Hechos interesantes de Costa Rica! (Interesting facts about Costa Rica!)

Costa Rica is the only country in the entire world that does not have a military. In 1952 at the time when all of the social revolutions in Latin America were starting up and much violence was forseen, the president of Costa Rica decided to rid the country of the army. This has helped Costa Rica in unspeakable ways. During the alliance for progress era after the Cuban revolution and during the cold war, the US was afraid that Latin America was going to turn communist, so they started putting lots of money into Latin American countries. When we did this, we said that the countries must have a more centralized state. Many countries had democratically elected leaders, but since we feared that they were communist or that they would turn communist (by doing such things as land reform and trying to equalize the distribution of wealth... communism or trying to make life bearable for the masses?), we underhandedly overthrew the democratically elected leaders and installed our own dictators that ruled by terror and violence - but not by communist. Because of this, there were many more violence social revolutions in countries, such as Nicaragua with the Sandinistas, Chile with Allende and Pinochet, and others, which left their countries in shambles - and whose legacy still lives on today through the poverty that many live in. Costa Rica did not have an army, so they were not forced to create a stronger centralized state through use of arms, and therefore, there was no US-backed dictator to rule through terror, and no social revolution to overthrow the US-backed dictator, and no wars to prevent people from bettering their lives. For Costa Rica, instead of spending all of its money or wars or rebuilding, they have been able to improve their industry, social services, and their lives!

This weekend, 3 others from the school and I took a trip to Volcan Arenal and Monteverde. Arenal is a location of the ancient Maya indians. We actually visited some hot springs, which come from the volcano which are on top of ancient mayan ruins, and we hiked to a waterfall. Then we went to Monteverde, which is a town that was actually founded by Quakers during the Korean War. The Quakers were pacifists and were refusing to be drafted into the army and when the US was going to make them to go war, they moved to Monteverde, why? Because the quakers are pacifists and Costa Rica has no army, and they would enjoy greater religious freedom. In Monteverde, we did a zip-line canopy tour, which you see in the picture - I am on the Tarzan swing! It was super fun!

Now, don't get me wrong, Costa Rica has its problems too. Like the US, since Costa Rica is a wealthier nation, there are many immigrants, legal and illegal. They come from Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, etc. And with them, they bring crime. My mama tica was telling me that crime used to not be a problem in San Jose, but now because of all of the immigrants (which may be a stereotype, like us saying - because of the Hispanics...) there is a lot more crime. In fact, someone got kidnapped 3 blocks from my house here last week. Granted, it was at night - and don't be worried, I never go out by myself at night. Also, around San Jose, you cannot carry a camara, a computer, an ipod or anything really of value unless it is very disguised inside a bag, because many people get mugged. We have to be very careful here - definitely can't carry around just my camera bag or a laptop bag or anything. Here, for many people, they say it's better to not be wealthy - or you are more likely to get mugged. Also, cars get stolen very frequently as well. Just for your information, I live with my mama tica in a gated apartment complex with a 24 hour security guard to buzz people in and out, so it is very safe where I am at, and I know how to keep myself safe, and that is what I am doing.