4.1 Costa Rica: The Country

In this first part of chapter 4 I will elaborate on the historical, political, cultural and economical factors characterizing Costa Rica.

4.1.1 Introduction

Costa Rica, relatively small in terms of population as well as surface area, is a country in Central America located between Nicaragua in the North and Panama in the South. The border with Nicaragua counts 309 km and the border with Panama 330 km. Costa Rica is also bordered both by the North Pacific Ocean in the west and the Caribbean Sea in the east which gives Costa Rica a coastline of 1,290 km (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007).

Dates:

• Geographic Coordinates: 10 00 N, 84 00 W
• Area:

-Total: 51,100 sq km
-Land: 50,660 sq km
-Water: 440 sq km
-Note: includes Isla del Coco

• Population (July 2007 est.): 4,133,884
• Age Structure (2007 est.)

-0-14 years: 27,8% (male 587,395/female 560,408)
-15-64 years: 66,4 % (male 1,388,114/female1,357,157)
-65 years and over: 5,8% (male 111,758/female129,052)

• Median Age (2007 est.)

-Total: 26,8 years
-Male: 26,3 years
-Female: 27,2 years

• Population Growth Rate (2007 est.): 1.412 %
• Birth Rate (2007 est.): 18.02 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate (2007 est.): 4.39 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate (2007 est.): 0.48 migrant(s)/1000 population
• Sex Ratio (2007 est.)

-At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
-Under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female
-15-64 years: 1.023 male(s)/female
-65 years and over: 0.866 male(s)/female
-Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female

• Infant Mortality Rate (2007 est.)

-Total: 9.45 deaths/1,000 live births
-Male: 10.32 deaths/1,000 live births
-Female: 8.53 deaths/1,000 live births

• Life Expectancy At Birth (2007 est.)

-Total population: 77.21 years
-Male: 74.61 years
-Female: 79.94 years

• Total Fertility Rate (2007 est.) 2.21 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS – Adult Prevalence Rate (2003 est.) 0.6%
• HIV/AIDS – People Living With HIV/AIDS (2003 est.)

-12,000

• Language: Spanish (official), English
• Literacy (2003 est.)

-Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
-Total population: 96%
-Male: 95.9%
-Female: 96.1%

The majority of the population lives in the Central Valley, an area which accounts for only 6.4% of national domains and stretches from the cities of Turrialba in the east to San Ramón in the west (Palmer & Molina, 2004). Costa Rica has a tropical and subtropical climate, the dry season being from December to April and the rainy season from May to November. The landscape of Costa Rica consists of coastal flatlands separated by rocky mountains, including several major volcanoes. The lowest point is the Pacific Ocean, 0 m, and the highest point Cerro Chirripo, 3,810 m (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007), which is one of the reasons which makes Costa Rica a country known and loved for its great diversity with regard to its microclimates, flora and fauna (Palmer & Molina, 2004). The following discussion is mainly based on a book written by Palmer and Molina (2004), called ‘The Costa Rica Reader: History, Culture, Politics’, unless otherwise stated.

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute officially presented Costa Rica as ‘a land of marvels’’ in 1999, which was only their next marketing campaign in a long line of recognitions of Costa Rican exceptionalism. Palmer and Molina (2004: 1) point out the following about Costa Rica:

“The country has been imagined as the Switzerland of Central America and, in one Time magazine report, as a tropical Shangri-la. It has been hailed as a democratic oasis on a continent scorched by dictatorship and revolution; the ecological Mecca of a biosphere laid waste by deforestation and urban blights; and an egalitarian middle-class society blissfully immune to the violent class and racial conflicts haunting most Latin American countries. As John and Mavis Biesanz put it a half century ago in Costa Rica Life, the “little country of the Ticos” has been characterized “by one writer after another” as a land of “peace, hard work, and progress” ”.

In the nineteen eighties, Carlos Monge (1983 in Palmer & Molina, 2004) went even further with this notion of exceptionalism. He saw the basis of a supposed ‘rural democracy’ that caused Costa Rica to be different from all the other Latin American countries in the “equally misery of the shared colonial era” (2004: 1) and he explained Costa Rica’s inclination toward peaceful politics. Palmer and Molina argue it is true that Costa Rica in contrast to its neighbors never has been a ‘victim’ of militarism, civil conflict, and race-based oppression. From all countries in Latin America Costa Rica is the only one to have lived the past fifty years in an uninterrupted political democracy.

Especially this democratic background necessitates applying the notion of exceptionalism to Costa Rica. However, this notion of Costa Rica being exceptionalist can cause concerns too. It is one of the main components of a doubtful mythology that equalizes Costa Rican national identity with a so-called white racial heritage, which situates it separate from other Latin American countries. Xenophobia and discrimination against the large majority of evidently non-white Costa Ricans results from this, especially against those from Limón and Guanacaste, who have African and Mestizo ancestries. Thus, “a deep-seated racist strain remains alive and well in Costa Rica” (2004: 2).

Social scientists see the idea of Costa Rica as a ‘historical freak’, as the reason why Costa Rica’s relevance can be discarded for comprehending patterns of development elsewhere and in Latin America. However, Palmer & Molina (2004: 2) argue that if we adjust our view, “the exceptionalist picture of Costa Rica blurs very quickly”. Several developments in Costa Rica back up this idea:

• The coffee economy in Costa Rica is a standard example of “development based on a single export commodity and of the pitfalls of this so-called monocrop route into the emerging global economy” (2004: 3). This aspect of Costa Rica corresponds to the other Central American countries strongly.

• Costa Rica became the original ‘banana republic’ after 1880 because of the United Fruit Company, “a transnational giant long linked to US power in Latin America” (2004: 3). US policy has exercised as much pressure on Costa Rica as it has on all the other countries in the area.

• Costa Rica has received international respect for its initiatives with regard to peace and ecology. At the same time, however, the government has made attempts to enforce structural adjustment programs as comprehensive as all the other countries on the continent.

Thanks to these aspects Palmer and Molina (2004) do not view Costa Rica as an exception. However, they (2004: 3) do insist on the differentiation of its present and past. They comprehend Costa Rica as “one recognizably Latin American outcome, its history a network of Latin American paths tracing a particular journey”. Some of Costa Rican’s main social indicators locate Costa Rica among the most advanced nations, such as its education and health services (Rico, 2003). The United Nations Development Program [UNDP] (2006) has assessed countries according to certain human indicators, such as the HDI [Human Development Index], the HPI-1 [Human Poverty Index for developing countries], the GDI [Gender-related Development Index], the GDI as % of HDI, and the GEM [Gender Empowerment Measure]. Costa Rica’s achievements are as follows:

• HDI
The HDI presents a combined measure of three dimensions of human development: “living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and enrolment at the primary, secondary and tertiary level), and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income)”. UNDP stresses that the HDI index should not be seen as a complete measure of human development, because it does not include important indicators such as inequality and hard to measure indicators such as political freedoms and respect for human rights. The HDI provides an extended way of looking at human progress and the complicated relationship between well-being and income. The HDI for Costa Rica is 0.841 (2004), which ranks Costa Rica 48th among 177 countries. The following figure shows that the HDI gives a more complete picture than for example the GDP per capita, according to the UNDP, as countries on the same level of HDI can have very different income levels.

• HPI-1
The Human Poverty Index for developing countries is an indicator which looks at the “the proportion of people below a threshold level in the same dimensions of human development as the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living”. As the HPI-1 looks beyond the lack of income, it serves as a multidimensional alternative to the $ 1 a day (PPP US$) poverty measure. The HPI-1 value for Costa Rica is 4.4, which gives Costa Rica a rank of 4th among 102 developing countries for which the UNDP has calculated the index.

• GDI
The Gender-related Development Index measures accomplishments in the same dimensions and using the same indicators as the HDI. However, it looks at inequalities in achievement between men and women. Costa Rica’s GDI value is 0.831.

• GDI as % of HDI
The GDI should be compared to the HDI: “the greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower is a country’s GDI relative to its HDI”. In Costa Rica the GDI value is 98.8% of its HDI value. This means that out of the 136 countries with GDI values as well as HDI values, 95 countries have a better ratio than Costa Rica has.

• GEM
The Gender Empowerment Measure tells whether women play an active role in political and economic life. It looks at the portion of seats women hold in parliament, the portion of senior officials and managers, the portion of female legislators and the portion of female technical and professional workers. It also looks at the gender difference in earned income, which reflects economic independence. The GEM is different from the GDI, because the GEM reveals inequality in opportunities in selected areas. The GEM of Costa Rica, 0.675, ranks 21st out of 75 countries.

