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Costa Rica Creates Department of Peace
On Monday, September 14, the Costa Rican legislature passed a law changing the name of the country's justice ministry to the Ministry of Justice and Peace, making the department the first of its kind in Latin America and only the third in the world.
Costa Rica's justice ministry was created to oversee the country's penitentiary systems and supervise research on criminal behavior, but had no responsibility for crime prevention. A 1998 executive decree addressed this lapse by creating the National Directorate for the Prevention of Crime. The recent legislation takes crime prevention in a new direction, replacing the old directorate with the newly formed Directorate for the Promotion of Peace and the Peaceful Coexistence of Citizens.
"While we talk about prevention of violence, we are experiencing its effects every day. Changing the language and speaking about ‘promotion of peace' lead[s] us to the roots of the problem," states the legislation.
The ministry will take on new responsibilities, including peace promotion, violence prevention (for example, by targeting a recent increase of juvenile offenders), and an emphasis on conflict resolution.
Days after the official creation of its Ministry of Justice and Peace, Costa Rica hosted an international summit for others working to create similar ministries. The Dalai Lama wrote a letter endorsing the summit: "Peace is not something which exists independently of us, any more than war does. Those who are responsible for creating and keeping the peace are members of our own human family, the society that we as individuals participate in and help to create. Peace in the world thus depends on there being peace in the hearts of individuals. Peace based merely on political considerations or prompted by other compulsions will only be temporary and superficial."
"With this change in name, the focus on prevention of violence has been shifted to promotion of peace," says Kelly Isola of the Rasur Foundation, the Costa Rican nongovernmental organization that proposed the law in 2005. Having a department of peace, she said, will enable Costa Rica "to benefit from international experiences, which demonstrate that a culture of peace has positive effects in the reduction of violence and crime."
Although campaigns for peace-oriented government departments are underway in 32 countries, including the United States, only Nepal and the Solomon Islands have similar ministries.
"This Ministry was not born out of war and conflict, but rather through the commitment to a culture of peace," Isola says. "Costa Rica has a long history of being aligned with peace."
The country's tradition of peace-oriented firsts dates back to 1877, when President Tomás Guardia abolished the death penalty. In 1948, Costa Rica became the first country to formally abolish its armed forces; the Constitution still forbids a standing military. President Oscar Arias won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership on the Esquipulas II Peace Accords, which promoted regional reconciliation, democratization, free elections, and arms control in Central America. In 1997, Costa Rica passed a law requiring that peace education be offered in every school and created a place for peaceful conflict resolution in the legal system, which endorses mediation.
In 2004, the National Directorate of Alternative Conflict Resolution was created, and two years later the National Commission for the Prevention of Violence and Promotion of Social Peace was established. The newly overhauled Ministry of Justice and Peace will work with both.
Legislation for the new law was passed just in time for the fourth annual Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace, held in Costa Rica September 17-21. The Global Alliance comprises organizations, citizens, and government officials from 35 countries, who work together to establish governmental structures that support a culture of peace.
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29 Comments so far
Show AllSioux Rose
Another nation gets it! Peace works (or can). Now I will make it a point to visit Costa Rica! Lovely development, and wise words by the Dali Lama.
I was privileged to be in Costa Rica with the Global Alliance of Ministries and Departments of Peace which took place over the last few days. It was attended by about 200 people from 40 countries. Very dynamic and practical infrastructres for peace were presented and our campaigns were greatly energized. This is a idea whose time has come but it needs of all of us to make it happen.
Support is growing in many countries to create Ministries of Peace including the US, the UK and Canada.
Make sure you visit Costa Rica. The greenest, happiest and most proactive nation for peace on the planet.
Sioux Rose
ROB: Thank you for being part of a movement that is the medicine this ailing, aching planet so requires! What a great initiative to be a part of!
