70 years without an army

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Great for them. Costa Rica could never have achieved this without the military might of other more powerful nations that safeguard the peaceful peoples of the world.
 
But you should get a look at their police force (wink)

CR is the switzerland of Central America, they are small but have no natural resources a neighbor would want to take. A strong police force provides what they need.
 
You are correct to a certain degree. However, Switzerland does differ somewhat as it has a highly trained (mainly civilian)military and a sizeable ready militia that can address an attack within a matter of hours. Their military readiness system is incredible, Their military is based on “defense” so their is no need to field a large active military of “offense” which is expensive and is for assault outside of areas they already control as their own. Few people have an appreciation for the Swiss military. Their populous is highly trained and quickly responsive. Coupled with their difficult terrain, advanced technology and highly trained personnel, they are no one to mess with.

Costa Rica according to the article has taken it a step further and implies they do not have the military resources that Switzerland has. I am quite familiar with the situation in Switzerland but have no real first hand knowledge of the situation in Costa Rica, but it is an interesting insight.
 
Switzerland has a thousand year history of war, so they do have an army.

CR has no such history, they are a country created by immigrants fairly recently, with no indigenous population. I spent some time in CR myself, great people. The country functions much better than their neighbors.
 
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Costa Rica absolutely has indigenous peoples. What makes you think they don’t? And what bearing would that have on their army?
 
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Right, I shouldn’t use absolutes. CR has a very small indigenous pop, over 95% are of european descent.

I think their unique heritage helps explain why they are different than their neighbors. No, it isn’t a dig at their neighbors but a community is different when practically everyone came from somewhere else.
 
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To be fair though, most (if not all, although I’m not certain off the top of my head) South and Central American countries have a population majority that is of European or African or both descent. But those original immigrants have been there for centuries with migration patterns beginning in the 16th century.

Costa Rica ended up with no army in the same general-ish way that Switzerland ended up being neutral forever - by being fed up with conflict and making a policy decision to engage in it anymore.

 
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