Since the late 19th century, Costa Rica’s democratic development has known only two short periods of violence. Although the country still has a large agricultural sector, Costa Rica has extended its economy to include a strong tourism industry and technology. Land ownership is widespread (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007) Until now it seems that, relatively, Costa Rica is doing pretty well compared to its neighboring countries. However, the following elaboration on the history of Costa Rica shows that Costa Rica is not doing so well (anymore).

It is argued Costa Rica is in a decline, with the disappearance of its middle class and the growing gap between the rich and the poor with one sector of the population being able to live at first-world standards and others sectors not being able to even buy the bare necessities (Arroba, 2004). Costa Rica will always be a highly vulnerable country because of its geographical location and size, which the Costa Ricans have already experienced and will experience in a variety of ways (Palmer & Molina, 2004). Palmer and Molina (2004: 3) thus point out:

Contemporary Costa Rican society struggles to maintain ecological dignity against the tide of expanding non traditional export agriculture and a booming tourist economy and tries to preserve high levels of social services and social cohesion in the face of the antistatist pressures of global free trade”.

4.1.2 Costa Rica and History

In order to get an idea of how Costa Rica has become the country how it is known today I will present a journey, a tour, through the past below, in which I will elaborate on certain points in Costa Rica’s history; points which have been especially important in the ‘building’ of Costa Rica. The division I made in this timeline and the names given to each time period come from a book written by Molina and Palmer in 1998. The descriptions of important events within these time periods are derived from several sources. Within these several sources I used the works of Biesanz et al. (1999) and Palmer and Molina (1998, 2004) often.

• 12,000 B.C. – 1500 A.D.: Trails of the First People
This period can also be called “Pre-Columbian Cultures” (Biesanz et al., 1999). Biesanz et al. argue that for at least 11,000 years people have lived in what we now know as Costa Rica, proved by the stone spearheads left behind by these earliest inhabitants. These stone spearheads, however, show more than just their age. As some of these stone spearheads are of North American origin and others are a South American invention, they show that the area was a filter as well as a bridge for human cultures.

It is clear that the area included two main culture areas 2000 years ago: one revealing South American influence and one largely Meso American. They continue asserting that contrary to the long-held idea that the indigenous population was small, recent research has found out that probably 400,000 to 500,000 people, in approximately nineteen chiefdoms, were living in the region that we now know as Costa Rica. When Columbus arrived in 1502, most of these indigenous inhabitants were living in the Central Valley and in the northwest.

Data gathered from archeological research demonstrate that the Meso American culture, substantially influenced by the Aztecs and the Mayas, arrived in western Costa Rica through migration, conquest and trade. The South American influence on the other hand could be seen with the semi nomadic people who were living in the southern and eastern tropical forests. The diggings that have occurred until now indicate that, although there is no presence of large stone temples like in some other Latin American countries, the aboriginal cultures in the area were more sophisticated and complex than a lot of people had believed. However, in contrast to the Mayas, the inhabitants of this area left no written accounts.

• 1502 – 1700: Conquest, Resistance and the Early Colonial World
The before mentioned long-held idea that the indigenous population was small can be connected to the long-held idea of historians to trace the nation’s democratic traditions to colonial times (Biesanz et al., 1999). Biesanz et al. (1999: 13) point out that these historians argued that the Spanish colonists were forced to cultivate the land as “independent subsistence farmers rather than becoming feudal lords who exploited native peoples and the gold and silver they mined”, because there were few Indians or valued metals. This resulted in the development of a “rural classless democracy of peace loving white farmers who greatly valued freedom and family”. Recent research thus has led current historians to correct this idea of the leyenda blanca or ‘white legend’, as it is called by Theodor Creedman (1777 in Biesanz et al., 1999), because it neglects the vicious treatment by the settlers and overstates the whiteness of Costa Ricans. Nevertheless, this notion of Costa Rica as ‘a small democracy of small farmers’ is still repeated in nationalist speech and educated in schools (Biesanz et al., 1999).

In 1502, Christopher Columbus arrived at Cariay, now Limón, on the Caribbean coast, and stayed there for eighteen days to fix his ships (Biesanz et al., 1999). A mixture of factors, such as “disease from mosquito-infected swamps, brutal heat, resistance by natives, and pirate raids” resulted in unsuccessful initial attempts to colonize Costa Rica (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). As high mountains and impenetrable forest made the highlands almost unreachable from the Caribbean side, Spanish expeditions stayed near the Pacific side for the next sixty years (Biesanz et al., 1999). As “Captain Gil Gonzáles was given so much gold the Spaniards came to think of this area as ‘the rich coast’, and by 1539 the territory between Panama and Nicaragua was officially known as Costa Rica” (1999: 16). In 1564 Juan Vázquez de Coronado established the first permanent settlement in Cartago (Biesanz et al., 1999).

During the process of colonization the Spaniards decreased the indigenous population almost to the level of dying out through “disease, war, reprisals, relocation and brutal exploitation” (Palmer & Molina, 2004: 10). A new phase in the subjugation began in 1689, after the detrimental efforts to dominate the Indians by force. This phase was characterized by missionary aspects and continued for approximately twenty years. The phase ended when the indigenous people of the region turned against the situation and demolished the churches. This rebellion became the most important indigenous ‘revolution’ in colonial Costa Rica, led by Pablo Presbere, bringing an end to Spanish attempts to colonize the region. Nevertheless the uprising was defeated and Presbere captured (Palmer & Molina, 2004).

• 1700 – 1850: Merchants and Peasants
In 1821, Costa Rica gained its independence without much of a battle. The Spanish domination was overthrown in Mexico, but the new Mexico did not succeed in integrating Central America. The upper-class inhabitants of Central America were dreaming of a united single nation-state and in 1824 a weak federal republic of Central America emerged. However, the following fifteen years the region plunged into a civil battle, resulting in the downfall of the project in 1839 and the independence of Costa Rica. Luckily Costa Rica stayed far away from most of this civil war. In 1842, however, Francisco Morazán, born in Honduras, tried to bring the federation back together again by force, using Costa Rica as the region to operate from. Palmer and Molina (2004) argue the official narrative of the fall of Morazán has always been that the movement was led by the military elite of San José. However, a document [a letter] has been found that the revolution was spontaneous and women played a surprisingly important role. Not only the upper-class people, but also the common people from rural and urban areas made their existence known (Palmer & Molina, 2004).

Regardless of the autocratic system that controlled most of the nineteenth century, they assisted in determining critical moments of political life. In a time of privatizing the land and colonizing the agricultural countryside, they struggled to survive. Palmer & Molina (2004: 56) argue the following about this period: “The clearest winners in the agro export boom were the better connected and better financed coffee barons […]. Most coffee barons owned significant tracts of coffee lands, but unlike in some other countries, production was not confined to their large estates in Costa Rica. Many small and medium-sized growers made a successful transition to the commercial farming of coffee, and this led to some measure of prosperity for them”. The indigenous communities turned out to be the biggest losers in this transitional phase, having their traditional rights crushed by both colonists and the state.

• 1850 – 1890: Coffee Capitalism and the Liberal State
To come back on the former quote the coffee boom resulted in political and social effects evident early on (Molina & Palmer, 1998). Through the privatization of universal lands, poor peasants and indigenous communities of the Central Valley were hurt most. The native population had only one option left: going even further into the jungle, a process that sentences them to neglect, poverty and marginalization (Molina & Palmer, 1998). The high prices of coffee controlling the nineteenth century stimulated the impressive take-off in Costa Rica’s coffee industry, although there were some short periods of crisis. Although the cultivation of coffee spread out over Costa Rica, in Nicoya on the Pacific, to the South in Tarazú, and in San Carlos to the North, the main part of the coffee kept coming from San José and surroundings.

The coffee resulted in progress into the economic and social life of Costa Rica. This wealth permitted the opening of new roads, the improvement of old roads, the import of valuable technologies and fashionable commodities, and the diversification of the internal business. Due to the excessive growth of Costa Rica’s international trade Puntarenas became a busy port town, as almost all of the international trade went via the ports on the Pacific side (Molina & Palmer, 1998). In this period the Costa Rican State made attempts to ‘civilize’ the ordinary people of countryside and town. They did this through stricter controls and education, which resulted in one important development: the creation of a national identity (Palmer & Molina, 2004). This ‘Tico’ identity became visible, Palmer and Molina (2004) continue, in 1856, when Costa Rica went to war against William Walker, an American, who threatened to conquer Central America and had seized Nicaragua. Juan Rafael Mora, the president of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859 turned out to be essential in consolidating the political and social changed that had occurred during the expansion in coffee capitalism.