Costa Rica is a good country with really good people and has been one for some time. The problem with Costa Rica now is that it has turned itself into a country of Haves and Have Nots. By offering itself to tourism in the extent that it has and attraction for expats the disparities between many Costa Ricans and Foreigners living there is shameful. That is why crime is on the rise in many parts of the country and possibly why the government is taking steps to curb it in. Also the sex trade has really gotten out of hand. With the overdevelopment and speculation that has been going on for the last ten years has not helped. The overdevelopment is making Costa Rica seem like southern California. With the down turn in the worlds economy possible some of Costa Rica might escape the overgrowth. When I lived in Costa Rica in the early seventy's everyone was on pretty much the same level playing field. There were about 150 thousand living in San Jose then. Now the population of San Jose is One Million 500 thousand. Think of what that means to a very small special country.
laffingbear: Thanks for your insights. Yes, Costa Rica has its problems. However, it is great to see an attempt to address them through the new infrastructures for peace that this new Ministry will provide. It is a progressive move and one that I hope will be studied by other nations. Conflict will always exist but we must learn how to resolve it non-violently.
"In 1948, Costa Rica became the first country to formally abolish its armed forces; the Constitution still forbids a standing military. President Oscar Arias won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership on the Esquipulas II Peace Accords, which promoted regional reconciliation, democratization." Costa Rica abolished the military in 1948 knowing they had treaties with the Organization Of American States that would protect them if invaded by any neighbors and luckily Costa Ricans did not have some one with a dictator mentality standing in the wings to organize a take over with some paramilitary types. And for some reason the banana companies did not think Costa Rica was important enough to send in the Marines. Most Central American countries have armies not for protection from the outside but to control the internal populations. Presidents are only elected for six years in Costa Rica and are not able to rerun for another six until others have had the presidency. That said in his second term as president. Arias has been making some deals with the devil. He pushed for CAFTA and we all know what a failure NAFTA and CAFTA will be just as damaging to the Central Americans, and has been making deals with China and Europe for privatizing many of the social systems of Costa Rica. The vultures are gathering as they do every where else. Perhaps the ministry of justice and peace may be of some help in that area. I will be watching.
"luckily Costa Ricans did not have some one with a dictator mentality standing in the wings to organize a take over with some paramilitary types."
"Most Central American countries have armies not for protection from the outside but to control the internal populations."
You are contradicting yourself here. As you point out, those armies are nearly always used for controlling the civilians. Not for defense against external threats. If Costa Rica had an army, it would have been used by the person with a dictator mentality to set up a dictatorship. It would not have been used to defend against would be dictators.
Costa Rica is lucky that it abolished its army.
There is no contradiction if you will reread what I said and the point being without an army a dictator type could take over with some hired mercenaries. Or as I said the banana companies could have sent in the Marines or mercenaries. I refer you to the post that quotes Gen. Butler. It was not luck that Costa Rica abolished its army but a plain fact of economics. They could not afford one at the time and so relied on the treaty they had with the OAS. That might be called native intelligence but what ever it was it is a fact. When I lived there the police force which numbered around 1500 had holsters and in those holsters they carried a pair of pliers and a screwdriver so when some one had an infraction with an automobile they would remove the plates and the owner would have to go to the station to get his/her plates back and pay the fine. The police have grown in numbers since then and it is not screwdrivers and pliers they carry in their holsters now.
Cool. Next to follow:
Ministry of Love
Ministry of Truth
Ministry of Plenty
Jeevee
AAHH! GO(O)D FOR ALL YOU GUYS!!!
and notice:
Costa Rica ABOLISHED a standing army long ago? what GIVES? isn't that an ABERRATION according to the "giant in the north?" that would say:
"Peace? BAH , HUMBUG"!!!
Good for CR. Their challenge is to address the greatest impediments to peace and justice, overpopulation and extreme money-power concentration.
Thank you Oscar Arias and Costa Rica. If the Department of Peace can facilitate reconcilliation among the natives and new arrivals in Costa Rica wouldn't that be great? Maybe they will rein in foreign corporation's exploitation of Costa Rican workers. The mind spins at the possibilities.
Poet
The third country in the world to do this, create a Ministry of Peace, although it's actually called the Ministry of Justice and Peace? What are the other two countries that did this?
As for really working to establish peace, which requires establishing real justice, only the future will tell. I see that there're surely many people jumping with joy, but until real results happen and are measured, the topic of establishing peace presently remains a dream. I hope Costa Rica lives up to what a Ministry of Peace and Justice really should be, but will wait for actual results before jumping with joy.
