Many Costa
Ricans Are
Angry, Scared
And Confused
Over U.S. War
Ships
By John Holtz*
I very much
admire those
people who took
time and made an
effort to
comment on the
latest Op-Ed
piece,
Has Costa Rica
Rolled Over To
The US?,
regarding the US
forces who are
expected to be
in Costa Rica as
agreed to by the
legislature.
Perhaps my piece
on Monday was
too flip, but it
is hard to be
always serious
here or I would
go bonkers.
Actually, I am
going bonkers.
This story is
not going away
and for sure the
pro – con
arguments will
grow
exponentially as
will the
theories and
hidden agenda
accusations. A
military
presence of this
magnitude on
foreign soil
with what
amounts to be a
“blank check” is
serious stuff
and fodder for
speculation.
Just as serious
is that the
mission is only
until December
31, 2010.
What happens
then? Are we to
believe the drug
lords and
traffickers will
be gone or do
you think they
just might come
back? Or, never
leave at all.
Or, will the
armed forces
agreement be
extended?
I am also
curious to why
no DEA presence
was announced
who are the US
experts on the
trafficking of
drugs and could
probably pick
the narcos out
by facial
recognition
alone. Limiting
the attack to
our oceans makes
no sense for
such a large
scale operation.
Money is not
laundered on the
high seas and
neither are
those who direct
the drug trade.
Moreover, what
will 7,000 land
based Marines do
here? I know the
jokes, but in
reality, what
are they going
to do in Costa
Rica?
All these
questions and so
few answers
because too many
pieces of the of
the puzzle are
missing.
Many Costa
Ricans are
angry, scared
and certainly
confused.
It is time to
practice empathy
and put us into
their shoes for
a moment or two.
Think about it.
One day the
major issues
were World Cup
envy, vacation
time, cost of
living and
having to resort
to driving over
the Aguacate
again instead of
the Caldera
highway and then
BOOM, without
any warning
whatsoever we
are confronted
by what is being
rapidly
perceived as an
invasion of
foreign forces
who have a long
history of
taking over
small countries.
This scares the
people of this
country and
rightfully so
.
In addition, by
the military
presence and the
size of that
presence, Costa
Rica is now the
focus of
regional
tensions and in
particular,
Nicaragua.
Something our
adopted country
does not need
right now.
What is needed
is to
immediately
become
transparent and
I do not mean on
Facebook or
Twitter.
Presidenta,
Laura
Chinchilla, the
US Ambassador,
Ann Andrews who
is the leader of
all this need to
come clean, face
the people and
tell us what
this is all
about and not in
gross
generalities
which will just
result in more
and more
apprehension and
distrust.
Even the “Home”
page of the U.S.
Embassy does not
mention a word
about the
military
presence and
what it is
supposed to do
in Costa Rica.
Albeit, the most
current news
item on the page
is dated June
14, 2010 and it
goes downhill
from there.
I believe that
more than
anything else it
is the
suddenness of
this dramatic
measure as well
as the
massiveness and
that by putting
armed military
inside Costa
Rica, it
diminishes for
years to come
any further
claim that we
are a nation
without an army.
We just went out
and got one.
*John Holtz is the Executive Director of
the Center for
the Studies of
Modern
Management
www.modernmanagement.org and can
be reached at:
[email protected].
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