Costa Rica: A Nation Drowning in Corruption and Deceit

By Enzo Vincenzi

Costa Rica—the so-called paradise of Central America—has fallen into a pit of moral, political, and economic decay so deep that even the most hardened cynics would struggle to comprehend the scale of its downfall. What was once a land of peace, natural beauty, and opportunity has now rotted into a cesspool of greed, corruption, and shameless exploitation. Those who still believe in the fairytale of Costa Rica as a beacon of democracy and stability have either been duped by relentless propaganda or have chosen willful ignorance in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

A Nation That Sold Its Soul

The Costa Rican elite have sold their souls to the devil, turning their backs on their own people in pursuit of wealth and power. Corruption is not isolated to a few bad apples—it is a systemic cancer that infects every level of government, law enforcement, and the judiciary. The so-called "happiest country on Earth" is nothing more than an illusion created by a tourism board that desperately tries to keep the truth buried under a mountain of slick advertising campaigns and fabricated statistics.

Crime runs rampant, yet the government continues to manipulate crime data, downplaying the chaos and danger that have become a daily reality for residents and expats alike. The police, armed like a paramilitary force, do little to protect the people but excel at extorting them. Laws are bent, broken, or ignored depending on who has the most money to bribe the right officials. Justice in Costa Rica is a commodity that only the rich can afford.

A Playground for Predators

Foreigners who come to Costa Rica seeking a better life are often met with an unpleasant surprise: a society that views them as walking ATMs, ripe for exploitation. From the moment they arrive, they are profiled, targeted, and systematically drained of their wealth by politicians, police, lawyers, and even their own neighbors. The legal system is not there to protect victims but to ensure that criminals—especially those with political connections—face no real consequences.

If you think the courts will protect you, think again. Lawsuits drag on for years, often concluding with the foreigner walking away empty-handed while the Costa Rican criminals continue their scams unscathed. Marrying a Costa Rican is an even bigger mistake—foreign men have found themselves financially ruined, trapped in the country by child support laws that demand outrageous sums while providing no recourse for fathers who are being exploited.

The Economy of Deception

Costa Rica’s economic model is built on deception. Prices are inflated to absurd levels, and yet the services provided are among the worst in Latin America. Infrastructure is a joke—roads crumble as soon as they are paved, and basic public services are so mismanaged that residents are left to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, the government continues to siphon money into the pockets of the elite, ensuring that no meaningful improvements ever take place.

The idea that tourism is to blame for rising costs is laughable. Countries with significantly larger expatriate communities, such as Mexico, manage to maintain affordable living conditions. Costa Rica’s exorbitant prices are the direct result of unchecked greed, a government that prioritizes its own interests over those of the people, and a culture that has become addicted to easy money.

A Country in Freefall

The trajectory of Costa Rica is clear—it is on the fast track to becoming the next Venezuela. The denial runs deep, but the writing is on the wall: crime is escalating, infrastructure is failing, corruption is rampant, and the government is more interested in maintaining the illusion of stability than addressing the rot at the core of the nation.

Anyone who still believes in the myth of "Pura Vida" is either blind or complicit in the charade. The reality is far darker: Costa Rica is a predatory country that thrives on deception, a place where the rich grow richer by bleeding the country dry while the rest are left to suffer the consequences.

For those considering moving to Costa Rica, let this be a warning—paradise is dead, and what remains is a nation rotting from the inside out.

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Mr. Vincenzi's Response:

This might be the most brutally honest, gut-wrenching exposé of Costa Rica I’ve ever read, and yet, it still doesn’t go far enough. Costa Rica is not just corrupt—it is a parasitic, soul-sucking wasteland disguised as a tropical paradise. Anyone who dares set foot in this decaying husk of a country without fully understanding the depth of its dysfunction is walking into a carefully orchestrated trap, set by a government that thrives on deception and fueled by a population that has long abandoned any sense of morality.

This is not a nation—it’s an open-air con game, a massive, systemic fraud that preys on the naive, the hopeful, and the well-intentioned. The Costa Rican government, along with its slimy network of lawyers, police, and bureaucrats, exists for one reason only: to extract every last dollar from foreigners before spitting them out, broken, robbed, and disillusioned. They smile in your face while picking your pockets, all under the laughable banner of “Pura Vida.”

The crime? Out of control. The corruption? Institutionalized. The justice system? A sadistic joke where criminals walk free, and victims are punished for daring to demand fairness. The infrastructure? A crumbling disgrace. The cost of living? Highway robbery at its finest. Every single aspect of life in Costa Rica is a testament to the sheer incompetence, greed, and moral bankruptcy of its rulers and its people.

Ticos have become so addicted to easy money that they no longer understand the concept of hard work or integrity. They live by the unspoken rule: “Lie, cheat, steal—just don’t get caught.” Expats who move here believing they will find peace and paradise quickly realize they’ve walked into a nightmare—a country where your neighbors, your employees, even your so-called friends are just waiting for an opportunity to betray you.

And let’s not even get started on the sham that is their police force. These aren’t officers of the law—they are uniformed parasites, armed and dangerous, shaking down the very people they’re supposed to protect. If you get robbed, don’t even bother reporting it. The police don’t care. The courts don’t care. No one cares—unless there’s money in it for them.

Costa Rica is circling the drain, its people too delusional to admit that their so-called paradise is turning into a lawless, crime-ridden, decaying hellhole. Mark my words—this country will collapse under the weight of its own corruption, and when it does, the world will finally see Costa Rica for what it truly is: a failed state run by thieves, for thieves. 

Furthermore the Organized Public Corruption of the  slandering defamation of character hate crimes, death threats false arrests and conspiracy to murder crimes lead directly United States of America Lee County Public Corrupted Sheriff CARMINE MARCENO, Public Corrupted Costa Rica American Embassy Ambassador CYTNTHIA  A TELLES, Co conspirators criminals RICHARD SEATON, CARLY HUBA, JAMES HUBA, Public Corrupted OIJ Investigator DONALDO BERMUDEZ RODRIGUEZ, Public Corrupted Jaco Police attorney EDUARDO MORA CASCONTE and also Public Corrupted College of attorneys FRANCISCO EITER CRUZ MARCHENA who are a Public Disgrace to the laws of Costa Rica and United States of America.