He built a presidential palace, a theatre and a hospital in the new capital San José [founded in 1737] (Palmer & Molina, 2004). The value of Costa Rica’s exports consisted for 90 percent of selling coffee (Molina & Palmer, 1998). Costa Rica’s export economy based on one crop, coffee, changed into an export economy based on two crops after 1880 when the Caribbean lowlands became the location for growing bananas meant for the United States market (Palmer & Molina, 2004). The province of Limón changed into a place dominated by foreign agribusiness. Bananas and coffee became the two so-called ‘motor products’, which shaped and maintained the growth of Costa Rica’s liberal state (Palmer & Molina, 2004).

• 1890 – 1930: Economic Diversification and Social Conflict
In this period there were attempts to build a railway, the Atlantic Railway, in order to address the contradiction with the European orientation of Costa Rica’s culture and economy, which was focused on the Pacific side of the country (Molina & Palmer, 1998). However, difficulties in financing and corruption stopped the whole process of building this railway, Molina & Palmer (1998) continue. The government of Próspero Fernández decided to sign a contract with Minor C. Keith in 1884, giving him the assignment to finish the railway and renegotiate the debt. Minor C. Keith chose to finance part of the railway project by cultivating bananas and exporting these bananas to the United States.

This was the impulse for the foundation of the United Fruit Company in 1899. The United Fruit Company was able to establish a monopoly over the banana industry. It became the symbol “of the economic face of United States imperialism” (Molina & Palmer, 1998: 70). The power of the United States in all its political and military dimensions became obvious very quickly when Washington seized control over Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1898 in the Spanish-America war. Although Costa Rica had defended its sovereignty successfully in 1856, the extend of this success was starting to show its limits around 1900, because in the south was the extraordinary presence of the United States in Panama, in the North Nicaragua was occupied by the Marines from 1912 to 1934 and the United Fruit Company dominated the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (Molina & Palmer, 1998).

The political and economic life of Costa Rica was significantly and increasingly influenced by Washington and after World War I from 1914 to 1918 and World War II from 1939 to 1945 this dependence intensified dramatically (Molina & Palmer, 1998). 1899, the year when the first democratic elections were held, is marked at the beginning of the era of democracy until today, with only two violations: the dictatorship of Federico Tinoco between 1917 and 1919 and the revolution led by Jose Figueres before the start of a controversial presidential election in 1948 (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007).

• 1930 – 1950: The Depression, Social Reform and Civil War
The liberal Republic of Costa Rica was built on the notion that a capitalist economy which leans on the export of agricultural products would lead to prosperity and civilization for all people (Molina & Palmer, 1998). However, this belief crashed together with the New York stock market crash of 1929 and the following global economic downfall. In the middle of these insecurities about the free-market notion, the way to a new philosophy founded on increasing state intervention was open. The downfall of the Costa Rican economy was clear: the value of exports decreased from 18 to 8 million dollars between 1929 and 1932 and imports decreased from 20 to 5 million. The year of 1933 is known about its march of the unemployed in San Jose, which was terminated in a violent strife with the police. In 1934 thousands of banana laborers started a strike under communist leadership, which resulted in the crippling of the United Fruit Operations on the Caribbean side. The government started to intervene more intensely in the economy, in order to manage the crisis (Molina & Palmer, 1998: 86):

- In 1933 the Institute for Defense of Coffee was created to regulate relations between farmers and merchants.
- In 1935 a minimum wage was legislated for agricultural workers.
- In 1936 bank reforms were undertaken to give the State more control over the money supply.
- Between 1932 and 1939 the State financed public works, which more than tripled in this period, designed to reduce unemployment. This practically defined the presidency of León Cortés (1936-1940).

The 1940’s ending with the civil war in 1948 were a turning point in the history of Costa Rica. Costa Rica changed “from paternalistic government by traditional rural elites to modernistic, urban-focused statecraft controlled by bureaucrats, professionals, and small entrepreneurs” (Baker, 1995). The president of Costa Rica between 1940 and 1944, Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia, announced a series of reforms (Baker, 1995):

- Land ‘reform’ (the landless could gain title to unused land by cultivating it).
- Paid vacations.
- Unemployment compensation.
- Progressive Taxation.
- A series of constitutional amendments codifying worker’s rights.
- Foundation of the University of Costa Rica.

Naturally the working class and the poor welcomed Caldéron’s reforms, but the upper classes, which were Calderón’s original foundation of support, hated Calderón’s social agenda, Baker (1995) argues. He further contends that the economic growth was delayed by World War II, though the social programs Calderón had implemented called for a great increase in public spending. This resulted in uncontrolled inflation, which destroyed the support from the working and middle classes. Being rejected, Calderón started a cooperation with the communists and the Catholic Church and created the United Social Christian Party. The Social Democratic Party [SDP] was formed by intellectuals, campesinos, businessmen and labor activists.

This party was dominated by the rising middle class, who wished to develop modernization and economic diversification. Tensions in the country increased and escalated in the ´run-up’ to the election in 1948, in which Calderón hoped to be elected. However, Otilio Ulate won the elections, which resulted in the government claiming fraud. In 1948 the civil war in Costa Rica broke out, the ‘War of National Liberation’. The revolution was led by ‘Don Pepe’, José María Figueres Ferrer. The civil war lasted for 40 days and took over 2,000 lives, mostly civilians. Figueres became chief of the temporary Junta Government. Besides consolidating the liberal social reform program of Caldéron he implemented his own reforms (Baker, 1995):

- He banned the Communist Party.
- He introduced suffrage for women and full citizenship for blacks.
- He revised the Constitution to outlaw a standing army (including his own).
- He established a presidential term limit.
- He created an independent Electoral Tribunal to oversee future elections.
- He nationalized the banks and insurance companies, a move that paved the way for state intervention in the economy.

The interim junta lasted for 18 months, after which Figueres returned the power to the actual winner of the election in 1948: Otilio Ulate. Figueras became a national hero, dominating politics in Costa Rica for the following 20 years. He became president himself in the periods 1953-1957 and 1970-1974. He founded his own party the ‘Partido de Liberacion Nacional [PLN], which became the main advocate of reform and development sponsored by the state. Figueres died as a hero on June 1990 (Baker, 1995).

• 1950 – 1978: The Golden Age of the Middle Class
This period was a period of prosperity for Costa Rica. By 1978 Costa Rica had better social indicators than most Third World countries, although the population had increased enormously from 800,000 in 1950 to almost two million in 1973 (Molina & Palmer, 1998). This social improvement was a result of the impressive growth caused by the enormous expansion of the global economy after World War II. The incredible profits created by the traditional export sector were used for financing industrial and agricultural diversification and technological improvements through the state banking system. Besides very positive social indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality, the level of literacy, the level of unemployment and the level of people covered by social security, several developments demonstrate the golden character of this age (Molina & Palmer, 1998: 99-102):

- Between 1944 and 1952 banana exports rose from 3,5 million to 18 million crates annually.
- Between 1940 and 1956 the price of coffee rose from 9 dollars to 68 dollars per quintal.
- Between 1950 and 1970 coffee plantations tripled their productivity.
- Between 1956 and 1965 the state authorized operations by three new foreign banana companies and facilitated the rise of local banana entrepreneurs who produced an increasing amount of the fruit under contract with the multinationals.
- A greater number of consumers, resulting from the income distribution policies, provided a basis for the capitalization of other activities, particularly rice and dairy farming.
- The US decision to eliminate the Cuban sugar quota following the revolution of 1959 and the rise of fast foods in the United States.
- In 1963 Costa Rica joined the Central America Common Market: 100 companies were formed between 1963 and 1975, mainly foreign-owned and the chemical and metal sector was expanded.
- Between 1950 and 1970 the number of state employees, guiding the economic growth, tripled to 51,000, making up 10 percent of the work force.
- Public investments in schools, colleges, roads, highways, hydro electric plants, health clinics, hospitals, and other infrastructure projects.

• 1978 – 1997: Crisis Restructuring and Rolling Back the Social Reform
Unfortunately the Golden Age of Costa Rica changed into a miserable period. Several occurrences where the cause of this sad contemporary Costa Rica (Molina & Palmer, 1998):

- Because of a sharp decline in the international price of coffee and the second oil crash, the Costa Rican economy fell down in 1980.

- The crisis was extended because of the erratic economic policy of the government of Rodrigo Carazo, president from 1978 to 1982. In order to get more loans, two agreements were signed by the administration with the International Monetary Fund. However, each of the agreements were broken by the administration in short order.