People jumped with joy over Obama's race for the presidency and then becoming president, and we've had many months, now, to realise that these people were awfully premature jumpers.
I wish Costa Rica real success, the ethical kind, but this will require taking stands against the extreme, supreme crimes of the USA and its corporations, and is Costa Rica prepared to do this? A real Ministry of Peace and Justice in any country would mean that none of the Bush Jr and Obama (and Clinton and ...) administration(s) criminal members could risk traveling to countries with such ministries. So far, only some citizens or citizen groups have filed citizen-arrest warrants or charges in some countries, like in Germany, f.e.; no government ministries or departments having done this, none that I know of anyway. In a video viewed earlier this week, maybe for an interview between Ray McGovern and TheRealNews.com, the interviewed individual said that neither Bush nor Cheney, nor Rumsfeld (I believe to have also be mentioned or included), can risk traveling to most other countries; however, the example used was only of the citizen group action in Germany, and I think it was the U.S. group, perhaps one named with "Constitution" or "Constitutional Rights", that did this, or maybe a foreign group also did. Anyway, the point is that it's citizens that are willing to do what governments should be doing.
The same would apply with the Obama administration, but I'm not aware of any groups having filed any charges against members of this admin., yet.
A-ha, "only Nepal and the Solomon Islands have similar ministries".
Congressman (former presidential candidate), Dennis Kucinich, has been trying for years to set up a Department of Peace within the U.S. Government.
Sadly, the majority on Capitol Hill seem to prefer spending money on wars instead of making an effort to establish peace. No wonder the world no longer trusts the U.S. when any issue concerning this country is discussed.
The article says: ""With this change in name, the focus on prevention of violence has been shifted to promotion of peace," says Kelly Isola of the Rasur Foundation, the Costa Rican nongovernmental organization that proposed the law in 2005. Having a department of peace, she said, will enable Costa Rica "to benefit from international experiences, which demonstrate that a culture of peace has positive effects in the reduction of violence and crime.""
It's not the name change that changes the focus. Changing or modifying the official purpose of the ministry is what'll change the focus and this is only if this change is lived up to with integrity. Besides, real justice inherently implies real peace, for without justice peace is rather impossible, and injustice is never justice. Etcetera.
But the real point for this post is to ask about where in the world, this world, yes, here on Earth, are there cultures of peace? Maybe I know of some, or one (?), and am simply not thinking of what it is; but I can't imagine that there are more than ... awfully few such places or countries, and that's if there really are any at all.
Where are the societies with such cultures?
in Bali , in Nepal , are such societies. Nepal, or maybe Bhutan, was recently named as the country which, based on "Happiness index" - was considered one of great peace among the people - where individuals were literally smiling all the time...and reported to experience an overwhelming sense of kindness towards others that they "couldn't help" feeling so happy .
people in tahiti recently are said to have maintained a society described as "perhaps the most SUCCESSFUL society on earth" for the fact that the communities have been able to maintain peace and commonality to such an extent that even matters of "partnership" were no longer of any "moral" judgment ...if partners "tired" of each other ...there were no hard feelings, the friendships remained and they simply moved on...and where no individual was expected to do what she or he was not "good at or happy to do" - and therefore individuals WILLINGLY gave what they were good at and happy to do...whether it was in contributing their labor to catch fish in the sea - or come together as a community to dig holes in the beach to prepare their common meals.......and where "morality" has no meaning to them.
they are said to recently have expressed WORRY that the outside world and its commercialism is disrupting them...and have told outsiders:
"we prefer that you leave us alone..we are very happy and SATISFIED with how we live".
one might say --= these are primitive - or relatively so.
since I come from the Philippines, i KNOW for a fact that in the southern philippines from where I come -- there is a tribe in the jungles - discovered by national geographic 2 decades ago - which even filipinos were hardly aware of ...
they , when discovered, were veritable "cave-people" type of culture...they had no concept or even words - for "sea", "money", "kill", or even "god". and they never evolved killing weapons of any sort, and did not know what knives were.
and lived entirely subsisting on what the forest gave, particularly just picking fruits and eating worms, slugs, fish in the streams..and for shelter - such as when the hard rains came - or for the night...they simply slept or rested under the trees or bushes or on branches . or would make loose weaving of large leaves from banana trees..and of course they were unclad. their dead - they would weep for and then bury in the ground. they also did not know Fire and did not know how to make it. everything they ate was uncooked. and so, apart from eating "grub" like worms they would find on leaves or plants...they did not eat meat that was killed or cooked or hunted, except perhaps the fish they could catch with their hands...Foragers in other words...
and were entirely friendly .
