Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation: Drug Trafficking and the Law in Central America

Chapter 3: Costa Rica

1. U.S. Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (hereafter cited as INCSR) (2011), 204. For some years Costa Rica represented the paradigmatic Central American state: the first, for instance, to grow coffee and bananas with commercial success. Over time, however, the country has proceeded down political and econo­ mic paths unusual for the region. Modern Costa Rica differs markedly from its Central American neighbors, and drug-trafficking organizations and law-enforcement agencies have both had to operate in a distinctive environment. Comparing the evolution of the drug trade in Costa Rica with that in Belize underscores the flexibility of the many transnational criminals trafficking drugs in the late twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries. They could successfully smuggle drugs through bridge states with dramatically different characteristics. And, for the first time in 2010, U.S. officials placed Costa Rica in the category of major drug-transit countries.1 After a short though bitter civil war in 1948, Costa Ricans chose to abolish their military in their new constitution. In the post–civil war era José Figueres Ferrer and his National Liberation Party (PLN) contended with the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) of his chief opponent, Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. The more liberal PLN policies tended to feature a somewhat larger government role, and the PUSC came to favor more market-oriented economics. However, both agreed that the regime should feature civil liberties, offer considerable social programs, and stake out an officially neutral international posture, tempered by long-standing close ties, political and economic, to the United States. Most important, political elites committed themselves to free elections and respect for human rights, and they came to share political power within a highly competitive democracy. Costa Rica 3 A L A J U E L A C A R T A G O G U A N A C A S T E H E R E D I A L I M Ó N PUNTARENAS P U N T A R E N A S S A N J O S É N I C A R A G U A PANAMA San José San Carlos Puntarenas Ujarrás Santa Maria de Ujarrás John Hull’s Ranch Cerro Azul Puerto Limón Bocas del Toro Liberia Alajuela Heredia Cartago El Ostional Tamarindo Quepos San Isidro de El General Ojochal Moín Golfito PAVÓN Ciudad Neily Paso Canoas Sixaola Buenos Aires Esterillos Este Puerto Carrillo Sámara Sardinal Matina Bataán San Pablo de Heredia La Penca San Juan de Santa Bárbara de Heredia Llano Grande San Juan del Sur Juigalpa Ciruelas Las Loras Coyolar Barra del Colorado Tortuguero Zent San Vito Sirena Puerto Caldera Tiveves Puerto Soley Los Chiles La Cruz Peñas Blancas Cerro de la Muerte Santa Elena Peninsula Cabo Blan c o Playa Malpaís Playa Matapalo P laya Zancudo Playa C u a j i n i q u i l Playa del Coco Playa Flamingo Playa Her m o s a Potrero Grande Osa Peninsula Nicoya Peninsula Punta Burica Punta Salsipuedes V a l l e d e E l G e n e r a l d e T a l a m a n c a C o r d i l l e r a Valle de la Estrella Valle Central CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK TAYNÍ INDIGENOUS RESERVE TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK BARRA DEL COLORADO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SANTA ROSA NATIONAL PARK MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK Lake Nicaragua Gulf of Nicoya C a r i b b e a n S e a PAC I F I C O C E A N D u l c e G u l f R. Sir e n a R . Matina R. Bananito R . C o l orado R . Sa n J u a n T o r t u g u e r o C a n a l G i g a n t e B a y Laguna de Samay Isla de San Andrés (COLOMBIA) Corn Islands (NICARAGUA) Isla del Coco (COSTA RICA) Isla del Caño P A N A M E R I C A N H W Y P A N A M E R I C A N H W Y COSTA RICA 50 mi 0 25 map 3.1 1 3 2 BRIBES , BULLE T S , A N D I N T I M I D A T I O N 2...