- In order to avoid social chaos the state chose to be drawn further in debt.

- In 1984 the crisis was worsened, because the United Fruit company closed down its businesses in the Pacific lowlands.

- Costa Rica helped with material, moral and logistical support in the fight against the dictatorship of Somoza in Nicaragua resulting in a victory in 1979. At the same time open revolutions attacks were going on in Guatemala and El Salvador. Because of these wars the regional trade collapsed and Costa Rica had to deal with an increasing number of illegal migrants and refugees.

The following figures show some of the outcomes of these happenings (Molina & Palmer, 1998: 119):

- The Gross National Product per capita began to drop in 1979, and fell 11 percent in 1981-1982.
- Real salaries fell a shocking 40 percent over these years.
- Unemployment rose to 10 percent.
- Foreign debt reached 3.8 billion dollars in 1984 and between 1983 and 1988 servicing that debt ate up 44 percent of the total value of exports.

From informal talks during my time in Costa Rica it seems that Costa Rica still has not been able to turn around its miserable situation completely, although some have expressed their faith in the new government which has been formed in 2006. According to Vorhees and Firestone Costa Rica turned its attention to the tourism industry: “If wealth could not be sustained through exports, then what about imports – of tourists?” (2006: 43).

4.1.3 Costa Rica & Government/Politics

Costa Rica is an independent democratic Republic. The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs points out that Costa Rica has a “very strong system of constitutional checks and balances” (2007). The following table presents the main aspects of the Costa Rican government.

Costa Rica is an independent democratic Republic. The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs points out that Costa Rica has a “very strong system of constitutional checks and balances” (2007). The following table presents the main aspects of the Costa Rican government.

-Capital:
San Jose

-Administrative divisions:
7 provinces; Alejuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose.

-Independence:
15 September 1821 (from Spain)

-Constitution:
7 November 1949

-Legal system:
Based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

-Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal and compulsory.

-Executive branch:
Chief of state and Head of government: President Oscar Arias Sanchez (since 8 May 2006); First Vice President Laura Chinchilla (since 8 May 2006); Second Vice President Kevin Casas Zamora (since 8 May 2006).
Cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president.
Elections: President and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a singular four-year term; election last held 5 February 2006.
Election results: Oscar Arias Sanchez elected president; percent of vote – Oscar Arias Sanchez (PLN) 40.9%; Otton Solis (PAC) 39.8%; Otto Guevara Guth (PML) 8%; Ricardo Toledo (PUSC) 3% Legislative branch Unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms).
Elections: last held 5 February 2006.
Election results: seats by party – PLN 25, PAC 17, PML 6, PUSC 5, other 4.

-Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly).

-International Organization Participation:
BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO.

Costa Rica does not have military forces. The ministry of Public Security, Government and Police take care of these tasks (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). Biesanz et al. (1999: 65) point out the following with regard to the public sector of Costa Rica: “The public sector includes such a bewildering maze of agencies that it is often difficult to know who is responsible for making what decisions and who actually does make them. And therefore, it is easier to understand why some decisions are slow to be made and why many others are made only symbolically, if at all”.

When one looks at the structure of the government the following four ‘powers’ can be recognized (Biesanz et al. 1999):

• The Presidency
The president is viewed as an important symbol of national unity. The president directs the police and serves as chief of state on ceremonial moments. He directs the national policy through influencing the public opinion and through close ties with the ministries (Biesanz et al. 1999).

• The Legislature
The Legislative Assembly “has the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws and to impose taxes” (Biesanz et al., 1999: 66). Before foreign loans and international agreements, which have been negotiated by the executive branch, can be implemented a two-third majority of the legislature has to ratify them. Although the constitution labels the legislature as the most important power in the government, the reality turns out differently, as the president still has the ability to do what he likes in several ways (Biesanz et al., 1999). In this context the following part from a publication in the Tico Times on October 29 2004 should be mentioned: “former Costa Rican president Rafael Ángel Calderón Jr. (1990-1994) is in prison, former president Miguel Ángel Rodriguez is in house arrest (1998-2002) and former president José María Figueres (1994-1998) is now under the watchful eye of the Prosecutor’s Office. All three, who headed the country in consecutive four-year terms, from 1990 to 2002, have been linked to the two largest corruption scandals the country has seen in recent memory, which some have begun to refer to collectively as a ‘ring of corruption’”.

• The Judicial System
The Supreme Court of Justice consists of twenty-two magistrates, which are chosen by a majority of the legislature. The court is quite independent of the Legislative Assembly, because the court is free of executive control and the terms of the magistrates are not parallel with those of legislators. Every six years the terms of the magistrates are automatically renewed, unless the legislature makes another decision, which rarely happens (Biesanz et al., 1999).

• The Supreme Electoral Tribunal
The autonomous Supreme Electoral Tribunal “oversees the formation and functioning of parties, the course of electoral campaigns, and the actual voting and counting of votes” (Biesanz et al., 1999: 68). The Supreme Electoral Tribunal is a commission consisting of three principal magistrates and six alternates which are selected by the Supreme Court of Justice (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007).

One can say that a country as little as Costa Rica has a big government. In 1996 every one out of seven people in the labor force was a public employee. The government included 81 municipalities, 24 ministries and 73 autonomous and semiautonomous institutions (Biesanz et al., 1999). There are no elections for provincial officials. In December 2002 the first elections for mayors took place, in which majors were elected for a 4-years term. The autonomous state agencies operate in a substantial independent way. Some of the important ones are: the social security agency, the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly and the state petroleum refinery (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007).

Freedom of assembly and expression [press] is highly valued and Costa Rica fears concentrated power. This last aspect is the reason the constitution limits the congressional and presidential terms and that the actions of the president are limited by the courts and legislature. As can be read in the table the 57 legislators are elected for a four-year term and only after being at least one term out of office they can be re-elected (Biesanz et al., 1999). The 1949 Constitution allowed expresidents to be re-elected after being out of office for two terms. In 1969 however, a reform was implemented which presidents were prohibited to run for re-election. In April 2003, the Costa Rican Constitutional Court abolished this reform going back to the way it was before 1969 (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007). The constitution clearly separates legislative, executive and judicial powers (Biesanz et al., 1999).

In 2000 Costa Rica established a professional Coast Guard (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007) and in 2006 Costa Rica established a Tourist Police force, creating units in popular tourist areas all over the country (Bureau of Consular Affairs, 2007). Costa Rica, especially San José and especially for tourists, is not seen as a safe place with regard to crime (Overseas Security Advisory Council, 2007). The following figures, although not going further than 1999, give some idea of rising crime in Costa Rica in general (Rico, 2003):

• A constant increase in the rates for all officially recorded crimes between 1990 and 1999 (84%).

• A particularly important upward trend in the case of robbery (562%), fraud (131%), rape (100%) and theft (93%).

• In 1999 crimes against property represented 56% of all offenses, while offenses against life represented 16%.

• Drug-related offenses reported to the police or to the Prosecutorial Agency, or known to them are not high (3% of the entirety), although this percentage does not match reality (it is estimated that the actual number is very high in this sector).

In Costa Rica specialized firms exist which conduct surveys regularly on the main problems of the country. With regard to crime and the penal system there has been conducted a research in February 1999 within the framework of the Regional Justice Project sponsored by the United Nations Development Program [UNDP]. This research showed among other outcomes, the following results (Rico, 2003):

• 51% of those interviewed felt that the country’s main problem was citizen insecurity.
• 27% of the members of the household had been victims of an offense within the preceding 12 months.
• Based on a 1 to 10 scale, where 1 would be equivalent to the highest and 10 to the lowest level of trust, the most trusted institutions were the Catholic Church ( 4.2), the Ombudsman (4.3), the OIJ (4.9), the media (5.2), the courts (5.3), the police in uniform (6.8), the Legislative Assembly (7.3), the labor unions (7.6), and the business chambers (8.1).
• The citizens perceive that the courts solve cases with excessive leniency (56%), excessive severity (30%), or with fairness (9%), although they take a long time to do so (76%).
Some of the main issues the government of Costa Rica is dealing with now, besides ‘fighting’ crime, are the following:

• The CAFTA Agreement
In October 2007, a national referendum on the CAFTA-DR [U.S.-Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement] was held (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007). Many Costa Ricans are against this agreement, which I have experienced myself when I ended up in a huge demonstration in San José against this agreement. This CAFTA Agreement, people told me in informal talks, dominated the elections of 2006 and still dominates the government activities in an important way. All the countries in the agreement have ratified the agreement, except for Costa Rica. The main argument against the agreement is the fear that it will threaten the domestic industry, especially the small companies.