Sioux Rose
Wow, TEDDY: The tribe you're referencing is the Tasaday, and I loved that article! (The one I'm relating came from "National Geographic.") I read later that the whole thing was a farcical set-up, and I wondered about that. Like some say Carlos Casteneda's writing--as diary of his encounters with a Toltec Shaman from Mexico (of Indigenous lineage) are also fake. Of course in a nation where up is down and war is peace, the very question of "what is real" is worthy of volumes of analysis. In any case, if you are a descendant of that tribe, it would explain your tirelessly arguing for peace and a higher concept of unity in this forum. Bravo to that.
Hi SiouxRose -- yes , that's what they were called in the article. at least that's as far as i understood the findings. they are (if they still thrive, if left alone, as seemed to have been passed as law at those times when they were discovered) located actually in the remote center of the main southern island, Mindanao - which is where I was born..and they are actually in my province... i think somewhere near where we have the tallest volcano in the philippines. so our area is real "jungle" rain forest area..very , very thick with forest and rich mountains and valleys and greenery and swamps and all that...
I'm not really descendant or related - as far as I understand. i mean - filipinos are , i guess a mix of malaysian, chinese, spanish blood generally...and many of us have more or less of these depending on where the malays, chinese, spaniards tended to "congregate more". I am myself more of a mix of Malaysian (what we call the "brown" asian type, like the indonesians, balinese, etc.) and perhaps whatever strains the chinese gave to the island from thousands of years of intercommerce and relations...and also quite a bit of the spanish that came from spain. I'd be what they call in the philippines a "mestizo" . half-blood or something like that...but really , i see myself as Filipino closer to the Malaysian type.
these Tasadays are probably of some malaysian type too.
I am just using "malaysian" because in ASIA as a whole (from my studies of asian history growing up) ...asians do consider the "MALAY RACE" as an overall genetic type ...to differentiate for example from the "chinese" type which would include the Koreans, Japanese.
for me - for example: if I SEE a Vietnamese, sometimes I can get confused -- i might think they are filipino..because we have filipinos who have a somewhat more "chinese" feature , and yet just as brown or "malay" as us - while there are in fact filipinos of almost purely Chinese blood, like my childhood friend.
some are mixed chinese and spanish - tending to be rather "white" ...etc.
it's just a funny country, hehe! maybe that's why PINOY's - as we like to call ourselves laughingly ...have all sorts of jokes about ourselves , making fun of ourselves. hehe.
these tasadays however - actually seem to have had contact with the more "civilized" people ...probably those occasional forest workers themselves...who might have realized that these tasadays were actually a distinct group in themselves ...and that might have been the genesis of how they were discovered...usually, from rumors or stories about remote people .
in the northern philippines, strangely enough, we have what are called "NEGRITOS" concentrated in a highly elevated mountain range that is cold and who are believed to have built the famous "rice terraces" similar to those in Bali ...(and these look really beautiful and magnificent , using the mountain sides as the rice fields and basically using the rain water so efficiently from "top to bottom" of the mountains)..and these are very , very dark people, similar in looks even to those aborigines in Australia.
these tribes, for example, still practice a form of "ancestor" worship - a kind of animism...where they actually keep the bodies of their dead ancestors at home...as if they are still alive..dessicated...and at certain important times, bring them out to "sit" during community celebrations.
but one thing sure. we ARE and seem to always have been a mishmash of different ethnicities and cultures..and it was probably the spaniards that basically defined what is today the "nation" called Philippines (named after their own King Philipp of Spain , husband of Isabela...the SAME ones that sent columbus looking around...and which is why - ANOTHER seafarer rivalling Columbus, named Magellan , was the ONE that successfully circumnavigated the globe, to eventually land in and die in the philippines...
