power caused by inflation.
According to the INEC, unemployment is the main cause of poverty because there are 4 time more unemployed poor Costa Ricans (23.9 percent) than unemployed not poor Costa Ricans (5.7 percent). It was also noticed that female househeads had double the unemployment than their male counterparts, most likely due to the bias towards women being weak and only able to do housework, though time has proved that untrue. The effect is huge in rural areas, where female househeads dominate. They are less likely to work and have more children (high percentage of kids younger than 12), putting a greater strain on money. The lack of education plays a huge role in high poverty rates. Without education, it’s difficult to get a higher-paying job. About 30 percent of school-age children don’t go to school and 20 percent are between ages 7-10. This is usually caused by little schools to attend to and many kids when they reach 10 just stop going to school. This makes a huge educational gap. It’s also noticeable that people who do need governmental healthcare don’t use it due to a weak infrastructure and those that do have slightly poor treatment. More non-poor people use healthcare than poor people. This leads to a huge percent of relatively bad environments. Also, poor people who do use healthcare get poorer treatment than non-poor people. Poor people have to wait for a long time to be checked and are treated rudely by health attendants. Attendance of pregnant women is low too, and the ones that do go to the hospital, only get seen by a nurse and not a doctor. In order to combat poverty rates, Costa Rica launched a programme of payment for environmental services (PES). It was supposed to pay people, such as farmers and indigenous groups who did environmental-friendly solutions and methods. This way the environment would be protected and people could earn money. It worked. The PES payments account to more than 50% of the income of indigenous groups. They also help poor communities with money problems. (Sources: Tico Times, World Bank, OECD) |
Economic Issue: Drug Trafficking
During the past few years, Costa Rica has become a hotspot for drug trafficking. It’s mainly used as resting locations and temporary storage before moving on the US.
This is due to various reasons. The main reason is the geographic location. It’s surrounded by both water and countries, leading to more methods of transportation such as water and air vessels that’s hard to keep track of. Second, when drug cartels first started using Costa Rica there was little resistance. Costa Rica had disband its army in order to focus on social issues such as education and protecting the environment. Without an army, it’s hard to win the war on drugs. The only resistance are really just park rangers who are trained to teach people about the environment and protect it. Third, is the environment. Cartels have taken advantage of the swamps and forests for campsites and storage, making it hard to find them. Also, Costa Rica is huge about the environment, and doesn’t want to harm it. If the smugglers are hiding in the rainforest, it’s hard to beat them without harming any of the flora and fauna. The smugglers don’t care about the environment so they take advantage of that. Also, with over 1.5 million acres of parks, there is a lot of ground to cover and little people. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Challenging. Fourth, poverty. Costa Rica has a high poverty rate and historically, poverty leads to more crimes because people want to earn money. Cartels have taken advantage of that and has had relatively poor people to help them with transporting and packaging cocaine, marijuana, etc. In the end, the poor people are the ones that get in trouble not the actual dealers. So nothing is really being solved. Fifth, are gangs in Costa Rica. Drug traffickers have supplied dangerous weapons such grenades and AK-48s to gangs and criminal groups in Costa Rica in order for help smuggling and destroying rival cartels. Finally, corruption plays a huge role. Many local officials turn a blind eye to smugglers allowing them to run amok. A huge thing with drug trafficking is that it hurts the economy. Money is going to be lost to smugglers. There will also be more court cases, which cost money. Currently, the US is working with Costa Rica to combat trafficking. The US has provided millions of dollars and their armed forces to help Costa Rica. The Navy helps patrol the waters for any smuggler on boats. The US government has provided gear ranging from night visions goggles and a $2 million satellite and radio communications station. They also founded construction of two new coast guard stations and two new boats for a total of $1.8 million. They have spent more than $500,000 for a computer network to help police map crime. Costa Rica has also put in their weight by putting a tax on huge companies to help found a special forces unit to combat smugglers and weeded out corruption. The president and other leaders plan to legalize drugs to stop smuggling. The solutions have worked, except for legalizing drugs (the plan hasn’t passed yet). In 2012, 15.5 tons of cocaine worth $2 million was seized. In 2013, 19 metric tons of cocaine and 1, 390 metric tons were seized. (Source: Huffington Post, Fox News, OSAC) |
Environmental Issue: Deforestation (Note: Due to Costa Rica's love for the enviroment, this issue is what caused all the environmental policies in place)
Since the end of World War II, 80% of Costa Rica’s forest disappeared, putting 12,000 species of plants, 1,239 species of butterflies, 838 species of birds, 440 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 232 species of mammals under threat. Most of this logging was caused by mining, agriculture, and husbandry because Costa Rica was the ideal land. It had different climate types which helped different sectors. The highlands in the east produced coffee and tea. The lowlands in the west raised cattle and grew cotton.
The effects of deforestation was disastrous. There was a lot of soil erosion which caused huge environmental problems. With less trees, the air was polluted. Using all this land led that land to become sterile which led to the usage of chemical fertilizers, which polluted the water table. All of this lead to risking the unique and beautiful biodiversity in Costa Rica. Flora and fauna found only in Costa Rica could become endangered or extinct. In other words, an environmentalist’s worst nightmare times 100. This danger led to Costa Rica implementing strict environmental policies for the people. It was one of the strictest one ever. During the 1970’s they stopped more than 60 species of trees from being exported and began requiring permits for timber. Costa Rica disbanded its military to focus that money on the environment along with education and social services. They started payments for environmental services (PES) and paid people who were environmentally friendly. They wanted to use the program to show how useful the unique biodiversity was. The environment could do carbon sequestration, water filtration, and become medicine for diseases. In 1996, the National Forestry Fund was created for financial incentives for helping the environment. As of today, $23 million (in US) were paid. The programme also created 18,000 jobs and supported 30,000 jobs. Costa Rica switched to renewable resources for energy and fuel. Costa Rica’s determination to protect the environment has led to a lot of international awards for its conservation efforts. Even to today, at this exact hour, minute, and second, Costa Rica is still going through with its goal to protect the environment. Despite all of that, only half of Costa Rica’s forest are under governmental protection. The other half is under private ownership which causes some problems. In the end, Costa Rica will find a way to compromise with these people just like how they did with the huge businesses. That is when a unique ecosystem can flourish anew and tell its story to generation that have yet to come. (UNU, National Geographic, Tico Times) |