November 1996
Official Name
Republic of Costa Rica
Geography
Area: 51,032 sq. km. (19,652 sq. mi.); about twice the size of the state of Vermont.
Cities: Capital — San Jose (metropolitan area population of 1.2 million). Other major cities — Alajuela (250,000), Puntarenas (300,000), Limon (150,000), Cartago (150,000).
Terrain: A rugged, central range separates the eastern and western coastal plains.
Climate: Mild in the central highlands, tropical and subtropical in coastal areas.
People (July 1995)
Nationality: Noun and adjective — Costa Rican(s).
Population: 3.3 million.
Annual growth rate: 2.4%
Ethnic groups: European and some mestizo 94%, African origin 3%, indigenous 1%.
Religion: Roman Catholic approx. 85%, Evangelical Protestant approx. 15%, Others: Less than 1%.
Languages: Spanish, with Jamaican dialect of English spoken around Puerto Limon.
Education: Years compulsory — 9. Attendance–nearly 100%.
Literacy — 94%.
Health: Infant mortality rate — 13/1,000. Life expectancy — men 72 years, women 76 years.
Work force (1995, 1.2 million): Services — 45%. Agriculture — 22%. Industry – 17%. Construction — 6%. Transportation — 5%. Banking and finance — 4%.
Government
Type: Democratic Republic.
Independence: September 15, 1821.
Constitution: November 7, 1949.
Branches: Executive — President (Head of Government and Chief of State) elected for one four-year term, two Vice Presidents, Cabinet (19 ministers). Legislature — 57-Deputy unicameral Legislative Assembly elected at four-year intervals. Judicial — Supreme Court of Justice (22 magistrates elected by Legislative Assembly for renewable eight-year terms).
Subdivisions: Seven provinces, divided into 81 cantons, subdivided into 421 districts.
Political parties: National Liberation Party (PLN), Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), Democratic Force (FD) Agricultural Union Party of Cartago (PUAC), National Agrarian Party (PAN).
Suffrage: Obligatory at 18.
Economy
GDP (1995) $9.3 billion.
Real growth rate (1995) 2.5%.
Per capita income (1995): $2,964.
Natural resources: Hydroelectric power.
Industry (22% of GDP): Products-food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, petroleum refining.
Agriculture (19% of GDP): Products — bananas, coffee, beef, sugarcane, rice, vegetables, ornamental plants and fruits.
Commerce and tourism (40% of GDP): hotels, restaurants, tourist services, banks and insurance.
Foreign Trade (1995): Exports — $2.6 billion: bananas, coffee, beef, textiles and clothing, fruits, sugar, flowers and ornamental plants. Major markets — U.S. 42%, Europe 32%, Central America 16%, Japan 1%.
Imports–$3.3 billion: machinery, vehicles, consumer goods, chemicals, petroleum products, foods, fertilizer. Major suppliers — U.S. 48%, Europe 28%, Japan 15%, Central America 5%.
Currency exchange rate: (Aug. 1996) 210 colones = $1.
U.S.-Costa Rican Relations
The United States and Costa Rica have a history of close and friendly relations based on respect for democratic government, human freedoms, and other shared values. During the crisis in Central America in the 1980s, Costa Rica and the United States worked for the restoration of peace and the establishment of democracy on the isthmus. Costa Rica works cooperatively with the United States and other nations in the international fight against narcotics trafficking.
The United States is Costa Rica’s most important trading partner, and over 200 American companies produce a variety of goods in Costa Rica. The two countries share growing concerns for the environment and want to use wisely Costa Rica’s important tropical resources and prevent environmental degradation.
The United States responded to Costa Rica’s economic needs in the 1980s with significant economic and development assistance programs. Through provision of more than $1.1 billion in assistance, USAID supported Costa Rican efforts to stabilize its economy and broaden and accelerate economic growth through policy reforms and trade liberalization. Assistance initiatives in the 1990s concentrated on democratic policies, modernizing the administration of justice, and sustainable development. The Peace Corps has some 100 volunteers, who provide technical assistance in the areas of environmental education, natural resources, management, small business development, basic business education, urban youth and community education.
As many as 35,000 American private citizens, mostly retirees, reside in the country, and an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 American citizens visit Costa Rica annually.
There have been some vexing issues in the U.S.-Costa Rican relationship, principal among them long-standing expropriation and other U.S. citizen investment disputes, which have hurt Costa Rica’s investment climate and produced bilateral tensions. During the first two years of the Figueres government, significant progress has been made in resolving some expropriation cases. However, several important cases remain outstanding. Land invasions from organized squatter groups who target foreign landowners have also occurred, and some have turned violent. The U.S. Government has made clear to Costa Rica its concern that Costa Rican inattention to these issues has allowed U.S. citizens to be threatened and their land taken without timely compensation, and the Figueres government has promised to address the matter.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
AMB: Peter Jon de Vos
DCM: Richard L. Baltimore III
POL: Mark Davison
ECON: Ben F. Fairfax
COM: Frank Foster
CON: Kathleen M. Daly
ADM: Arnold N. Munoz
RSO: Nace B. Crawford
PAO: Gary McElhiney
IPO: Howard R. Charles
ODR: Gayland Muse
AGR: Charles Bertsch
APHIS Region V: Eric Hoffman
APHIS Region VI: Mark Knez
The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica is located in Pavas at Boulevard Pavas and Calle 120, San Jose.
