I'm John Batchler. I welcome my longtime excellent colleague Evan Ellis. He is a professor of Latin American research at the U.S. Army War College and my guide on America's affairs in this turmoil, worldwide turmoil, of doubts and threats and violence and wars. We look to the Americas for progress these days after the Caracas episode. However,

we're going to begin our reports with elections. We march to the sound of election. Pending

the next week, Costa Rica is going to the polls. Costa Rica has a reputation, my memory, of being a wonderful

place to retire, a peaceful environment in Central America. However, Professor, a very good evening

to you. Thank you for joining. We march to the sound of voting, and Costa Rica has a very

excellent choice of choosing peacefully the new leadership.

However, I note that Buccelli, the leader of El Salvador, who is anything but gentle,

recently visited Costa Rica and in connection to Costa Rica deciding to build a gigantic prison like the one in El Salvador,

which is associated with brutality and deportation and unhappiness throughout the hemisphere,

is Costa Rica going the way of Buckele?

How to understand Costa Rica's future, given the number of Americans who were said to be retiring there. Good

evening to you. Good evening to you, John. It's always great to talk to you. The backstory on

Costa Rica, as you alluded to a great place to retire and in general, a country with a very strong

democratic tradition, very strong institutions and rule of law, although I think from a Costa

Rican perspective,

you know, they feel that, you know, things are not perfect. But because Costa Rica's position

in Central America has made it one of the drug routes for drugs, especially those coming

to the United States, in recent years, especially in 2023, as different narco groups began contesting some of

those routes, there was a spike in violence in traditionally nonviolent Costa Rica.

Now, violence is still relatively low.

It's currently about 16 to 17 murders per 100,000, which is on par with some bad U.S. cities, and it's maybe about

half of where, for example, Colombia has been for comparison. However, for Costa Rica, that

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