Costa Rica Has No Military: How does that work?! A quick, non-political overview

Подписаться 114 тыс.

Просмотров 4,4 тыс.

50% 1

Heads up! #CostaRicaMatt has a new email address and website - contact him now at matt@cbpacificrealty.com, and to find his exclusive Costa Rica real estate listings, please visit www.cbpacificrealty.com - thank you for watching!
Today, December 1, Costa Rica celebrates the anniversary of abolishing its army. That's right, Costa Rica has had NO STANDING ARMY since 1948 and the country continues to be a place with no military.
For a lot of people, especially U.S. citizens who can't imagine a country without a strong military, this is a tough idea to wrap your head around. In this episode, I DO NOT MEAN TO EXPRESS ANY POLITICAL OPINIONS but instead I hope to provide some general insight and context for security in Costa Rica - how can Costa Rica protect itself without a military?
I delve into threats to CR's security and the regional context. To be clear, the biggest threat to any Latin American country for the last 100 years has been either 1) internal military and political struggles or 2) intervention from the U.S.
Costa Rica enjoys a close relationship with the United States and is closely aligned with the Colossus in the North - so in short, perhaps the biggest external threat is already a non-issue.
Expats in Costa Rica enjoy the security of also knowing that a powerful military group is not capable of seizing control of the country, as you'd see in other places.
To stay posted on the situation here in Costa Rica, as well as Costa Rica real estate information, subscribe to my channel here: www.youtube.co...
Thank you for watching! Please feel free to email me at matt@lat10realty.com with any questions.
#CostaRicaMatt
#CostaRicaExpat
#CostaRicaInfo

Опубликовано:

11 сен 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 50

@joemam12 3 года назад

Great video! It's really one of the major positive points of Costa Rica (along with care for the ecology, good healthcare and education, happy people, etc.). Having lived in countries that are actively in wars or in a state constant state of possible conflict, I am really pulled to Costa Rica for this fact. Please do more historical, cultural perhaps geographical videos. You seem very open-minded and knowledgeable about this region.

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Thank you for the positive feedback! I appreciate it and completely agree with what you say. I will love to do more videos on history/culture/geography!!

@newbyclive 3 года назад

So basically, Costa Rica keeps to itself and has no real enemies but if anyone does try to pull something funny it has allies like the U.S to help defend it. Nice.

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

I feel strongly that part of the reason Costa Rica is happy is that the country is “out of the way of history.”

@gustavosolorzano5796 3 года назад

Hi, just one small historical detail. Nicoya (Guanacaste) was an independent territory under the general captaincy of Guatemala. Always with its own governor. In 1824 they voted to become part of Costa Rica, instead of Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan governments since then have claimed that it was a forceful annexation, which is not true historically speaking.

@gustavosolorzano5796 3 года назад

Very good video.

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

@@gustavosolorzano5796 Thank you very much for the input, you are absolutely correct and I should have been clearer! I appreciate the comments and input and you watching!

@bradleyyeadon1760 3 года назад

Love the diverse videos you’ve been doing 💯

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Thanks very much for watching and for the positive feedback; I appreciate it!!!

@TibetanHusky8 3 года назад

I have always thought CR's best argument for no military is that it means no military coups, which have troubled the rest of Latin America in the past. Also that it frees up money for things like education and healthcare and thus to a better economy. Anyway, it makes it an attractive place to consider retiring in.

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Yes, you're right, there's that huge advantage too. I would note one thing - many, many military coups in Latin America have happened indirectly because of outside interference. While in many countries the military can be somewhat independent, and capable of a "coup," often the military would be taking over because they were encouraged to topple a democratically-elected one, and they were encouraged to do so because foreign powers thought the military would be more friendly to their interests.

@eduardomaldonado1647 2 года назад

All costa rica needs is a very small defense force. Perhaps like 10k young men at most. The local POLICE. this will give enough time for the citizens to assist the police in case of an invasion.

@CarlosQuesadaR 3 года назад

Good video just a brief clarification. Costa Rica didn't annex a portion of Nicaragua. The "Partido de Nicoya" currently Guanacaste decided/ voted to join / annex Costa Rica, that 's why that day is celebrated. If we would have annexed this area it would have been by force and there would be nothing to celebrate. Nicaraguans remained with the idea that this land was taken but as you clearly know that is not our style. Thanks for the video

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

You are absolutely right and I appreciate you pointing it out and watching. The whole process was extremely different than what many countries in other parts of the world went through during independence from colonial powers... One great contrast: Costa Rica's symbolic ritual of a torch coming through the country with "news" that all of Central America was free, vs. the "rockets red glare" to celebrate the US colonial army's victory over the British...

