It was Costa Rica’s conscious decision to become a player in the developed world and yet we cannot even stave off the audacity and incursion of our poor, dirt poor nation to the north – Nicaragua.
Make no doubt about it, Nicaragua has a long and deadly history of ignoring law, using diplomacy as a matter of convenience and go to war whenever necessary to further its well being.
Meanwhile, contemporary Costa Rica has been depicted with its nose in the air and wanting to ride in the limo with the big boys and ready to “cry wolf” at the drop of a hat. Since 1948 it has always thought that this “pacifist” routine would purchase global tears of sympathy and big brother protection would step in to save the day if ever invaded. (That was supposed to be the United States.)
If what Presidenta Chinchilla says is true, we have been invaded, right?
Why should should we suffer? After all, (ho hum) we are the strongest democracy in Latin America, have no standing military and our only soldiers are the educators. This also is repeatedly demonstrated to those who are not board with this song and dance routine, how much money spent on a military can be translated into money for knowledge and civilized pacifism.
Unfortunately Costa Rica is broke. With or without an army.
How naïve!
On the other side, the North, in particular, and at this time the Ortega husband and wife tag team are enjoying both de facto decisions and de facto government from their thrones in Managua
If in fact Nicaragua tacitly invaded Costa Rica on the Isla Calero area as the example and has more recently occupied that little mosquito rendezvous island with “Sandinista Youth” and has cut two channels through Costa Rican land….so what? We answered back with one of the most incompetent and corrupt roads ever built. Okay, almost built since it is La Trocha and is little more than one continuous mud hole.
To this administration, the only apparent solution is run to New York (Hopefully get a little shopping in) and meet with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon who I suspect has a lot of Syria on his mind this moment rather than who violated what on our northern shores.
If we want to be a big boy in this world, it must be understood that as a results of the prolific and crazy international laws of Costa Rica; not too many countries are willing to come to our defense. It takes months, if at all, just for a U.S. Coast Guard ship to drop off tons of drugs and narco-captives on CR soil. Can you imagine a call to arms to defend Costa Rica.
Unless people have never turned on their televisions, at least, two things have happened.
First, in its infinite wisdom the Legislative Assembly (Asemblea) of Costa Rica has gone out of its way to make the mission of the U.S.Navy not only a scandal of visual imperialism, but also that the US as an historical “take over” country albeit Nicaragua is doing its best to capture the number one spot. (Managua might not be in 1st. place but it is certainly in the playoffs.
Since no country is jumping into the fray, we have to ask why not?
On one side with the Arias cheer leading, “I’m a pacifist, you need to be a pacifist too,” chant and the other, Tico militants who have made China their new savior in silk, “Esencial Costa Rica” is finding it difficult to bow its proud, collective head and ask for help from Washington which would not be all that difficult. After all, Congress is just itching to cut the budget, especially foreign aide, literally hate the Sandanistas and the love of economic sanctions before firing one solitary shot across the bow…Nicaragua would be perfect practice in the Western Hemisphere.
Now there is a combination.
Don’t shoot anyone just intern them for life for something real or made up but not the underemployed and maids who keep Costa Rica running. Let’s use the Chinese one or two day legal system unlike CR where it takes a decade or more and most everyone forgets what the hell it was all about in the first place.
Costa Rica, a country lost on the highway of civility needs to wake up and smell the flowers, coffee or rivers. It is openly a question of time that we at home will have violence by terrorist gangs, perhaps a Nicaraguan invasion, more killings in the street over drugs and territorial disputes, or simply violence against government itself resulting from too many laws, the cost of living and massive corruption.
The very short list of examples:
1) Most Recent: Korea with 15 dead of people enjoying a day at the mall, and we do have malls.
2) Earlier last week, Aeron Alexis decided to kill 12 in the U.S.
3) Then, perhaps the alleged young kids who shot up a park in Chicago Friday night hitting another 13 with flying bullets.
4) Let’s not even talk about the Boston bombers who even to themselves do not seem to have a reason to kill, and indeed destroy the lives of so any humans in so many ways.
5) Or Syria who reportedly gassed 1,400+ of its own people and Russia in 2002 managed to kill 40 terrorists at the cost of 130 hostages who were also gassed with sarin in a theatre, And let us not forget the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.
The list goes on from mass shootings, to bombs to poison gas.
And here we are: Costa Rica who wants to ride in the black limo with the “big boys”. We do not belong in that car, not at all and besides of those who are really crazy we have the religious zealots and history tells us that the only way to win a religious war is to kill all those of another faith.
