Interesting Results

As mentioned before, I created a survey for the students at UNA and the results truly shocked me. I turned in the surveys to director Douglas, and he spread the surveys throughout the history classes he teaches. In total, 27 surveys were filled out anonymously. Before asking the question, I gave a little brief of the purpose of the survey and asked the question: "Is it necessary for Costa Rica to create and maintain a military?." It gives three options, Yes, No, and Neutral. I honestly believed that many students and youth will now feel that Costa Rica should have a form of a military branch. Their police force is well and seen around the country, but in case of emergency, the police force might not be able to handle the situation properly as a military would. A form of military, such as a national guard, could be started in Costa Rica and managed well. How ever, the results from the surveys beg to differ. Out of the 27 surveys, 25 of the students strongly believed that Costa Rica should not start up or invest in a military. A common comment throughout the surveys mentioned that investing in a military would effect other areas such as healthcare and education, something Costa Rica invest heavily.                                                                                                              "Due to the cost it would generate, I do not see this viable in a country like Costa Rica, where it currently has other problems. How ever, I think it is necessary to improve and strengthen the police force to combat crime in the country at an internal level and out of the budget" For the neutral comment, I could see in a perspective why this student chose neutral. Costa Rica currently has a major drug problem. Costa Rica is a popular route for drug cartels, and the police are struggling to keep the situation under control. Unlike the US where it has a specific group to fight the war on drugs (FBI DEA,) Costa Rica only has a national police with no specific units to combat different situations. This has made their fight against drugs difficult, since police are not specifically trained in search missions or how to deal with captures involving drug transportation. This student believes a specific unit should be created, but it should not be invested with the current budget the county has. As stated before, many Costa Ricans  believes in not investing a single dime in armed forces or special units, as it should be strictly used for education and health care. "Armies and their expenses are a huge expense for the nations that have them, in general they had a conflicting history and they are not politically stable. It seems to me that it is a method of control and repression and its expense can be used in education or art. Costa Rica does not have a military-oriented culture either, I really doubt that anyone wants to die in battle for their homeland." Latin America itself has history with politically unstable governments or ruthless dictators abusing their military power. We see this with Chilean dictator Pinochet (1973-1990,) the 1976 "Dirty War" in Argentina where Rafael Videla used the military to overthrow the Argentine president, the Salvadorian military government repressing us protest, just to name a few. Many lives has been lost due to the abuse and battles to bring change in their nation. Costa Ricas military was not known to be as abusive as its neighboring countries, but it has been utilized during times when the nation was political unstable. Just as Figueres mentioned and believed in, the military can control of the government take over as the wish and lives will be lost. Since the abolishment of the military, Costa Rica has not seen an individual use force to get into power, nor be repressed by a military force. Not only investment in public interest has been well, but also the safety and culture overall from the Costa Rican society has been at peace. Countries that invest heavily into their arm forces are doing so at a high cost. For example, in the US, their military budget is an estimated 679 Billion USD (59% of total US cost.) US spending on healthcare and education is significantly lower, with healthcare having a budget of 53 billion (5% of US budget) and education with 61 billion USD (nearly 5% of US budget.) No other country comes close to the US in terms of military spending, and we can see how major military spending affects other crucial budgets in any nation, especially in the US. Lastly, it structs to me of the final sentence of this students comment. He stated, “I doubt anyone wants to die in battle for their homeland.” This stood out to me because it is common to hear young adults in various part of the world to be willing to die for their homeland. However, due to Costa Ricas having a very peaceful society, it is seemed that war is not even thought about. While I met people at the local park while joining pick up soccer games, I took the opportunity to ask a few of them what they think of my research project question. One of the young adults mentioned he never had the thought of picking up a weapon and use it, since owning a firearm is almost blasphemous in the Costa Rican society. Another young adult also said he does not feel another country would invade Costa Rica, since they have been able to have peaceful relationships with neighboring countries. Possibility of war, internal or external, has a very low chance of occurring in Costa Rica. "For the reason that Costa Rica has carried its political life for many years in a good way, betting on the dialogue to solve their conflicts. Likewise, the money that an army requires is invested (or at least that is how it should be), in public sectors that are most needed, such as health or education." Costa Rica greatly looks up to Oscar Ariaz Sanchez, former president from 1986-1990 and again in 2006-2010. A Nobel Peace recipient (1987) set Costa Rica tone and peace morals on the national level. During the 80’s, Central America was plagued with civil wars and brutal dictatorships. It all started with an leftist revolution in Nicaragua led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) that became successful. This motivated guerillas from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in El Salvador to start an arm conflict. Guatemala was already in an ongoing armed conflict from the 60’s that only escalated in the 80’s. Honduras had several years where pockets of guerillas were confronting the military and terrorist attacks were becoming frequent. Costa Rican President Oscar Ariaz Sanchez decided that enough was enough, and took the initiative to start peaceful negotiations within Central America to deescalate the ongoing violence. Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica joined together for an emergency meeting in 1986 to discuss possible peace solutions for their respective nation. President Sanchez did not allow the US to partake in this meeting. It was started to be known that the US were providing aid to the oppressive Salvadorian military government and utilizing Hondurian ground to conduct military missions against the Sandinista government. President Sanchez also denied the US to establishes bases in Costa Rica in order to help the Contras fight the Sandinistas. This was strictly only Central American countries. The proposed a regional peace plan for the Central American countries that would set a date for cease-fires between government and guerilla forces, ensure amnesty for political prisoners, and schedule free and democratic elections in those countries. Arias and the leaders of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed this plan in August 198. Unfortunately, the plan was never fully implemented, mainly because of opposition from the United States. Despite the outcome, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to president Sanchez on his efforts and surprising methods to bring peace in war torn Central America. Ever since this event, the Costa Rican government and society firmly believes conflicts can be resolved without the slightest use of violence. Many violent events that has happened historically could have been avoided if peace talks were first taken instead of violent attacks. Former President Oscar Ariaz Sanchez (86-90/06-10) "Because the income that is used to sustain an army, currently in Costa Rica is used to cover expenses in education, health or protection of national parks. On the other hand the Costa Rican culture is does not focus to be part of an army-culture, so that the formation of an armed force would be little internalized and monitored by the people." "It is not necessary for Costa Rica to create nor maintain  a military, especially when its society has been consolidated under parameters in which an army would be obsolete. It is true that insecurity and crime exist, but I dont believe that it is problematic to the point that the crime would be solved with an military force. Armed forces can fight conflict, but they can never eradicate them, only education, training in art, culture, sports, etc. can generate a safer, more inclusive and less criminal society. The army would require millions and would be useless." Using armed forces to combat crime may seem as an solution to ending the crime, but in reality it can worsen the situation. This trend is very commonly seen in Latin America, where various countries have deployed military units to combat crime head on. For example, in the northern triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras,) violence has increased when the governments deployed military units to provide “security” from the vicious gangs. Although they do provide security to a certain extent, shoot outs has increased between the units and gangs, and it has contributed to the increasing death toll. Police/Military abused has also risen since the deployment of military forces. Masked soldiers in a neighborhood entrance in El Salvador In El Salvador alone in 2014-2015, 92% of the human rights complaints were against security forces. This statistical fact and others factor alone supports this student comment in the aspect where military could not eradicate the problem. It is true that crime exist in Costa Rica, but it is not as problematic as the crime rate in the northern triangle. The investment needed to maintain a military cost millions, and would greatly affect the great healthcare and education budget Costa Rica currently possesses. Crime can be decreased when alternative programs for youth such as soccer clubs are offered, since it can influence the youth to be on a positive path away from crime.