@CarlosQuesadaR 3 года назад

@@CostaRicaMatt My pleasure. A big contrast indeed. I enjoyed the video. :-)

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

@@CarlosQuesadaR very glad! Have a good one and feel free to chime in whenever I screw up.

@jeffh7285 3 года назад

Good information. I learned something new today.

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Thanks very much Jeff, appreciate it and always glad to help educate!

@WorldPeaceAndDemocracy 3 года назад

Love all the great content!

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Thank you for watching!!

@ib516 3 года назад

Good job Matt!

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Thank you I.B.!

@handaferguson 3 года назад

Great Job!! Thank You... :-)

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Wow, you're on top of it!!! Thanks for watching.

@cindyh112 3 года назад

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for watching Cindy!

@howardmctroy3303 2 года назад

Costa Rica was in a unique situation where having a conventional military was unneeded. For decades they've had a "Civil Guard" which combined the roles of police, military, and border patrol. In 1996, it was rebranded as the "Public Force."

@CostaRicaMatt 2 года назад

I would argue that there position was not unique.

@howardmctroy3303 2 года назад

What do you mean?

@CostaRicaMatt 2 года назад

I mean that - perhaps - Costa Rica in 1948 not the only country in a situation where having a conventional military was unneeded.

@howardmctroy3303 2 года назад

@@CostaRicaMatt I would imagine other nations were in a similar position.

@giuseppesimeon2536 3 года назад

Thanks for the clarity and freshness; bounced into your video to answer a few questions from my 15-years daughter on Costa Rica + went there for work (UN) a couple of years ago, up to the inner forests at the border with Nicaragua. Like @hasenman s, have worked and lived into many conflict-stricken countries and you can only wonder at a country like Costa Rica, a lot to learn from its history. Cheers

@blacklotusgym 2 года назад

We are moving our business to Costa Rica. !!!Would be cool to meet you when wet get down there. 🙏🏽🙏🏽

@johnnylopez5123 4 месяца назад

Great video but... It's not the same "Nicaragua" investing for example 'one billion dollars' in tanks and war machines... than "CR" investing 'double or triple that money' into training police and paying salaries for investigators and judges. (In other words, Nicaragua has a standing army regardless of the budget).

@CostaRicaMatt 4 месяца назад

You're absolutely right, it's apples and oranges and I shouldn't have just compared the budgets. I do feel overall that it's useful to understand that the Nicaraguan defense budget isn't some unlimited amount that could fund a ground invasion.

@blacklotusgym 2 года назад

This was awesome

@CostaRicaMatt 2 года назад

Thank you for the feedback and for watching, I appreciate it!

@edspiller7953 3 года назад

I don't understand. If Costa Rica doesn't have a military but has a security budget of $900 million, where does that spending go?

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

I'd have to look back at the exact figure - but the public security budget covers several different police branches, all of which are part of the vast public employment the government offers. So there are local police, traffic police, anti-drug police, special investigators etc. and nationally you'd find they have strong unions that fight for their pay rates, benefits etc.

@eduardomaldonado1647 2 года назад

That budget in large part is for the local police to pay for their salaries. The local police doubles as defensive force. They perhaps use pistols for patrolling the streets and in case things get really bad they pull out their M16 rifles and body armor and such. armored vehicles. In USA we should be doing the same. We do not need 2 million Standing army and such a large navy and airforce. Our military should be strictly for defense.

@patriciamcduff1739 3 года назад

Matt, you should be in politics!! LOL

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

:) That's where I wanted to end up for a long time... Not so much after 13 years by the beach here. Now one of my chief maxims is "Happy the people whose annals are tiresome...."

@MrKmichaelw 3 года назад

No standing military is one of the many - Many great measurables about Costa Rica. The welfare state ❤️ the warfare state (they are besties).

@CostaRicaMatt 3 года назад

To be clear, it's not a perfect system! But at the end of the day, even as someone who feels/understands that plenty of tax money gets wasted in every country, I'm glad that here it is wasted in a system that produces sprawling education/health/etc. bureaucracies and not "the world's finest nuclear arsenal" for example.

@MrKmichaelw 3 года назад

suggest doing a video on the education system. It appears Costa Rica has competition (many private options), instead of the US monopoly government education.

@joemam12 3 года назад

@@MrKmichaelw The US has many private options for education--private kindergartens, religious primary/secondary schools, boarding schools, private military academies, to private universities.

@poorlivesmatter6882 2 года назад

U.s army /airforce/ navy and we have Costa Rica force we pay. Sooooo that's a lie I have been stationed there 1994-1999- 2010, I was 82nd and yes they have alot of issues. Army all over. Lol

@CostaRicaMatt 2 года назад

Where in CR were you stationed?