HE - was killed by a FEROCIOUS warrior in one of the islands who was instantly suspicious of the designs of the foreigners..and they were massacred on the beach by tne natives...but there was also another warrior, a woman, who also led the first battles against the foreigners, also being suspicious of the newcomers.
but GENERALLY - the philippines is a rather matriarchal society. Women there have great, great power.
I know this personally , because my own mother - her word was like "law" to everyone (not the "dominating" kind, mind you, because if anything defined her and for what so many peoplke loved her for, it was that she was not just very , very intelligent and compassionate, especially toward poor people, but that she was so gentle. maybe that's why my dad , even in their old age, once told me how madly in love he was still with her, lol! just that the word of a good matriarch is considered worthy of SERIOUS respect, and men, no matter how powerful, are EXPECTED to DEFER).
maybe, regardless of their PERSONAL qualities or demerits, this is one reason that the filipinos had NO PROBLEM or FUSS whatsoever about having already TWO women presidents..where in the USA - it is still a "test".
to us in the philippines:
WOMAN LEADER?
OF COURSE !! it is the MOST NATURAL THING in the world...you don't even consider that as a matter of discussion.
but in one thing you are right -- that My concern for justice, for kindness , for peace, for learning - this is true. i feel those things very deeply. and I think this was instilled in my by my parents and because of my Mother's very deep , warm influence. she taught us to be curious about the world, other cultures, history, music, dances of cultures, philosophy, literature, humor from all lands and people...and to appreciate and be in awe of those things .
in fact - that very same very rich person that led the expedition to visit those Tasadays (he is an ayala ( a spanish family) , i believe , a very rich family) - met my mom once where he as speaker and she was the organizer and fellow speaker...and he told my sister days later (she worked in their company) - in all his years and travels he had never met a person that held his attention with her conversations on any topic more than my mother did....because of her knowledge of things so obscure about other places and people and topics.
for someone who never really traveled abroad.
to this day - our family can not quite understand how she had that kind of knowledge and insight.
i guess , it is partly because of my mother's influence that the ideas of justice, peace, kindness, and appreciation for cultures remains in me. she was the one that made us aware , long ago , as children of Dr Martin Luther King, who were people like Paul RObson, what was the Civil War in the USA, what was this country named Liechtenstein, why the costumes of the Muslims in our town and outside villages were so beautiful that she loved wearing them herself (as a catholic woman) ..or why she kept visiting their poor villages to get them to understand that CLEAN fresh water was so important for their children , even if government officials or the army were NEVER allowed by the Muslims in their villages...
sorry for the "personal" but maybe it helps to express why I feel so strongly also, as so many of us, in different ways, about these things on justice, truth, kindness, generosity, peace...
but one thing that still is in my mind - as hopefully a reflection of what I learned from my parents , if that is part of some aspects of the national culture , - is that :
a decade ago - when I last visited home to see her as she was dying from brain cancer (thankfully, the two family doctors who were our childhood friends and spent so much time with her at home assured that she was not experiencing any pain at all...and we thought it was miraculous because she was COMPLETELY peaceful right to the end , as just sleeping like a baby but responding with her hands and fingers in the air whenever I played the piano for her because she was a pianist too) -
i was told, late at night while drinking with old friends..that the "whisper" in the town and from the villages, was that "the MUSLIM rebels have sent word: IF things go out of hand between the government and the muslims...and the muslims ever enter the towns....family of so and so -- my family -- IS NOT TO BE TOUCHED".
I felt that the muslims considered it as a name to be spread among their many communities that what my parents represented to them was Friendship and peace and that they would honor it. .. proud people that they are also.
to THIS day - that is the only hope I keep for my own siblings there. ..whatever happens. ..as what my mother and father told us long ago:
"THE ONLY LEgacy we can leave you is our honor and our name. and the respect of the communities".
Mmmmm, slugs...
Bravo for Costa Rica! However, I want to offer a correction to Ms. Shutts' article. She states, "In 1948, Costa Rica became the first country to formally abolish its armed forces; the Constitution still forbids a standing military." Actually it was the second. The Constitution of Japan that came into effect in 1947 reads:
"ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized."
