Culture of a Peaceful Nation

Although Costa Rica was colonized by the Spaniards in the 16th century, they were not subject to as much exploitation as other colonial countries like Mexico and Peru where vast amounts of silver and gold were available making them more desirable to the Spanish Conquistadores. There was more or less a lack of “exploitable” resources in Costa Rica, leaving “colonialism” to those who were willing to work hard and brave the challenging terrain, resulting in a more humble existence.

Throughout the centuries, Costa Ricans have lived with little civil uproar, and when civil unrest has been present, it has ended in a progressive manner, and the government has mostly complied with the demands of the people. Peace is a big part of the country’s ideology, and now with the awareness of global warming and the mass devastation of natural resources around the world, Costa Rica has become a leader in conservation and is actively preserving 27% of its extremely diverse rainforests and other primary and secondary growth forests.

The Costa Rican Advantage

As history has shown us, government systems in Costa Rica have more often been on the liberal side of the scale, with communist ideas of nationalizing public services, and socialistic practises such as national healthcare being of high value to the people. They have worked to build a country where socially run enterprises benefit the population and the average Costa Rican. The most revolutionary act performed by the government was the abolishment of the army in 1949 in the New Constitution of the Second Republic. By eliminating the cost needed to sustain military forces, there has been more funding available for developing business and improving public healthcare (90.4% of Costa Ricans receive public health care coverage) as well as for creating good quality education systems. 

As a result of government spending being used for social causes, Costa Ricans have received the advantage of higher education and today they have a literacy rate of 94.7%! With 6147 educational institutes located within the country, there is opportunity for most Costa Ricans to be formally educated making the work force here highly suitable for business. Costa Rica's labour force has been rated as the most productive and fast learning in Latin America by AACCLA (Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America). The government has also implemented laws to protect citizens from being taken advantage of by foreign investors, as it occurred in many other tropical destination countries. Foreign residents who own businesses in Costa Rica must hire local citizens to fill the required work force. This has helped Costa Ricans grow along with the development of their country creating an impressive group of professionals and doctors, a strong class of blue collar workers, and skilled trade’s men.

The challenge that Costa Ricans are facing now is the rapid globalization of industries. There are higher demands for the population to conform to the free-market economy of progressive nations and this is creating a split in ideology amongst the people. Those who wish to stay true to the Liberación and social structures that have allowed the average Costa Rican to enjoy a relatively good standard of living, and those who are being possessed by the proposition of a “Freed Trade Agreement” as laid out by the United States in efforts to create a private sector for business.