Could Hypocrisy Exist in Costa Rica’s Democracy?

Those of you interested in reading current news from Costa Rica undoubtedly have read the many recent news articles written about  Costa Rica and Nicaragua’s  San Juan River border dispute.  I would like to share with you the words of a Mr. Gene McDonald of Escazu, and I quote:

“There is information Costa Rica isn’t telling people about the border dispute. A person recently traveling on Nicaragua’s San Juan River observed that on the Nicaragua side, 90 percent of the natural forest has been preserved intact. On the Costa Rica side, 70 percent of what was beautiful jungle has been destroyed for agriculture, and raising cattle, chickens, and pigs, and the pollution runoff goes into Nicaragua’s River.

So almost all of the sediment and pollution that Nicaragua dredged and returned to the Costa Rican riverbank belongs to Costa Rica. So it’s hypocritical for Costa Rica to complain.

Nicaragua has also shamefully destroyed trees and its natural environment on the “disputed” Calero Island, but Costa Rica has destroyed much more.

Some people in Costa Rica say Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is corrupt, but they forget to mention the corruption of Costa Rica’s last four presidents – some are under arrest, under house arrest, on trial or under investigation. More hypocrisy.

Another recent example of Costa Rican hypocrisy is the criticizing of Arizona’s “illegal immigration enforcement law,” when Costa Rica’s practices are worse.

So if Costa Rican politicians would pay more attention to cleaning up their own acts, and less on criticizing others, maybe they could make Costa Rica become the country that the real estate and tourism industries say it is, instead of the distressing stuff I read in the daily newspapers.”