Telephone: (220) 39 39.
People and History
Unlike many of their Central American neighbors, present-day Costa Ricans are largely of European rather than mestizo descent; Spain was the primary country of origin. Few of the native Indians survived European contact; the indigenous population today numbers about 29,000 or 1% of the population. Descendants of 19th-century Jamaican immigrant workers constitute an English-speaking minority and — at 3% of the population — number about 96,000.
In 1502, on his fourth and last voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus made the first European landfall in the area. Settlement of Costa Rica began in 1522. For nearly three centuries, Spain administered the region as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under a military Governor. The Spanish optimistically called the country “Rich Coast.” Finding little gold or other valuable minerals in Costa Rica, however, the Spanish turned to agriculture.
The small landowners’ relative poverty, the lack of a large indigenous labor force, the population’s ethnic and linguistic homogeneity, and Costa Rica’s isolation from the Spanish colonial centers in Mexico and the Andes all contributed to the development of an autonomous and individualistic agrarian society. An egalitarian tradition also arose; this tradition survived the widened class distinctions brought on by the 19th century introduction of banana and coffee cultivation and consequent accumulations of wealth.
In 1821, Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in a joint declaration of independence from Spain. Although the newly independent provinces formed a Federation, border disputes broke out among them, adding to the region’s turbulent history and conditions. Costa Rica’s northern Guanacaste Province was annexed from Nicaragua in one such regional dispute. In 1838, long after the Central American Federation ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign.
An era of peaceful democracy in Costa Rica began in 1899 with elections considered the first truly free and honest ones in the country’s history. This began a trend continued until today with only two lapses: in 1917-19, Federico Tinoco ruled as a dictator, and, in 1948, Jose Figueres led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election.
With more than 2,000 dead, the 44-day civil war resulting from this uprising was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history, but the victorious junta drafted a constitution guaranteeing free elections with universal suffrage and the abolition of the army. Figueres became a national hero, winning the first election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 10 presidential elections, the latest in 1994.
Government
Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Executive responsibilities are vested in a President, who is the country’s center of power. There also are two Vice Presidents and a 19-member Cabinet (that includes one of the Vice Presidents). The President and 57 Legislative Assembly Deputies are elected for four-year terms. A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limits Presidents and Deputies to one term, although a Deputy may run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term.
The electoral process is supervised by an independent Supreme Electoral Tribunal — a commission of three principal Magistrates and six alternates selected by the Supreme Court of Justice. Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of Justice, composed of 22 Magistrates selected for renewable eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly, and subsidiary courts. A Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, established in 1989, reviews the constitutionality of legislation and executive decrees and all habeas corpus warrants.
The country’s seven provinces are headed by Governors appointed by the President, but they exercise little power. There are no provincial legislatures. Autonomous state agencies enjoy considerable operational independence; they include the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly, and the social security agency. Costa Rica has no military and maintains only domestic police and security forces for internal security.
Principal Government Officials
President: Jose Maria FIGUERES Olsen
Foreign Minister: Fernando NARANJO Villalobos
Ambassador to the United States: Sonia PICADO Sotela
Ambassador to the OAS: Fernando HERRERO
Ambassador to the UN: Fernando BERROCAL
Costa Rica maintains an Embassy in the United States at 2114 S. Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
(tel. 202-328-6628)
Political Conditions
Costa Rica long has emphasized the development of democracy and respect for human rights. Until recently, the country’s political system has contrasted sharply with many of its Central American and Caribbean neighbors; it has steadily developed and maintained democratic institutions and an orderly, constitutional scheme for government succession. Several factors have contributed to this tendency, including enlightened government leaders, comparative prosperity, flexible class lines and educational opportunities that have created a stable middle class, and high social indicators. Also, because Costa Rica has no armed forces, it has avoided the possibility of political intrusiveness by the military that some neighboring countries have experienced.
In the February 1994 elections, center-left National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Jose Maria Figueres was elected President, succeeding Rafael Angel Calderon of the center-right Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC). Figueres, the son of former President Jose “Don Pepe” Figueres, defeated PUSC rival Miguel Angel Rodriguez in one of the closest elections in Costa Rican history. By winning 28 of 57 seats, the PLN regained a plurality in the legislature — which in 1990 it had lost for the first time in more than 30 years. The PUSC won 25 seats, while minor parties took the remaining four.
