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SAN JOSE — Former Ottawa businessman Brian Kerr was attracted to Costa Rica by its peaceful reputation.
The Central American nation had attracted the tag “Switzerland of the Americas” since abolishing the army in 1948. But peace was furthest from his mind when he decided to move to another part of the San Jose suburb he has made home.
Mr. Kerr woke up one morning to the news that yet another of his neighbours had been burgled, leaving his house as the only one in the street yet to be hit. He and wife Zayda decided to pre-empt the next strike and bought a condominium in a gated community.
“We were living in the middle and [the thieves] seemed to be moving in from both sides so we decided to move to a gated community like many other North Americans and Europeans,” Mr. Kerr said.
His story is one being recounted across the country as crime rises unabated, setting alarm bells ringing among citizens, ex-pats and government officials.
According to the latest statistics, a robbery is reported in Costa Rica every eight minutes, compared with one every 25 minutes 15 years ago. In the capital city of San Jose alone, the number of asaltos, which include street thefts, jumped by more than 16 per cent from 2005 to 2006. And the latest figures for 2007 show another steady increase month-by-month.
The spike in crime comes at a time when more Canadians are flocking to the country. The number making the trek to set up home is thought to have climbed from 6,000 at the start of the decade to as many as 10,000 now and projected tourist numbers for 2007 are slated for a 10 per cent rise on last year's figure. Industry sources say the Canadian contingent is likely to increase at a similar rate.
Critics have accused the Costa Rican government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Oscar Arias, of failing to deliver on its pre-election promise to improve citizen security. They say the country is in danger of losing valuable tourist dollars, one of the principal planks of the economy. The tourism ministry recently boasted how visitor numbers would break two million next year.
Moves are afoot to boost the country's stretched police force and the Arias administration helped set up a dedicated tourism police force. But a number of impatient ex-pats say the government is not moving quickly enough.
Mr. Kerr said police officers are so underpaid, it is no wonder foreigners complain about a poor level of service from the local forces.
The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs has warned potential tourists and ex-pats that robberies and home invasions are on the increase. The embassy in San Jose said it does not compile statistics on the number of attacks committed against Canadians, but admitted it had dealt with a number of incidents. Officials have highlighted downtown San Jose as a “high risk” area and warn Canadian tourists to be vigilant in tourist hot spots.
Serious crime is also on the increase, according to statistics. While not on the same scale as regional neighbours such as Guatemala and El Salvador, the murder rate has risen to 7.7 per 100,000 of the population, up from 6.1 at the beginning of 2000.
In late 2002, Canadian Bradley Whipple, of Saint John, became a victim when he was brutally murdered in a street robbery as he walked home from a night out with friends.
In a recent state of the nation report, Miguel Gutierrez Saxe, a co-ordinator of a citizens' audit of safety in the country, said part of the problem was that the rich are a little richer and the poor a little poorer.
Others blame a chaotic judicial system that sees just 8 per cent of reported cases result in a conviction.
Jose Alvarado, 71, a retired church pastor, says the crime statistics are just the thin end of the wedge.
He was the victim of a street robbery, but failed to report the crime. He says the practice is widespread because there is no confidence in the justice system.
Canadian Ryan Piercy, manager of the Association of Residents of Costa Rica, said crime is increasing in line with tourism.
“The problem here is the value of things is much greater,” he explained.
“Take a beach towel, for example. In California, you can buy one for $1.50 from K-Mart. If you leave it on the beach and return in a week, it'll probably still be there. In Costa Rica it might be gone as soon as you enter the water. Why? A beach towel here is maybe $15 and with that a poor Costa Rican could maybe feed their family for a week.”
Mr. Piercy said the key was to report crime so that trends can be traced. He acknowledged, however, that the police response is likely to be poorer than that expected in Canada or the United States.
“Who is going to risk their life in the line of duty for $400 per month?” he added. “A lot of the time you should expect very little [from the police] because a lot of the time they know they can't do much.
“One complaint is that you call the police and they say they can't come out right now because they have no gas and have no money to buy some.”
Special to The Globe and Mail
