Costa Rica’s exemplary democracy continues to flourish

In my last article, I wrote about Costa Rica’s recent presidential election and the country’s long democratic tradition.

Well, it comes an as little surprise that Costa Rica’s democracy is rated third in the Americas which consists of Canada, the United States, and Central and South America. Furthermore, the country’s democracy is considered 20th out of 167 nations around the world (Norway is number one). Only 21 countries in the world have a competitive democracy. In Central America, Costa Rica is the only country considered to have a complete (true) democracy.

The U.S. is rankled 27, Panamá 48, Argentina 50, Colombia 59, El Salvador 79, Mexico 86, Honduras 92, Guatemala 99 and Nicaragua 140. It comes as little surprise that Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are at the bottom of the list of countries in the Americas.

It seems hard to believe but only 1.3 percent of Latin America’s inhabitants live in a true democracy.

Only Canada and Uruguay were ranked above Costa Rica in the survey. However, people forget that Uruguay was plagued by military dictatorships and many violations of human rights in the 1970s.

The Economist, a prestigious British publication, is the organization behind these rankings. A multitude of factors and criteria were taken into consideration when determining Costa Rica’s position.

The above is just one of many reasons Costa Rica is considered Latin America’s number one retirement haven and one of the best places in the world to live. To boot, the country enjoys an impeccable international reputation and receives little negative press. Reputation, reputation, and reputation…says it all.