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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| COSTA RICA
NEWS | Sunday
20 March 2011 |
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U.S.
Diplomats:
"Costa
Rica Is
No
Paradise
"
The
tourist
brochures
do not
tell the
whole
story,
writes
US
diplomat
in cable
Have you
ever
wondered
what
American
diplomats
in Costa
Rica
really
think of
the
country?
The
answer:
"Costa
Rica is
no
paradise,
with raw
sewage
everywhere",
according
to
Wikileaks
reports
printed
in Costa
Rica's
largest
daily,
La
Nación.
"Costa
Rica
treats
less
than 3%
of human
waste
and
discharges
97% of
the
sewage
into the
rivers
that
flow
into the
sea and
constitute
little
more
than
contaminated
sewage
ditches
open
(...)
placing
the
country
among
the five
worst in
Latin
America.
And the
country
is going
backwards.
"The
Central
Valley,
which
includes
the
greater
metropolitan
area of
San José
and
nearly
two
million
people
(almost
half of
Costa
Rica's
population),
has an
antiquated
sewage
collection,
with
many
underground
pipes
dating
back
from the
last
century
and
perforated
with
rust".
That is
the
report
by
Laurie
Weitzenkorn,
Public
Affairs
Office
of the
U.S.
Embassy
in San
José in
a cable
dated
April 4,
2007,
the year
that
Weitzenkorn
was give
the task
of
reporting
to the
State
Department
the
reality
live by
Costa
Ricans.
She
added:
"You can
see
spills
on the
streets.
Although
at least
they
have
added
100 new
residential
network
since
1981 no
extensive
work has
been
done on
the
sewer
system.
"Almost
all
sewage
flowing
from San
Jose
enter
the
rivers
and
empty
into the
Pacific,
particularly
in the
Gulf of
Nicoya
by way
of the
Tárcoles
river.
Locals
know to
avoid
that
area
beaches
for the
sewage.
"Pollution
has
damaged
mangroves
and
coral
reefs,
and is
suspected
of
causing
a
decline
in
commercial
fishing.
It is
also
linked
to water
pollution
hepatitis,
cholera,
skin
problems
and
diarrhea
cases
increased
by 16%
in Costa
Rica
from
2002 to
2005.
"For a
country
dependent
on
tourism,
which
relies
on its
reputation
as an
environmental
haven
and a
premier
tourist
destination,
the use
of the
rivers,
instead
of a
modern
health
system,
as a
conduit
to
discharge
raw
sewage
in its
most
accessible
beaches
and
major
fishing
areas,
is a
shocking
revelation.
"Despite
this
surprising
lack of
modern
infrastructure
in a
nation
that
prides
itself
on its
environmental
reputation,
lawmakers
hesitated
for
months
before
accepting
a
Japanese
loan for
large
sewage
treatment
projects".
The
foregoing
is just
one of
an
occasional
series
of
cables
that
explain
life in
Costa
Rica.
The
cables
by
Weitzenkorn
are
intended
to
provide
U.S.
diplomats
a
realistic
picture
of daily
challenges
facing
Costa
Ricans.
"The
tourist
brochures
do not
tell the
whole
story",
writes
Weitzenkorn.
Wikileaks
reports
obtained
by La
Nacion
gives a
glimpse
of how
American
diplomats
portrayed
Costa
Rica in
private,
and
would
have
never
made it
public
as
demonstrated
by the
released
cables.
In the
cables,
the
Americans
judge
and
analyze
everything
from
"bloated"
public
institutions,
to the
"deteriorating"
health
system,
"dilapidated"
national
infrastructure
and
"decrepit"
road
system.
The sad
part of
the
cables
is that
they are
accurate,
describing
a Costa
Rica
that
most
Americans,
other
foreigners
and
Costa
Ricans
themselves
know
well.
In the
cables,
U.S.
diplomats
describe
Costa
Rica's
democracy
as
"dysfunctional"
and
"hyper
legalistic".
"Many
miles of
roads
are
potholed,
washed
out in
the
rainy
season,
with old
bridges
that are
poorly
maintained
or
constructed
with
very few
traffic
lanes
for
slow,
heavy
trucks
and
vehicles
in
mountainous
terrain
filled
with
promotions
and
declines",
writes
U.S.
Ambassador,
Peter E.
Chianchette
on
November
18,
2008.
"The
poor
condition
of many
roads
and
highways
threatens
tourism,
logistics
and
security:
the
average
moving
speed
(even
between
major
cities
and
normal
traffic)
can be
as low
as 30
miles
(48 km)
per
hour,
which is
surprising
to
tourists,
increasing
transportation
costs
due to
weather
and the
rates of
accidents
when
drivers
try to
anticipate
the slow
traffic
on
two-lane
mountain
roads
full of
curves",
Chianchette
added.
"Visitors
must be
cautious.
A
combination
of
streets
in bad
condition,
erratic
driving
and the
movement
of
animals
and
people
on the
streets
made
driving
very
dangerous".
That is
the
usual
message
by the
Embassy
each
time a
U.S.
official
is
preparing
to visit
Costa
Rica,
according
to the
cables.
"Roads,
airports,
sea
ports,
electric
power,
waste
management
and
wireless
communications
suffer
from
years of
neglect,
limited
capacity
and slow
development.
The lack
of local
planning,
regional
or
national
and
rampant
development,
especially
in
upscale
resorts
in the
northern
Pacific
coast,
aggravate
the
problem",
wrote
Peter
Chianchette,
in
September
2008.
"In
fact,
Costa
Rica is
green,
but not
entirely
clean",
concluded
the
ambassador.
From
reports
by Ronny
Rojas,
La
Nacion |
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