• “In September 2005, Costa Rica took its case before the ICJ to advocate the navigation, security, and commercial rights of Costa Rican vessels using the Río San Juan over which Nicaragua retains sovereignty” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). This dispute still is not solved.

• Costa Rica is still receiving a lot of immigrants from Panama and Colombia and mainly Nicaragua. Between 1984 and 2000, the number of, known, Nicaraguans grew from 3.7% to 7.8% of the population. In 2004, 18% of all births were from foreign mothers. These immigrants have influenced Costa Rica’s demographics significantly and they put huge pressure on social services. Although immigrants do contribute to the economy and probably cannot be missed (Ramos, 2006), the majority is poor and possibly has difficulties in accessing social services (United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2007).

With regard to the human right’s situation in Costa Rica the following table presents the conventions and protocols Costa Rica did or did not sign and did or did not ratify (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, no date).

It goes too far in the light of this thesis to elaborate on the accomplishments or failures of Costa Rica with regard to human rights. I do realize that signing and ratifying a convention or protocol does not mean that everything is going well within that issue in a country. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is located in San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. Also the United Nations University of Peace is located here. In the second part of this chapter in which I will discuss the fight against child sex tourism, I will elaborate more on the rights of children in Costa Rica.

4.1.4 Ticos & Their Culture

Ticos are Costa Ricans, a name which is used more often than the term Costa Rican’s, at least in my experience. A man is called Tico and a woman Tica. Costa Rica has a long-held belief that Ticos are traditionally equal people of European descent (Biesanz et al., 1999). This notion has apparently been challenged in the last couple of decades. It is true that most Ticos do look ‘whiter’ than their northern and southern neighbors. However, this ‘white legend’, which I have also mentioned before, is not really correct. In the colonial times hardly any woman came to Costa Rica, which resulted in the common occurrence of ‘informal unions’ between Spanish men and black and Indian women. Thus, the majority of today’s Ticos have inherited this combination of Indian, European and African blood from their colonial ancestors.

In 1995 it was declared that “almost all Costa Ricans are mestizos with varying combinations of the general population’s mix of genes: 40-60 percent white, 15-35% Indian and 10-20% black” (Biesanz et al., 1999: 98). This mix differs according to socio economic status and region. The notion of an exceptionalist Costa Rica, discussed earlier, results in superior feelings among many Ticos, although they refuse to admit such an attitude, Helmuth (2000) argues. I would like to link this comment to xenophobia and discrimination discussed in the introduction at the beginning of this chapter. Especially Nicaraguans, also called Nicas, are victims of this xenophobia and discrimination (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2007). The following table presents the indicators with regard to ethnic groups and religions in Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica Catholicism has left a permanent mark on society; in the political power, its historical presence and cultural traditions (Helmuth, 2000). As the table shows the majority of the Costa Rican population is Roman Catholic and, comparable to other Latin American countries, the historical center of Costa Rican towns is dominated by a cathedral (Helmuth, 2000). Roman Catholicism is also the official religion of Costa Rica and not many nations in the world have an official religion (Arroba, 2004). This means that also the public education system contains religious instructions for all students. The salaries of the clergymen are paid through the taxes all Costa Ricans pay and the Church is represented at all official government functions. Schools, government offices, homes and motor vehicles are marked with pictures of saints and crucifixes.

If these expressions do not symbolize a religious practice, they definitely symbolize a cultural practice that is deeply imbedded in society. Although almost four out of five Ticos declare themselves Catholic, indigenous, secular and occult practices and beliefs have blended with their Catholicism. The protestant people in Costa Rica are a fast-growing group, according to Helmuth (2000), and protestant churches have been settled down in the society and the national consciousness. In the area of Limón, however, Catholicism is in the minority, and the black population living in this area has the Anglican, Baptist and Methodist religious heritage. Along the southern Atlantic coast in the rural areas, African beliefs can be found in certain ritual celebrations (Helmuth, 2000).

Many Ticos derive their identity more from their village or town than from the country in its totality, Biesanz et al. (1999) argue, even though they do not live there anymore. Nevertheless many people still live in one community or even in the same neighborhood or house for their whole life. The Ticos that do leave their place of birth continue to feel attached to it. The following comment made by Biesanz et al. demonstrates this: “University students in the San Jose area join associations of students from the same region and get together for parties and for ‘excursions’ back home” (1999:125). However, neighborhood and community ties are progressively broken or weakened, as more people move to the city or travel to work there.

The community pride as it was known in the past does not exist anymore. Geographer Carolyn Hall sees geography as the foundation for the sharp distinction between the more developed centre and the less developed periphery (in Biesanz et al., 1999). Already in colonial times settlements were located in the pleasurably cool and fertile Central Valley (Biesanz et al., 1999). This divide can also be seen in the access to media in Costa Rica. Ticos do have access to many and a wide range of publications and media services. However their availability outside the capital city San José might be limited, since in Costa Rica like in the rest of Latin America, many of the resources are concentrated in the capital city.

However, Costa Rica’s citizens do have access to internet and widespread cable television, making it possible to watch programs broadcasted in the U.S.A. Complaining about today’s breakdown of families, Ticos are longing for the family values of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, because, so they claim, there were almost no divorces and desertion and sexual relations were confined to marriages. Nevertheless, Ticos see the family and the home as ‘a haven from life’s troubles’ and close friends are viewed as brothers and sisters (Biesanz et al., 1999). An important reason why people are being pulled to Costa Rica is the natural beauty of the country (Helmuth, 2000). Helmuth points out that Costa Rica is indeed blessed with an amazing diversity: two long coastlines with a diversity of beaches, dry forests and rain forests, lagoons, rivers, swamps, cacao/banana/palm plantations, mountains, volcanoes, savannas and pastures.

There is also an unbelievable diversity of animal and plant life. This biodiversity is something Ticos are very proud of and they frequently go on a day trip to the cold mountains or take weekend trips to the beach. Ticos do not always show their proud exuberantly, as they are characterized by being discrete, not calling the attention to themselves and being modest. Other traits Ticos are known about are their warm hospitality, the highly valued social interaction, their honest interest in others, their big ritual celebrations and their remarkable friendliness (Helmuth, 2000). Many connect the fact that Costa Rica has no army to the tendency of Ticos “to settle disagreement peacefully through dialogue and compromise” (Biesanz et al., 1999). Although Costa Ricans appreciate their culture and country deeply, Helmuth (2000) argues, a lot of natural resources are constantly threatened by interfering investors in economic development projects. Also corruption with relation to local officials plays a role in this issue, Helmut asserts. Thus, Helmuth argues that this significant contradiction in Costa Rica’s position towards its rich natural resources is confusing. According to social analysts this contradiction reflects an increasing cultural crisis.

4.1.4.1 The Role Of Sexuality

As child sex tourism has very much to do with sexuality which is part of one’s culture I will elaborate on this particular aspect in more detail, using the Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality (2004) as the source, unless otherwise stated. This Encyclopedia is a 1,436- page, 1.5 million-word single-volume edited by Francoeur and Noonan, with contributions from 280 scholars on seven continents, contains 60 countries and two extreme environments providing information about all kinds of issues concerning sexuality. The chapter on Costa Rica is written by Arroba. The topic of human sexuality has only become apparent in Costa Rica during the last ten years. This happened most of all as a result of the process of globalization and the influence of European and North American immigrants but also because of the introduction of gender theories and studies, the introduction of sexology by sexologists, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the high occurrence of teen pregnancies.

Character of Gender Roles

The situation of women’s sexualities in small Costa Rica reveals some specific and unique characteristics of the ‘national gender social arrangements’, and it also demonstrates wider universal trends affecting women collectively and individually. In contrast to other countries in Latin America which have suffered from all kinds of natural and human disasters, Costa Rica had the time an freedom to develop a women’s movement.

However, compared to the United States the movement is still an ‘infant’ (informal talk in Paniamor, January 2007). This development is for example reflected in the existence women’s rights in the law and the existence of women’s studies. These efforts had result as sexual and domestic violence have been made visible and are being fought against. Furthermore women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health can be found on the agendas of some state institutions and women’s organizations.

These developments have to be viewed in the context of United States activities, which saw Costa Rica as a starting gate for these activities throughout Central America. The ‘Americanization’ or ‘Miamification’ could be seen clearly in Costa Rica through all kinds of products and services. Thus, globalization has affected Costa Rica’s body culture, producing severe changes in the last 20 years: “the control of women’s virginity, marriageability, and reproduction has loosened and has been supplanted by an emphasis on women’s control of their bodies – their appearance and shape” (p. 228). This change has also affected the attitudes of men towards women, how they think about women and towards their own sexuality and physicality.