Social Democratic in orientation, the PLN generally has been the dominant party in Costa Rica since 1948, when “Don Pepe” reestablished democracy and abolished the military in the wake of the short-lived but violent civil war. The PUSC is aligned with Christian Democratic and conservative parties in the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Costa Rican governments have tended to alternate between moderately conservative and moderately liberal as the PLN and various anti-PLN coalitions have traded control of the presidency, although in 1974 and 1986, PLN candidates succeeded PLN incumbents.
Economy
Despite trying to remain neutral, Costa Rica was affected adversely by regional political turmoil in the late 1970s and the 1980’s. Instability in neighboring Nicaragua and Panama discouraged new investment and tourism in Costa Rica. Many displaced Nicaraguans and Salvadorans sought refuge there, further burdening the country’s educational and health facilities. An oil shock and debt crisis also made economic recovery difficult.
Following an economic crisis in the early 1980s, Costa Rica made significant progress toward macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment, and growth through increasingly diversified exports. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth has averaged 5% since 1987, non-traditional exports and tourism have increased rapidly and now account for almost 60% of foreign currency earnings, and official unemployment declined to 4% and inflation, to 10 percent in 1993. A debt-buyback program under the U.S. “Brady Plan” was completed in May 1990, enabling Costa Rica to repurchase 60% of its commercial bank debt and to stabilize its foreign debt servicing.
However, Costa Rica still faces macro-economic problems because of serious fiscal deficits exacerbated by pressures to increase government spending linked to the four-year cycle of presidential, legislative, and local elections. The deficit is compounded by a bloated public sector, unsustainable wage and pensions, increases, mushrooming internal debt, and the lack of effective competition due to remaining public sector monopolies. The fiscal deficit ballooned from 1% of GDP in 1993 to about 8% in 1994, but was cut to 3.8 % in 1995. 1996 should see further progress in cutting the deficit and inflation from over 22% to about 15%. The stabilization program slowed economic growth to 2.5% in 1995 and increased unemployment from 4.2 to 5.2% in 1995.
The Government of Costa Rica announced establishment of a high-level commission to resolve the problem of internal debt, which in 1996 rose to the equivalent of $2.3 billion in local currency and required about one-third of the government’s budget for servicing.
Programs of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have aimed to maintain stability and promote trade and investment liberalization. Such programs have had success; USAID closed its bilateral Costa Rican mission in 1996 since Costa Rica achieved “advancing developing country” status. Further liberalization of Costa Rica’s trade and investment regimes, resolution of the internal debt problem and passage of legislation expanding private sector investment in energy, telecommunications, roads, ports, and airports would boost opportunities for foreign and local investors and increase Costa Rica’s prosperity.
Costa Rica has sought to widen its economic and diplomatic ties, including outside the region. In April 1994, Costa Rica signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Mexico. The United States and Costa Rica are negotiating a bilateral investment agreement to increase protection for foreign investment. Costa Rica has maintained connections with the European Union, along with the other Central American states, through periodic ministerial consultations. The country is a founding member of the World Trade Organization and has actively participated in the followup to the Summit of the Americas, including working groups to bring about the Free Trade Area of the Americas by the year 2005.
Foreign Relations
Costa Rica is an active member of the international community and, in 1993, proclaimed its permanent neutrality. Its record on human rights and advocacy of peaceful settlement of disputes give it a weight in world affairs far beyond its size. The country lobbied strenuously for the establishment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and became the first nation to recognize the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, based in San Jose.
In 1987, then-President Oscar Arias authored a regional peace plan that served as the basis for the Esquipulas Peace Agreement. Arias’ efforts earned him the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize. Subsequent agreements, supported by the United States, led to the Nicaraguan election of 1990 and the end of civil war in Nicaragua. Costa Rica also hosted several rounds of negotiations between the Salvadoran Government and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), aiding El Salvador’s efforts to emerge from civil war and culminating in that country’s 1994 free and fair elections. Costa Rica has been a strong proponent of regional arms limitation agreements.
With the establishment of democratically elected governments in all Central American nations by the 1990s, Costa Rica turned its focus from regional conflicts to the pursuit of democratic and economic development on the isthmus. It was instrumental in drawing Panama into the Central American development process and participated in the multinational Partnership for Democracy and Development in Central America.
Regional political integration has not proven attractive to Costa Rica. Under former President Calderon, the country debated its role in the Central American integration process. Costa Rica has been a cautious partner — looking for concrete economic ties with its Central American neighbors rather than political institutions — and has not become a member of the Central American Parliament. Current President Figueres has promoted a higher profile for Costa Rica in regional and international fora. In 1995, Costa Rica gained election as President of the Group of 77 in the United Nations.
Costa Rica broke relations with Cuba in 1961 to protest Cuban support of leftist subversion in Central America and has not renewed formal diplomatic ties with the Castro regime. In 1995, Costa Rica established a migration office in Havana.
Costa Rica strongly backed efforts by the United States to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti’s de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute civilian medical personnel to the Multinational Force, which restored the democratically elected Government of Haiti in October 1994.
© 1996 U.S. Department of State