The USA has a very important , central Ministry.
it is called the USA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
its guiding principle is
"HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS BY ENSLAVING OTHERS".
and from there flows the USA"s all other Ministries.
I often read in the news that our military is planning for 'future wars'. If this is what we are planning for, it shouldn't surprise us that this is what we will get. I think it is time to plan for 'future peace'. One of the problems with this is that our economy depends on wars: past, present, and future. Although the Great Ressesion has hurt the Colorado Springs economy, it has not been hurt as much as the rest of the country, because 40%-50% of our economy is supported by military bases. We need a complete restructuring of our economy for any hope of peace.
I am very happy with this development. As many of the previous commets attest, a Department of Peace is not a silver bullet. But it is a giant step in the long journey to a less violent, more compassionate world. We need to take that step in this country.
Laffingbear,
Thanks for the reality check.
"Most Central American countries have armies not for protection from the outside but to control the internal populations."
How true! and painfully visible in neighboring Honduras where the current, democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, is holed up in the Brazilian embassy, surrounded by the Honduran military that is using tried and true techniques learned at the School of the Americas (currently The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - WHISC or WHINSEC)in Ft. Benning, Georgia, to terrorize and intimidate the legal president of Honduras, his aides and the press.
The US has an air force base in Honduras - Sota Cano - and yet can do nothing to stop the horror that is today Honduras.
There is a saying I've heard from time to time on this reservation, "white man speaks with forked tongue." Now we hear it from a black man, too. How can this country speak about democracy and nation building when all that that represents is the maintenance of governments that support US business. In Honduras, Mel Zelaya had the gall to raise the minimum wage to almost $300 per month - much like Aristide did in Haiti. This is guaranteed to bring down the wrath of the US & Honduran business establishment, and so it has.
So far the mainstream press has avoided real issues involved and make Zelaya and his supporters - the vast majority of Honduran people - into culprits. What a farce and what a tragedy. Check out the US Dept. of State on Honduras: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1922.htm
Over 150 US business operate in Honduras making excellent use of low-paid labor, meanwhile the country suffers from inflation and those low-paying jobs no longer provide for basic needs. It is not in the best interest of American businesses to give Hondurans a living wage or even a wage increase. Continuing to try to speak with a forked tongue, the US government is stalling for time, much as it did with Haiti, making sure these two nations remain the poorest in the western hemisphere, virtually slave states.
Honduras is a great place for ex-patriots to live like kings on their social security checks, but not much fun if you are a rank-and-file Honduran.
JOHN PERKINS, FORMER CIA "ECONOMIC HITMAN" - WHO worked , by his own descriptions, as an operative for decades in South America, Middle East and Asia - according to him SPECIFICALLY to UNDERMINE other economies , said this:
"WHAT MOST AMERICANS DO NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND OR ADMIT IS THAT WE ARE LIVING OUR LIFESTYLES ONLY BECAUSE IT IS PART OF A VERY, VERY VICIOUS SYSTEM OF EXPLOITATION THAT DEHUMANIZES AND ENSLAVES PEOPLE EVERYWHERE......I WAS PART OF THAT EMPIRE PROJECT OF OURS.....OUR FOREIGN POLICY IS DESIGNED TO RENDER OTHER NATIONS PERMANENTLY SUBJUGATED TO THE WILL OF OUR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE..."...interviews in 2009.
half a century ago :
GENERAL SMEDLEY BUTLER, US MARINES, 1933 SPEECHES:
"our foreign policy has always been designed to gather as much of the worlds resources unto ourselves at the expense of others........we are a Nation of Money, Corporate, Banking, Big Finance, Racketeers...I participated in the RAPE of a dozen South American countries...and leading our Racket in 3 continents ...the True Purpose of our Armed Forces is to make the world Safe for Capitalism and our Cultural and Economic Assault...
"and you can say I was the High Class Chief Muscle Enforcer leading our Armed Forces to do the bidding of our Supernationalistic Capitalism : our BIG BOSS....for 30 years i suspended my own conscience knowing that what we do is EVIL. I will have nothing more to do with it....what we do is EVIL".
Costa Rica did something good of sorts, but that just helps to make up for Oscar Arias going soft on and too easy on the coup gangsters in Honduras and backing that CAFTA rip off.
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