www.CostaRicaTicas.com

As soon as I can afford it I am gone. And the USA is the last place on my list and will only be used as a final act of desperation.

Ticas are great, but the Ticos can eat dirt.

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"Believe none of what you read, and half of what you see." Old Island Woman

Yes, I know, I was just kidding. But you seemed to eliminate most other choices I had. Where would you go, personally? If it comes down to such a thing, I am considering Lima, Peru. There used to be some decent sites where you could compare residency requirements for expats, but they seem to be nothing but ads for people hawking books to tell you a few simple facts.

To expand this, does anybody know where to find out residency requirements for potential new countries of residence?

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

I was reading last week while I was in Granada that you have to prove $400 per month for residency. You can also bring one car to the country tax free in a time period of five years and $10,000 worth of household goods tax free... I think I still have the newspaper in my house I picked up. I'll try to check the reference and post it.

Grenada, the island? Or Granada, Nicaragua? I am guessing Nicaragua. I don't know if I could handle the heat, but Nicaragua is one option I am considering.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Yeah, talking about Nicaragua.... I don't know, I'm not a good one to judge the heat... I've been living in hot for so long I don't notice it.. As long as I've got AC to come home to.. I wouldn't get too worried. If they up the requirements, just be a perpetual tourist. You can do a border trip to Nica for less than $300 and you probably travel back to the States at least 1 time per year, yes? Hopefully, it will all work out...

Nicaragua would not be in my plans for the future no matter how bad Costa Rica may get.

Some of my friends, who are employed by a major international company, have worked there or currently work there. They have spoken of food shortages, daily rolling black outs, very unsafe - even worse than CR, and an overt anti-American feeling oozes from the populace.

They were in the capital city.

Could be right.. I have only been to Granada the one time.. The gringos I met seemed to be pretty happy, but you are right about some unrest there. I don't think it will get too bad, but might not be the time to make a permanent move right now.

They told me that a few months ago there were gasoline shortages including the outrageous increases in oil prices, the public transportation system (common carrier trucking, buses and taxis) went on strike for two weeks. If anyone tried to break the strike by operating a taxi, bus or truck they would be dragged out of the vehicle and beaten.

With Ortega and the Sandinistas in power Nicaragua is a very dicey situation. He has set up local citizen governing groups that work outside the elected officials. They work almost like the neighborhood councils in Cuba whose main purpose is to spy on their neighbors. He has aligned his country with the Bolivian, Venezuelan, Cuban alliance.

He recently had his police raid NGO groups, who did not follow the government edicts, and seize their records and computers. He had his, government controlled, election officials cancel the certification of some opposition parties. He entered into a power sharing agreement with a former President, who was found guilty of corruption, to share power and because of the arrangement got elected President with 38% of the vote. Naturally the ex president is now released on "house arrest." The " is included because he is allowed to roam the country freely.

There is a whole lot more including the demonstrations in the streets over the election results last Sunday. I would be very very very very careful of living in Nicaragua.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Didn't I hear a rumor somewhere about the U. S. running some guns and folks (I think they were called "contras" or some such) into Nicaragua from Honduras and a huge CIA-controlled spread in Guanacaste, CR not that long ago? And since the 1850's some folks in the U. S. would like to take over the country or ram a canal through it or otherwise totally control it? I'm not arguing the yeas or nays of the Sandinistas but the undeniable fact is that our alliance with the ruling oligarchy enabled or even made necessary the civil war that brought the Sandinistas to power. Too political for here? But it sure goes a long way to explaining hard feelings especially in Nicaragua towards the U. S. and more to the point, its citizens. How about we go with thinly-veiled hatred and contempt towards us?

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Those are really excellent observations.

Conceivably the most significant menace at our level, the ordinary monger who wants to indulge in lovely young women, was manifest in the Eric Volz case.

That was clearly and vociferously anti-American and should send chills up and down the working parts of one who might think the place to the north is friendly.

U.S. foreign policy in Nicaragua was very reminiscent of it's action in many other countries. It was all under the guise of the Monroe Doctrine. That being said it really is not very relevant to the discussion at hand which, I thought, was the possibilities of relocating to Nicaragua if Costa Rica makes the requirements to retire there so onerous that other locations come into play. Obviously Ollie North & John Poindexter will not be granted residency.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

The relevancy to our (meaning US) relations with Nicaragua is exactly that -- history. Time is divided into three categories: the future, the now and the past.

History is a known, albeit subject to interpretation. If we study its lessons we can learn to transcend the fleeting present and make adjustments to meet the future. In my case, I would not go to Nicaragua as an individual American based on the historically bad scenarios with individual Americans. The Volz case is exhibition #1.

Oppressed peoples throughout history have a longer memory of the bad times than the oppressors, This is true whether they are of the same general type as the oppressors (Siclians by Italy, Corsica by France, e.g.) or not (Celtic folks by Anglo-Saxons, Latins by Gringos, Indians of wherever by Euro-oriented folks). That by itself makes most of Latin America especially Central America parlous territory for U. S. citizens. 150 years or less is recent history here. Also the Monroe Doctrine was a split-up of the Americas by non-Latins--I don't remember reading that anybody hereabouts was consulted. The deal giving Brazil to the Portuguese with the Spanish getting the rest was 6-5 pick'em as far as the indigeneous were concerned. I'm not trying to invalidate your point Brother ID, I picked Costa Rica because it is the only STABLE democracy in the region--love or hate the bureaucracy and the "muy Tico" stuff, that's a fact. Venezuela was thought to be reasonably stable with an excellent economy 10-15 years ago and look there now. Argentina was thought to be on the road as well and look there now. I shan't belabor the point further.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

For some insight on "democratic elections" Nicaraguan style here is a link to the Nica Times.

www.nicatimes.net

Costa Rica may have many flaws but it does have a long tradition of political stability which is an important consideration when choosing a place for retirement.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine