INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| COSTA RICA
NEWS | Monday
14 November 2011
Inhibiting
Progress
Is
One
Of
The
National
Pass
Times
in
Costa
Rica
By
John
R.
Holtz*
Last
week
I
had
the
good
fortune
to
attend
another
business
round
table
of
the
“Young
Lions”
of
Costa
Rica
(40
to
50
year
old
executives).
These
are
the
same
women
and
men
who
believe
Costa
Rica
has
over
democratized
and
is
spinning
out
of
direction
as a
result.
As
we
all
well
know,
in
Costa
Rica
it
is
almost
impossible
to
separate
culture
and
business
from
politics
as
they
are
so
much
intertwined
making
them
virtually
impossible
to
differentiate
and
so
easy
to
manipulate
by
an
elite
few.
The
“Free
Market”
system
is
very
much
promoted
on
paper,
but
the
central
and
local
government
regulations
accompanied
by
the
massive
amounts
of
institutions
have
both
infinite
formal
as
well
as
informal
power
over
industry
and
human
behavior
which
makes
planning
impossible.
We
always
muse
that
for
every
formal
law
or
regulation
there
are
at
least
six
informal
ones
and
five
bribe
requests.
Sort
of
like
the
current
diputado
Jorge
Angulo
who,
since
1974
has
had
48
charges
of
fraud
and
extortion
levied
against
him,
all
of
which
is
public
record
and
he
remains
a
congress
person.
While
disguised
as
laws
and
regulations
to
best
benefit
the
citizen
and
expat,
they
are
more
so
designed
to
stop
forward
progress
unless
such
progress
is
clearly
benefits
an
existing
power
structure.
An
outsider
does
not
stand
a
chance
unless
investing
big
money!
After
all,
inhibiting
progress,
on
every
level,
is
one
of
the
national
pass
times
and
that
is
what
makes
Costa
Rica
so
terribly
complicated
and
socially
deficient
.
You
never
know
whose
butt
to
kiss
nor
when.
Put
this
together
with
a
complex
social
structure
and
hierarchy,
it
is
difficult
to
do
business
and
stay
in
business.
The
World
Bank
ranks
Costa
Rica
121
out
of
183
countries
on
its
Ease
of
Doing
Business
Index.
And
with
the
plethora
of
all
the
new
polls,
statistics:
I
believe
them
the
most
because
the
Bank
has
nothing
to
gain.
Is
it
possible
to
plan
and
control
your
own
destiny?
The
conversation
switched
to
why
both
Costa
Rica
commerce,
government
and
even
the
people
think
only
in
the
very
short
term?
This
goes
back
to
my
discussion
about
the
lack
of
maintenance
while
expecting
unreasonable
“sustainability”.
Or,
“Why
so
few
resources
and
so
little
effort
are
made
to
maintain
the
infrastructure,
industries
and
buildings.”
I
argue
that
in
Costa
Rica
all
planning,
however
short,
is a
high
risk
venture
and
anything
beyond
the
short
term
is
an
exceptional
risk.
Therefore,
it
was
concluded
that
the
best
business
plan
is
no
longer
than
six
months
to a
year
forward.
And,
after
that
the
best
intermediate
business
plan
is
to
design
the
company,
organization
or
your
personal
life
to
be a
good
reactionary
and
for
a
long
term
plan;
don´t
waste
your
time.
(Go
with
the
flow.)
We
are
a
culture
without
transparency,
limited
information
and
we
effect
critical
change
absent
of
open
debate
and
without
public
notice.
In
addition,
the
change
can
be
dramatic
resulting
in a
complete
modification
of
the
status
quo.
A
classic
example
would
to
include
the
relatively
new
appearance
of
traffic
cameras
and
now
the
consideration
of
taking
them
down
while
the
cost
of
an
infraction
went
from
20,000
colons
to
308,000
colons.
Indeed
a
dramatic
increase
that
lingers
in
congress
and
the
courts
leaving
both
civilians
and
commerce
in
the
dark.
The
congress
makes
the
law
then
sends
it
to
court
to
see
if t
is a
legal
law.
Duh!
The
new
electric
proposed
rates
being
requested,
not
yet
confirmed,
for
2012
is
21%
more
for
homes
and
24%
for
industry
which
seems
to
have
come
from
nowhere.
Another
quantum
leap
making
even
a
one
year
budget
high-risk.
Right
now
it
is
the
dreaded
fear
of
the
new
tax
plan.
However,
the
plan
has
not
been
passed
resulting
in
the
unknown
and
breath
holding
for
many
businesses
as
well
as
expats
and
nationals
not
to
mention
foreign
investors.
Bits
and
pieces
are
released
to
the
media
but
not
the
plan
itself.
As a
total
surprise,
a
few
weeks
ago
the
two
arch
enemies,
perpetual
presidential
candidate
from
the
left
Otton
Solis
and
center
–right
Laura
Chinchilla,
came
to
an
agreement
to
pass
a
tax
plan
with
some
modifications.
One
of
those
notable
modifications
seems
almost
laughable.
The
concept
is
to
impose
a
15%
tax
on
profits
to
those
international
companies
who
will
locate
in
the
Free
Tax
Zone
in
the
year
2015
but
were
told
only
two
years
ago,
“Come
on
down!”
This
is
the
classic
example
of
the
“Lord
giveth
and
the
Lord
taketh.”
The
bottom
line
is
that
in
Costa
Rica
there
is
no
sense
in
making
businesses
nor
personal
plans
except
perhaps
to
satisfy
foreign
investor
curiosity
and
satisfy
banking
regulators
or
practice
the
exercise.
Intuition
is
as
good
as
anything
else.
In
reality,
every
day
brings
another
surprising
change,
another
new
decree.
We
live
for
the
day
simply
because
there
is
no
other
alternative.
Costa
Ricans
have
mastered
the
“What
me
worry?”
syndrome
and
have
become
totally
dependent
on
the
paternalistic
government
for
small
favors
and
dolling
out
subsistence
to
its
people.
Getting
ahead
or
climbing
the
ladder
is
pure
luck.
Just
don´t
get
too
upset
with
the
bad
news
and
never
break
out
the
champagne
on
the
good
news,
until
the
check
clears.
This
might
all
change
within
hours.
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