It is not possible to talk about the Costa Rican sexual culture. However, some of the common features characterizing women’s experiences, regardless of religion or social class, are: helplessness, ignorance and silence. It is horrible to hear women say: “my husband uses me twice or three times a week” (p. 228). When looking at the situation of men’s sexuality one can notice the following:

“Latin American masculinity has been conflated with machismo, something that is seen as particular to Latin men, hence the idea of the Latin lover, but also the idea that all Latin American men are machistas, and what is more, much more machistas than, let’s say, North American or British men” (p. 228).

However, when looking past this stereotype and trying to define and understand the reality of how men live their sexuality in Costa Rica another reality is discovered; a reality characterized by silence, ignorance and compulsion. In this case compulsion means obligation, ‘a performance pressure’. Men are obliged to show their ‘masculinity’ all the time, in public, when courting, at work and in bed. They have learned to do whatever it takes in order to get what they want sexually, whether it is done by manipulation, flattering or pushing.

An 18-year-old Costa Rican defined machismo as follows: “machismo is men’s fear that women will surpass them” and a university professor defined machismo as “a complex of strategies aimed at keeping male control of power resources regarding women; it is a set of beliefs and practices regarding men’s superiority over women” . In order to fulfill the need to show his manhood the man constantly is acting out an active sexuality, so that he proves he ‘does it very well’ and that ‘it can work’. Not surprisingly then one of the comments made by men in a men’s support group (by Arroba, 2004) was: “men are unfaithful by nature”. On the other hand women are expected to be ignorant and passive.

However, a survey by La Republica newspaper in 1992 reported that 87% of cohabiting and married women in the sample said they had been unfaithful before the age of 45. Feelings such as pleasure and sensuality are made impossible as male sexuality is reduced to a functioning virile organ and sex is about penetration. Only a few years ago, it was very common that fathers took their sons to prostitutes to have their first experience of intercourse, in order to become a man. Thus, that men live their sexuality with sorrow, pain and stress should not come as a surprise, as besides women’s sexuality, also men’s sexuality is based on ignorance. It is thought that one out of five men and one out of three women have been a victim of some kind of abuse before the age of 18.

Current Family Patterns and Gender Roles

Costa Rica is the only Latin American country that experienced an extreme decreased birthrate between 1960 and 1968, a 25% drop, regardless of the resistance by Church and state to birth control. However, since the 1970’s the government has been stimulating family planning. Condoms can be bought at pharmacies and supermarkets and the pill can be bought at pharmacies. However, in relations to using contraceptives other gender, emotional, and cultural inhibitions are revealed, as 40% of pregnancies are unplanned or unwanted. The family is the center of people’s lives and a very important institution. Currently many social changes have changed and affected the traditional family unit. Families are becoming smaller, children are migrating to other countries, a lot of women work outside of their home, more couples are divorcing and there are many single-parent households, specifically single mothers. This is not different from most western countries. Chant (2006) argues that since the late 1980’s, female-headed households represent an increasing share of poor and extremely poor households. This is a very upsetting and interesting trend.

Over three-quarters of women are unmarried, separated or divorced. Nevertheless, even if women do not choose voluntarily to be the head of the household they are managing to survive. While women do not always ‘choose’ for female headship, Chant’s (2006: 23) field evidence implies that “a growing number of women are ‘trading-off’ the disadvantages of their lower earning power against increased autonomy, the ability to manage household finances more equitable, and to escape exploitation and violence”. Chant argues, several Costa Rican women and children stated that the responsibility on mothers to clothe, feed and educate their children was resting on them because of the extreme amount of money the fathers spent on drinking. In the interviews conducted by Chant both children and women drew sharp contrasts between women’s altruism and men’s egoism. Ixi, a forty year old mother of three in Liberia and recently separated stated the following:

“A poor woman doesn’t only think of herself; she thinks about her family, her children, in getting ahead. In contrast, men are more selfish, only concerned with their own needs, unlike women who are thinking not only about their own necessities but those of her family. When men see a situation getting difficult they tend to go off and leave the women to assume responsibility” (in Chant, 2006: 23). As many women have experienced men’s bad habits and irresponsibility it is only obvious why all participants in Chant’s research stressed the individual importance of studying, working and acquiring material security before getting married and having children. Several children made some statements regarding this issue, which I just need to quote here as they shocked me considerably. Andreina, 11 year old, living with her mother and two half-brothers stated: “if you get married … men will not let you do what you want to do, or go out when you want to go out … men dominate women more than women dominate men. Women can’t do what they want” (in Chant, 2006: 24).

Marian, 12 years old and grown up with a father who left her mother for another woman, stated: “men only serve to destroy” (Chant, 2006: 24) and Abdías, a 14 year old boy, stated: “even if women take steps to protect themselves through studies and work, nowadays men often look for women with money so they will not have to take any responsibility at all for wives and children” (in Chant, 2006: 24). So, there are definitely women who believe that female-headed households are not worse off, Chant continues. Sonia a 44 year old mother of three from different fathers from Santa Cruz stated: “a woman doesn’t need a man, she has capacity” (in Chant, 2006: 25). Male-headed households can also make it more difficult to make children respect and value women. The fear of homosexuality is often mentioned in comments made by Chant’s respondents. Gloria, 50 years old from Santa Cruz and having raised four children, stated: “I remember that when my son helped me wash plates and clean the house, but one time my husband arrived and saw this and told me not to do this because I would turn him into a homosexual” (in Chant, 2006: 25).

In female-headed households domestic labor done by boys is valued much more. Another advantage of female-headed households, Chant (2006) argues, is the removal of the threat of violence from women’s and children’s lives. It is claimed the government is trying to work hard in these issues. Gender equality is being promoted and supported by the government through for example the Law for Promotion of the Social Equality of Women, the Law Against Domestic Violence and the Law of Paternity, with which men can be forced to take a DNA test (Arroba, 2004).

Religious and Ethnic Factors Affecting Sexuality

To date, because of the influence of the Catholic Church in Costa Rica, the Costa Rican government has been unable to teach sex education in high schools (Arroba, 2004). Reasoning that the texts included ‘moral irregularities’ the Catholic Church said no to the instruction manuals that the Ministry of Education had prepared for this purpose. The Church insisted on changes, favoring their own model of sex education, which is against non-reproductive sexual practices, premarital sex, abortions, respect for sexual diversity and most family planning methods. A hostile and open refusal of feminism and gender theories is also part of this, so Arroba (2004) argues.

The Church claims that sexual education should be the task of parents. There is no national policy for sexual education. This is just one example of the way the Catholic Church shows its influence in Costa Rican society. As many Catholics have become disappointed in their Church, some of them have found an alternative, mainly in the Protestant Evangelical churches. With regard to ethnic factors affecting sexuality, the only important thing to mention is that there are no investigations about the sexuality of the Indian or the black communities. All these cultural issues are of course fundamentally connected to economic factors which are the focus of the next section.

4.1.5 Costa Rica and Economy

In order to get an idea of Costa Rica’s economy I will start right away with presenting some quantitative figures in the table below.

-GDP (purchasing power parity) (2006 est.)

$ 50.89 billion

-GDP (official exchange rate) (2006 est.)

$ 21.39 billion

-GDP – Real Growth Rate (2006 est.)

7.9%

-GDP – Per Capita (PPP) (2006 est.)

$ 12,500

-GDP – composition by sector (2006 est.)

Agriculture: 8.6%
Industry: 31%
Services: 60.4%

-Labor Force (2006 est.)

1.866 million Note: this official estimate excludes Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica legally and illegally

-Labor Force – By Occupation (1999 est.):

Agriculture: 20%
Industry: 22%
Services: 58%

-Unemployment Rate (2006 est.)

6.6%

-Population Below Poverty Line (2004 est.)

18%

-Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share (2002 est.)

Lowest 10%: 1.1%
Highest 10%: 36.8%

-Distribution Of Family Income – Gini Index (2000 est.)

46.5

-Inflation Rate (Consumer Prices) (2006 est.)

12.1%

-Investment (Gross Fixed) (2006 est.)

19.4% of GDP

-Budget (2006 est.)

Revenues: $ 3.134 billion
Expenditures: 3.475 billion

-Public Debt (2006 est.)

53.4% of GDP

-Industrial Production Growth Rate (2006 est.)

8.4%

-Current Account Balance (2006 est.)

