Costa Rica Today

Government

Costa Rica is a democratic republic whose structure will be very familiar to any citizen of the United States. The 1949 constitution divides the government into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. All citizens are guaranteed equality before the law, the right to own property, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

Costa Rica elected its first female president in 2010, the fifth Latin American country to take such a step. Centrist candidate Laura Chinchilla, veteran of several posts in previous administrations, won election handily and became the first person here to hold the title La Presidenta. All indications are that she plans to continue the probusiness platform and infrastructure development of her predecessor, Oscar Arias.

The country is famous for lacking an army, which was abolished when the constitution was ratified in 1949. The country's stable government and economy have made this possible, even as its neighbors were embroiled in civil war. The country does maintain a small national guard.

Economy

By the mid-1980s, Costa Rica had diversified its economy beyond agriculture and tourism was bringing in more money than its three major cash crops: coffee, bananas, and pineapples. High-tech companies such as Intel and Motorola and pharmaceutical companies like Proctor and Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline opened plants and service centers in Costa Rica, providing well-paid jobs for educated professionals.

In 2007, there were huge demonstrations in the streets of San José before a vote on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement. Opponents of the plan, which would liberalize trade between Costa Rica, its neighbors, and the United States, said it would spell disaster for the country's agricultural industry. Voters narrowly approved the plan in November.

The economy continues to bedevil Costa Rica. Although economic growth continues to rise, it still has a 5% trade deficit and annual inflation of about 9%. But unemployment has dropped in recent years to just over 5%, comparable to that of the United States.

Tourism

Today Costa Rica faces the challenge of conserving its natural resources while still permitting modern development. The government has been unable or unwilling to control illegal logging, an industry that threatens to destroy the country's old-growth forests. Urban sprawl in the communities surrounding San José and the development of megaresorts along the Pacific coast threaten forests, wildlife, and the slow pace of life that makes Costa Rica so desirable.

Although tourism injects much-needed foreign cash into the economy, the government has not fully decided the best way to promote its natural wonders. The buzzwords now are not just ecotourism and sustainable development, but also adventure tourism and extreme sports. The two sides do not always see eye to eye.

Religion

Because it was a Spanish colony, Costa Rica continues to have a close relationship to the Catholic Church. Catholicism was made the country's official religion in the country's constitution. Because of this, priests are the only type of religious leader authorized to perform civil marriages. (Others require the assistance of a legal official.)

More than 90% of Costa Ricans consider themselves Catholics. But even among this group, most people do not have a strong identification with the church or with its teachings. The live-and-let-live attitude of most Costa Ricans does not mesh well with religious doctrine. That's also probably why the evangelical churches that have made inroads in neighboring countries have not succeeded here.

Although every village has a church on its main square, it's usually hopping once a year—when the town's patron saint is honored. These are times for food, music, and dancing in the streets. If the celebrations lack much religious fervor—well, that's Costa Rica for you.

Sports

Like everyone else on this soccer-mad isthmus, Costa Ricans take their game seriously and can get nasty when it comes to their national team; U.S. players reported being pelted with batteries and bags of urine during one game. When the national team returned after humiliating losses in the 2006 World Cup, an angry crowd met them at the airport chanting "dog" at the coach.

On the national level, the big local rivalry ("derby" in soccer parlance) is between LD Alajuelense and Deportivo Saprissa (La Monstruo Morado, or "The Purple Monster"). Each has won the Costa Rican championship 24 times, which makes the rivalry particularly intense. You can tell how important the sport is when you fly into the country. As your plane flies across the Central Valley, you'll notice that every village, no matter how small, has a soccer field. When not being used for sports, they often double as pastures for horses.

Cash Crops

If nearby Honduras was the original "Banana Republic," 19th-century Costa Rica was a "Coffee Republic." Coffee remains inexorably entwined with the country, with economists paying close attention to world prices and kids in rural areas still taking class time off to help with the harvest.

The irony is that it's hard to get a decent cup of the stuff here. True to economic realities of developing countries, the high-quality product gets exported, with the inferior coffee staying behind for the local market. (The same is true of bananas, Costa Rica's other signature agricultural product.) The best places to get a cup of high-quality Costa Rican coffee are upscale restaurants and hotels. Owners understand foreign tastes and have export-quality coffee on hand. Gift shops sell the superior product as well.

The Central Valley is where you'll find many of the coffee plantations. You'll recognize them immediately by the rows of brilliant green plants covered in red berries. Because many of these plants are sensitive to light, they are often shaded by tall trees or even by canopies of fabric. Tours of the plantations are a great way to get to know the local cash crop.

In recent years, the producers of coffee have focused on quality rather than quantity. That's why bananas are now the top agricultural export, followed by pineapples. Both grow in sunny lowland areas, which are abundant on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. These crops are treated with just as much care as coffee. You're likely to see bunches of bananas wrapped in plastic bags—while still on the tree. This prevents blemishes that make them less appealing to foreign consumers.