Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Costa Rica has no military. How have they kept themselves from being invaded by their less well off neighbors that do have armies? Like at the height of the cocaine trade, I am sure the druglords between them, had enough money to finance an invasion of Costa Rica if those neighboring nations were too poor.
The best thing Costa Rica ever did was get rid of its army. Part of the reason Costa Rica is better off than its neighbhors is because it got rid of its Army, that allowed them to spend resources elsewhere like in Education and health care. Costa Rica became A peaceful democratic country, the rest of Central America suffered military dictaroships and tried to resolve everything with violence. Thats why the rest of Central America is stuck in the stone age. (excluding Panama)
During the height of the drug wars, It would not have been possible to take over Costa Rica. During that time the rest of central America was at war. Had some drug lords tried to set up shop in Costa Rica, the U.S would have intervened quickly, it would have given them a reason to come in and further their presence in the region. The U.S already had military presence in Panama and Honduras. With Costa Rica, they would have been able to completely suround the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
Last edited by UrbanLuis; 04-25-2014 at 08:50 AM..
Nicaragua is not going to try an armed invasion of Costa Rica anytime soon, albeit Costa Ricans are quick to remind everyone that they are being invaded by the Nicaraguan people with massive illegal immigration.
Panama is too busy actually developing to worry about invading its poorer neighbor to the north (believe it or not, Costa Rica is no longer the richest in Central America.)
So, there you go!
As for U.S. intervention, I think that depends on who's in power. Case in point, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait back in the early 1990's, George Bush father went to the rescue. Now that Russia is about to invade Ukraine, Obama hasn't really flexed his muscle yet.
Simple,the USA has a treaty with Costa Rica guaranteeing their security in the event of an invasion.
People on CD are very creative in coming up with with made up answers.
Costa Rica does NOT have any military or defensive treaty with the USA in any shape or form. The Costa Ricans voted so that their constitution in 1949 banned a military in their country.
For security they rely on the Human rights enforcement by the UN and by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights. Look up. La Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y es sede de la Universidad para la Paz de Naciones Unidas.
I doubt the Honduran military (and the Guatemalan) is going anywhere soon. Those generals are up to their eyeballs protecting the illegal cocaine trafficking that goes from Colombia to the USA.
These are clandestine airplane trips (supposedly transporting cocaine shipments) that the US Military detected in 2012. Once the shipments are on Honduran soil, they are taken by ground to the USA via Guatemala-Mexico.
Notice that many illegal flights are very careful in not entering Nicaraguan airspace. This doesn't happen without the support of the military, in this case the Honduran military.
Nicaragua is not going to try an armed invasion of Costa Rica anytime soon, albeit Costa Ricans are quick to remind everyone that they are being invaded by the Nicaraguan people with massive illegal immigration.
Panama is too busy actually developing to worry about invading its poorer neighbor to the north (believe it or not, Costa Rica is no longer the richest in Central America.)
So, there you go!
As for U.S. intervention, I think that depends on who's in power. Case in point, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait back in the early 1990's, George Bush father went to the rescue. Now that Russia is about to invade Ukraine, Obama hasn't really flexed his muscle yet.
George HW Bush was supported by the rest of the world. If he had invaded Iraq the Arab countries who backed the majority of the financing and material support of the Kuwait coalition would have abandoned him.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.