-$ 1.176

-Exports – Partners (2006)

US 27.1%, Netherlands 12.1%, China 11.6%, Berrmuda 6.4%, UK 6.1%

-Imports – Partners (2006)

US 40.8%, Venezuela 5.4%, Mexico 5.3%, Ireland 4.9%, Japan 4.9%, Brazil 4.6%, China 4%

-Debt – External (30 June 2006 est.)

$ 6.42 billion

-Currency (Code)

Costa Rican colon (CRC)

-Telephone – main lines in use (2006 est.)

1.351 million

-Telephones – mobile cellular (2006 est.)

1.444 million

-Internet hosts (2007)

13,792

-Internet users (2006)

1.214 million

-Airports (2006)

157

-Railways (2007)

Total: 278 km
Note: none of the railway network is in use

-Roadways (2004)

Total: 35,330 km
Paved: 8,621 km
Unpaved: 26,709 km

-Waterways (2007)

730 km

-Ports and Terminals

Caldera, Puerto Limon

According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (2004) the GINI index places Costa Rica among the top 26 countries in the world for unequal income distribution. Costa Rica is been regarded as a fairly stable economy depending on agriculture, tourism and electronic exports (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). The main agriculture products are: bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes, beef and timber. The main industrial products are: microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer and plastic products. Over the last 20 years the poverty rate has stayed at approximately 20%.

However, because of augmented financial constraints on state expenditures, the strong social safety net has eroded (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). The growing inequality reflects the most vulnerable groups, which are the “indigenous people, immigrants, children who live or work on the street, Afrodescendents, and the disabled” (United Nations Children’s Fund, 2007). The United Nations Children’s Fund also argues Costa Rica has not paid enough attention to social mobility, inclusion and equitable distribution of resources. They point out that approximately 25% of children live in poverty and in 2006 5.3% of households were extremely poor. Between 2005 and 2006 the percentage of impoverished female-headed households rose from 33.5% to 36.2%. Approximately 90% of the indigenous population lives in poverty. In the urban, border and coastal areas the poverty is intensified (United Nations Children’s Fund, 2007).

The government has become more concerned with the immigrants from Nicaragua (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). It is thought that between 300,000 and 500,000 Nicaraguans are living in Costa Rica, illegally or legally. These Nicas, as Nicaraguans are also called by the Ticos, are an important source of labor, mostly unskilled and in the informal sector. However, these immigrants also put huge pressures on the social welfare system (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). According to Ramos (2006: 1) the majority of the Nicaraguan migrants do not compete for jobs with Costa Ricans, because there is an obvious segmented labor market: “Nicaraguans fill niches in the economy that Costa Ricans don’t want; largely seasonal agricultural activities, construction, domestic service, private security and, to a lesser extent, commerce”.

It is also interesting to mention that Costa Rica was only able to transform their economy into an economy based on the three basic sectors agro-export, industry and services because of the availability of two important sources of ‘reserve’ labor: Nicaraguan migrants and Costa Rican women. As there were thousands of Nicaraguan women who could take over their previous work, Costa Rican women were able to enter new job markets. Sadly, “the rising xenophobia in Costa Rica and the undocumented status of many Nicaraguan migrants creates conditions that facilitate their exploitation and the violation of their labor rights” (Ramos, 2006: 2).

Costa Rica still attracts foreign investors because of the country’s high education levels and the political stability (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). The Central Intelligence Agency continues with arguing that tourism continues bringing in foreign exchange. The government still has problems with its large external and internal deficits and large internal debt. Another difficult problem is the decreasing inflation because of fiscal deficits, increasing import prices and labor market rigidities. It is also necessary for Costa Rica to implement reforms in its pattern of public expenditure and its tax system. As mentioned before the contemporary government prioritizes the reforms that are necessary to implement the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement [CAFTA].

According to the Central Intelligence Agency (2007) the implementation of CAFTA “would result in an improved investment climate”. However, during my stay in Costa Rica, I witnessed a large demonstration against this CAFTA agreement, as many people in Costa Rica are afraid this will have bad consequences for the small companies and farmers. Costa Rica has been looking to broaden its trade and economy within and outside the region in a variety of ways and has signed and established a variety of agreements with Mexico; with other Central American countries, the Dominican Republic and the United States; with Canada; with Chile; with the Dominican Republic; and with Trinidad and Tobago (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007). Currently Costa Rica is negotiating a trade agreement with Panama and is almost starting to negotiate a regional Central American-EU trade agreement.

Furthermore Costa Rica “was an active participant in the negotiation of the hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americas and is active in the Caims Group, which is pursuing global agricultural trade liberalization within the World Trade Organization” (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007). Criminal activities also play an important role in the economy of Costa Rica, mainly through prostitution, drugs and the trafficking that goes together with it. The Central Intelligence Agency (2007) argues, in Costa Rica heroin and cocaine from South America are being transshipped. Furthermore there is illegal production of cannabis in isolated areas. There is an increase in domestic cocaine consumption, particularly crack cocaine. I have seen this with my own eyes in the beach towns I have visited in the weekends, where I noticed a big change compared to my visit 2,5 years before.

Going to the toilet, I could see everybody sniffing cocaine, something I had never seen before. I was told that cocaine is very cheap compared to countries as the Netherlands or the United States, which makes it appealing to many tourists apparently, to try, despite that it is illegal and can have very serious legal consequences. The most important economic resources of Costa Rica are a well-educated population, its fertile land and the fact that Costa Rica is located in the middle of Central America, resulting in an easy access to the South American as well as the North American markets and a direct ocean connection with the Asian and European continents (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2007).

25% of Costa Rica is protected area, which attracts both tourists and rich retirees from abroad, making Costa Rica famous for its dedication to nature and sustainable development. However, Costa Rica is not invulnerable to the pressures of land use change and deforestation and it also has to deal with all kinds of environmental issues (The International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2004). The International Institute for Sustainable Development (2004) argues about the origin of this dedication to nature in combination with the wish for developing tourism in the country that in the early 1980’s Costa Rica was a pioneer in using ‘debt-for-nature’ agreements to restructure its commercial debt. Costa Rica still is involved in this ‘debt-for nature’ approach, as a news article on October 17th, released by the United States Embassy in San José, demonstrated:

“The Governments of the United States of America and Costa Rica, the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, have concluded agreements to reduce Costa Rica’s debt payments to the United States by $26 million over the next 16 years. In return, the Central Bank of Costa Rica has committed to pay these funds to support grants to non-governmental organizations and other groups to protect and restore the country’s important tropical forest resources”.

The last, but not the least, aspect of the Costa Rican economy that needs to be mentioned is its dedication to the protection of labor rights. Costa Rica has ratified all the fundamental labor rights conventions:

• Freedom of association and collective bargaining - Convention 87
• Freedom of association and collective bargaining - Convention 98
• Elimination of forced and compulsory labour - Convention 29
• Elimination of forced and compulsory labour - Convention 105
• Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation - Convention 100
• Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation - Convention 111
• Abolition of child labour - Convention 138
• Abolition of child labour - Convention 182

As this thesis is about child sex tourism, I will discuss the tourism industry in Costa Rica more in-depth in the following section.

4.1.5.1 The Tourism Industry

Earlier in this chapter I have made several comments on the importance of the tourism industry in Costa Rica and the attractiveness of the country to tourists. In the light of this thesis on the issue of child sex tourism I will go into a bit more detail on this important industry in Costa Rica. The following figures give an idea of the importance of the tourism industry in Costa Rica (ICT, 2005).

-Northern America: 53%
-Central America: 25%
-Europe: 14%
-Southern America: 5%
-Others: 3%

The most important conclusion that can be drawn for this table, and which will become important in the discussion on child sex tourism, is the huge percentage of Northern American tourists at the moment. The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (2007) states in a news article on their website: “during the next trip of the President of the Republic, Oscar Arias, to the Republic of China Costa Rica will be declared as a Recommended Destination. The purposes of the Costa Rica Tourism Board are focused on attracting European and Asian tourists”.

Port of Entrance

By air: 74%
By land: 25%
By sea: 1%

This table demonstrates that the majority of tourists in Costa Rica arrive by air. This outcome can be linked to the large percentage of Northern American tourists, for whom it is easy and relatively cheap to fly to Costa Rica. International travelers arrive both at the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, and at the capital’s Juan Santa Maria International Airport in Alejuela.

The most important conclusion that can be drawn from this table is the growing importance of the tourism industry compared to the other income sources of Costa Rica. It shows that the tourism industry is representing an increasing share of the income sources of Costa Rica. This year (2007), the tourism investment in several projects has increased to more than $ 800 million (ICT, 2007).

