Another Senior Moment
I wasn't going to post on this one, but it turned up on Foxnews.com this morning.
I've got about two years under my belt here in Costa Rica and am just about through with it. Last night I read the above linked story about a group of senior citizens on a cruise taking a side trip off the boat while docked in Limon, Costa Rica. They were approached by three would be thieves, at least one of them armed, and they decided not to be victims. Two of the thieves ran off and one woke up dead at the hospital.
The tourists left on their Carnival cruise ship after the incident and Hernandez (police chief of Limon) said authorities do not plan to press any charges against them. "They were in their right to defend themselves after being held up," he said.
Costa Rica is widely known for its scenery, rainforests and beaches with long smooth waves that are ideal for new surfers. My brother honeymooned here and his praise for the place was a significant deciding factor for my move. It is in fact is a beautiful country, but it seems to continually shoot itself in the foot.
Petty and not-so-petty crime is a problem, and the police and judicial system are not so good at addressing it. The courts operate like a revolving door for criminals so the cops don't make a big effort to arrest people. Regular people have to fend for themselves for the most part, the upswing of which is that folks are quite fond of 'Citizen José' stories detailing the foiling of various criminal activities, especially when it involves killing one of the perps.
I witnessed this phenomenon for the first time watching the news one night. The report was about an attempted jewelry store robbery. The people in the street were all smiles, which was in contrast to the serious expression of the reporters. In the interviews the witnesses and lookie-loos all expressed their pleasure at the one dead and one wounded. The storeowner or employee (I forget which) responsible for the takedown was a local hero.
Except for the inevitable 'news' accounts for the next couple of days our senior Zorros are not likely to be further disturbed for their misadventure.
The cruise line said the guests were questioned by local law enforcement and then returned to the ship. The ship's departure from Limon was slightly delayed to await their return.
"Slightly delayed" sounds about right. The police are happy that the only detained suspect wasn't about to protest his innocence (from an obvious lack of breath) and that they wouldn't have to make an effort to track down the other two- for lack of available witnesses. The tourists were happy that they weren't stuck in some two-bit country waiting for some kind of investigation to 'clear them' of wrongdoing. It's a win-win kind of thing, except for the rest of the poor bastards stuck living here that lack reasonable police protection.
What you don't hear about much in the travel brochures is that two former Presidents are currently under house arrest and one is on the lam giving speeches on global warming. Were the latter to return here Costa Rica could be on track to set a record for ex presidential detention.
But the fun is about to end for me as I'll be leaving this interesting land in about two weeks, heading slightly further south to another offbeat locale to await the arrival of another infamous ex-Presidente. It's another border crossing and customs inspection, another payoff to the local authorities, and another Miami post office box to forward my mail. Should be fun.
