www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Destroying the Switzerland of Central America,

Leave it to the U.S. national-security state to destroy another country, this one being Costa Rica, known as the "Switzerland of Central America" and whose national slogan is "pura vida"--"pure life."

How is the U.S. government now destroying Costa Rica? No, not with bombs or missiles--at least not yet--but with its much-vaunted drug war, which the Pentagon and the CIA are expanding in Latin America since that their adventures in Afghanistan and the Middle East might be winding down.

According to an Associated Press article last February entitled, "Costa Rica Partners with US on Drug War,"
This prosperous paradise of golden beaches and lush cloud-forest preserves is throwing itself wholeheartedly into the U.S. war on drugs as a flood of cocaine shipments and a surge in domestic crime erodes Costa Ricans’ sense of proud isolation from the problems of the rest of Central America.
Does anyone in Costa Rica really believe that the militarization of Costa Rican society is going to have any significant effect on the 40-year-old war on drugs? If drug-war crackdowns were successful, the war on drugs would have been over decades ago. What Costa Ricans apparently don't realize is that the fiercer they crack down in the war on drugs, the more they move in the direction of Mexico, where the drug-war death toll now numbers in the tens of thousands.

How many more people have to be killed or injured or have their lives ruined by the drug war before people finally call an end to it? How many more countries need to be militarized and destroyed before people say enough is enough? How much freedom and privacy need to be infringed upon before people end this 40-year-old madness?


full article ,
http://informationliberation.com/?id=43428

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Having too much fun. 8)

This isnt about drugs...its about CR getting those forign aid checks from our government that have lots of commas and zeros

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as my father says "better to be lucky than good"

Given the hypothesis that author uses to come to his conclusions stated in the article:

"This prosperous paradise of golden beaches and lush cloud-forest preserves is throwing itself wholeheartedly into the U.S. war on drugs as a flood of cocaine shipments and a surge in domestic crime erodes Costa Ricans’ sense of proud isolation from the problems of the rest of Central America."

The question becomes more does how Costa Rica handle the situation without accepting assistance and financial aid from the United States. He readily identifies the problem of rising crime and a flood of cocaine shipments being brought into or through Costa Rica but rather than offer any solutions simply places the blame on the Pentagon and the CIA.

He points out that the Citizen Action Party in Costa Rica works to block the granting of port rights to U.S. naval vessels claiming they fear the militarization of the effort to eradicate the drug trade. What he fails to mention is that they are a left wing party who vehemently opposed the CAFTA and tend to be anti U.S. Interestingly they allow armed U.S. Coast Guard vessels to use port facilities. If in fact the U.S. exercises the great influence on what is happening to fight the drug problem in Costa Rica as alleged wouldn't the government be able to ram through port rights for U.S. naval vessels?

I do not know the full involvement of the United States government in the Costa Rica drug problem but I am fairly certain that Costa Rica left to its own resources are no match for the drug cartels that control the flow of illegal substances.

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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

According to the CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42582.pdf
CR received $700,000 in 2012. Not much of a player here as China is now the main player by a long shot.
The US interest in CR is drug related.

Unfortunately when the CIA, NSA etc. are involved there is no accounting or factual record of how much or where the funds are distributed. There Are many black holes were funds, which seemingly never existed, disappear to never to see light of day for 40 or 50 years until files are declassified.

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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