The private tourism sector is really strong represented in Costa Rica. Costa Rica has a lot of chambers and associations, national and regional, connected to tourism. ACOPROT is an important private non-profit association that represents the interests of professionals in the tourism industry. ACOPROT does many things for its members, such as providing information, training and education butalso lobbying with for example the World Tourism Organization for the creation of certain agreements between countries to improve the tourism business and promote sustainable tourism development.

ACOPROT is a member of the Unión Iberoamericana de Profesionales en Turismo [UIPT]. UIPT, founded in 2004, is a non for profit organization that represents men and women professionals who are university graduates in tourism or related studies, as well as those who work in the sector which objective is to exchange experiences, scholarships, tutors, etc. At the moment there are eight country members, but membership is open to all countries of Latin America and Portugal after having met certain requirements.

The Costa Rican government plays a very important role in the development and processes of the tourism industry in Costa Rica, in the form of the “Instituto Costarricense de Turismo”. The ‘Instituto Costarricense de Turismo’ (2007) explains on its website that the beginning of the government’s participation in the development of tourism can be traced back to 1930. In this year the first private hotel was created, named ‘Gran Hotel Costa Rica’. It was a first class hotel constructed with the help of the private sector and promoted by the government. Most tourists came overseas and entered Costa Rica via the Port of Limón on the Caribbean side. From there they traveled by train to San José. In 1931 the National Tourism Board was created by Law 91, the first regulated tourism activity.

The National Tourism Board functioned until 1955, after which the ‘Instituto Costarricense de Turismo’ [ICT] was created by Law 1917. The ICT is going through an ongoing process of organizational change, as they want to reinforce the processes they have carried out up to date. ICT is also completing a range of proposals on new processes and functions that the institute should commence in order to create a more competitive Costa Rican tourism industry that is able to compete in an international market. One can take a look on their website at the organizational chart in order to get a better idea of the current structure of the ICT. The following mission according to the National Development Plan has been proposed (ICT, 2007):

“Promote a wholesome tourism development, with the purpose of improving Costa Ricans’ quality of life, by maintaining a balance between the economic and social boundaries, environmental protection, culture, and facilities”.

The following guiding institutional general policies for the period 2002-2012 demonstrate the notion of a sustainable development approach (ICT, 2007):

• The concept of sustainability will be the fundamental axis of tourism activity and will be considered as the main factor characterizing the national tourism product.

• Tourism development will develop in such way as to contribute effectively and constructively against any form of social degradation, generating economic benefits, protecting the environment, and supporting our people’s culture and values.

• Any kind of tourism activity that threatens our people’s habits or puts at risk the physical and moral integrity of human beings will be fought against forcefully.

• Development of tourism activity will foster Costa Rican families’ well-being, the improvement of tourism bases, and the development of new products in all of the country’s planning units.

• Tourism activity that is based on ethics, quality, and sustainability will be favored. Any benefits or incentives given by the country for development will be bound to a controlled compliance to these factors of tourism industry.

• Private, national, and foreign investment of new projects as well as improvement and enlargement of exiting ones will have a parallel commitment with local development.

• Small and medium-size companies of high quality will be supported, as a strategy for the incorporation of communities in that sector of the economy.

• All of the international and national promotion will be done according to specific plans that have been designed keeping in mind the private sector’s and related communities’ proposals, responding to a vision and the country’s tourism goals at large.

• Tourism development will be guided based on programs and objectives, and for that reason, it will strictly establish a coordination plan, control, and follow-up of all its activities.

Thus, it is not surprising that the ICT has introduced a Certificate for Sustainable Tourism [CST] for the private tourism sector, belonging to the Sustainability Program Department within the ICT (ICT, 2007). The CST program seeks to categorize and certify tourist companies according to the level its business comes closer to a model of sustainability. Four essential aspects are evaluated, on order to assess this (ICT, 2007):

• Physical-biological interactions
Evaluates the interaction between the company and its surrounding natural habitat;

• Infrastructure and services
Evaluates the management policies and operational systems within the company and its infrastructures.

• External clients
Evaluates management actions taken in its invitation to clients to participate in the company’s sustainability policy implementation.

• Social-economic environment
Evaluates the companies’ interaction with local communities and population in general.

The CST program works with a system of ‘sustainability levels’ on a scale of 0 to 5 (ICT, 2007). The level that ICT assigns to a company will always be the lowest achieved level in any of the four aspects. The CST program is created also to include a range of incentives for a company that will build in benefits in direct relation to its increased rating, such as promotion, national and international publicity, training for employees and preference participation in several world tourism fairs. When talking about economy and sexual exploitation of labor it is necessary to discuss issues of child labor, which is the subject of the last section within the economy of Costa Rica.

4.1.5.2 Child Labor & Education

The following information is derived from two reports, one by Ana Lucía Calderón Saravia (2004) and the other by Astrid Marschatz (2004), both prepared for the International Labour Organization [ILO], which is working through the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour [IPEC]. The Constitution gives the overall regulatory framework for the country’s public education (Saravia, 2004: 8). Article 78 is very important in this respect:

“Pre-school education and the general basic education [grades 1-9] are compulsory. These and the ‘diversified’ or high-school education [grades 10-11] in the public system are free and paid for by the Nation”. According to the law public expenses in state-run education will not drop below 6% of the gross domestic product per year. It is interesting to note that the real figure stayed under this 6%, as it was 3.9% in 1990 and increased to 5.2% in 2001. Article 1 of the Fundamental Law of Education of 1957 states that every citizen of Costa Rica has the right to education. It also states that the State is obliged to offer this in the most adequate and broadest form.

The Code of Children and Adolescents of February 1998 is the legal instrument that currently protects, regulates and promotes both the rights and responsibilities of the population under eighteen years old, and the responsibilities of the parents, caretakers and governmental institutions to manage the well-being of children. This Code contains article 56 Right to develop their full potential. The Code states that children will have the right to get education which directed to the development of their full potential. This education addresses the full use of their citizenship and has to teach them own cultural values, respect for human rights and care for the natural environment. This all should be taught within a framework of solidarity and peace.

Saravia continues arguing the minimum age to exercise the right to work is established at 15, accompanied by a range of regulations which guarantee that the mental, emotional or physical health of working adolescents is not put at risk and their integral development is not threatened. The law also stresses the responsibility and right of working children to education. Their job must not prevent them from attending educational institutions. The conditions of the educational centers are not always optimal. The resources needed to create an acceptable environment for the teaching-learning process are lacking. When looking at the scholarship system it should be noted that the figures demonstrate that there is little support available to students in the more accessible educational programs for working children. From a total of 37,334 granted scholarships, only 290 went to these programs.

Approximately 50% of the population does not enter or finish high school because of factors as exclusion and delay. With regard to those more accessible educational programs, Costa Rica offers the following options to working children:

• Open Education Program
• The Open Classroom Program
• New Opportunities Program

Despite the positive political rhetoric the reality shows otherwise. The following conclusions have been made about education in relation to child labor, taken from Marschatz’s report (2004):

• About 4.5% of children aged 5 to 17 years, mainly girls, spend many hours in housekeeping work in their own home (as per the minimum hours used in this analysis). This group shows a low school attendance level (55.5%).

• School non-attendance problems are evident in children (15.2% at the national level) but mostly among rural residents and adolescents, who exhibit non-attendance rates of 20.8%, and 31.4%, respectively.

• The survey identified 113,523 persons aged 5-17 years working in Costa Rica, accounting for 10.2% of population in this age bracket. Male rates are higher than female’s (14.3% and 5.8%, respectively), the rate increases with age (3.2, 8.4, and 23.5% for 5-9, 10-14, and 15- 17 year age groups, respectively), and is higher in rural than in urban areas (15.5 and 5.9%, respectively).

• A total of 49,229 persons under the minimum legal age (15 years) are working, and 65.7% of all working children began working before they turned 15 years of age.

• Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing make up the main industry for working girls and boys, absorbing 44.2% of them. Services, however, emerges as the main sector for urban areas with 38.5% of urban workers.

• Around 95.2% of working children work on day shifts, and the average of working hours per week is 31.1.

• The number of working children goes up during school vacation months (December and January), with an increase in the number of school-attending children that work.

• Close to 65% of working children are engaged in child labor. The sector with the highest percentage of children in child labor is manufacturing (68.1%), followed by agriculture (66.6%), trade (57.1%), and services (44.2%).

• A high 45.3% school non-attendance rate is seen among children engaged in child labor.

• The households of children engaged in child labor are larger (5.5 members), on average, than the homes of persons aged 5-17 years who are not in that situation (4.8 members), and they additionally face harder socio-economic situations.