1

not sure where you got your information, boomer. i just took a look at nationmaster.com and they list chile, argentina and the dominican republic ahead of costa rica.

as for murders, the same website shows costa rica at #14 - however - they don't list honduras as #1 which is kind of wrong (honduras is the "murder capital of the world" at this point) so not sure i trust all of it.

not quite sure just what your point is. there's no doubt there is a lot of theft in costa rica, as has been discussed here quite frequently and on other travel forums and in travel guides.

2

One problem with these statistics, is that some countries have a good system to report and account for all types of crimes and some dont, so it can be hard to measure. Then there is the text in which you are referring too...though Honduras is the murder capital of the world, that is based on murders per 100K population, not number of murders, two different statistics...

No doubt Costa Rica has its crime issues, but since this is a travel forum, to what degree does this effect a foreigner/tourist vs a resident? Chicago has huge murder rate due to gang violence, like Honduras, but it rarely effects a traveler/foreigner.

Then there is the equation of how good the law enforcement is, and how well the justice system works, and corrupt the judicial proceedings can be on the outcome, all varying by country for sure.

Just remember, the USA has the largest percentage of its population in jails, in the world. Of course China has a very strict and tough penal code, they will put someone to death for altering milk or food products, to send a massage.

3

All good points chaps, like I say you can take from statistics what you will. It was a report by the Organization Of American States (whoever they may be):

http://www.amcostarica.com/morenews2.htm

4

Also recently reported the continuing saga of Lady Laura.
http://insidecostarica.com/2012/09/24/laura-chinchilla-has-lowest-approval-rating-on-american-continent/

But there was a quick reply.
http://insidecostarica.com/2012/09/25/government-rebukes-presidential-job-approval-rankings/
Stating:Chacon said this is not a real poll and questioned the firm’s methodology.

All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Friedrich Nietzsche

5

well, there are my "studies" and your "studies" and my "statistics" and your "statistics," etc. i guess nietzsche was right.

of one thing there is no doubt: whatever the numbers are, la presidenta is not popular.

by the way -- in line with the original post, i think i will go on the usa forum and post the fact that more people die from suicide in the us than from auto accidents. it has about the same amount of meaning there as the original post in this thread does here.

Edited by: wiremu

6

yea but the car accident death rate has dropped dramatically over the last decade...due to safer cars...

7

Let's see, I lived there from 1988 to 1998 and my house was broken into EVERY year. My car, well I stopped counting. I'm sure it is much better now. Plus it's always the "Nicas".

8

All I know is when in Terre Haute, dont go to West Terre Haute...

Sketch stich 24/7.

9

In my experience Costa Rica was generally safer (for tourists) even though it happened to be the only place an incident occurred while traveling in Central America.

In 2010, a couple friends and I made a stop in La Forntuna to do some eco-tours. One night, however, we went to a local bar called Vulcan Look and one of our gang was held up at knife-point and relieved of his wallet.

When recounting our story to the local owner of our guesthouse, he told us how surprising and rare it was to have that incident occur in La Fortuna, of all places.

Anyways, the point here is that petty crime can occur anywhere at anytime, but statistics don't capture the context of each incident. If I was to tell you that my friend happened to be quite intoxicated, did not speak Spanish, and was one of 2 foreigners at this bar, your opinion on the safety of the town might change. If one uses common sense in all situations, you are most likely going to be just fine.

10

Bar+Nighttime = be careful

Probably the most common denominator to being a victim, the stories usually involve a bar and night time...

Dont go out door with more than the money for the evening...

11

#11, CR was safer but the only place you had a problem? Strange logic.