Big Fish in a Small Pond
While living in Costa Rica last summer I was introduced to a new culture and way of life. The national slogan, “Puravida,” was the daily greeting while riding my bike down the dirt rode into town for Spanish class. The country’s belief in “Puravida” translated - ‘pure life’ is one component that makes Costa Rica distinct in this ever-globalizing world. In the small town I lived the people would work for a day, fishing or tour-guiding, and spend the next three days off, displaying an extremely different lifestyle than that of an American entrepreneur. Similarities between Costa Rica and the US, however, were visible. In some of the bigger cities of San Jose and Heredia I was surprised to see the familiar signs of McDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken mixed in with the local restaurants. In my trip to San Jose I was even more surprised to see a large Intel building. Seeing the Intel building I questioned what they were doing in Costa Rica. From my experience it was odd to see a high-tech American corporation in the middle of an ever-developing country.
After the initial shock I was more interested in what effects Intel has had in Costa Rica economically, socially and politically. In particular, did the move of Intel into Costa Rica have positive or negative consequences on the small country? In this paper I will examine the dynamics of the relationship between Intel and Costa Rica and will consider the implications of this interaction for large corporations relationships in developing countries. Using the case study of Intel in Costa Rica I will use a costs-benefit analysis to show why foreign direct investment has positive effects on the host economy.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama. Costa Rica enjoys the political environment of a democratic republic. The country is open to economic integration of the greater region, being a member of the Central American Common Market(CACM), subscribing to a uniform external tariff and to free-trade internally. Costa Rica also supports the Puebla-panama plan, initiated by Mexico’s president Vincent Fox, which intends the ‘Mesoamerican’ integration of Mexico’s struggling southern states and all seven Central American countries. In addition, since 1948, Costa Rica has not had a military, and despite severe turbulences and civil wars in Central America and border conflicts with Nicaragua and Panama, it has successfully maneuvered itself through these times.
Country to country, person-to-person, human trafficking is becoming a bigger and bigger issue all across the globe, including right here in the United States. Human trafficking is said to be a form of modern-day slavery, subjecting its victims to commercial sex, debt bondage, and forced labor through force, fraud, or coercion. There are often no easily identifiable victims as they come in all ages, genders, and races. There are said to be at least 2.4 million victims of human trafficking across the globe at any given time, leading to profits of $32 billion for the criminal masterminds behind such trafficking operations, making it the second most lucrative criminal industry behind narcotics. Despite the abundance of victims, it is estimated that fewer than 30% of all countries report at least 10 trafficking convictions a year, and 20% of countries do not even have an offense for trafficking. An additional 20% of countries have an offense for trafficking but still report no convictions of the offense. Without an organized coalition to help prevent such atrocities, it is left up to national governments to come up with solutions for their respective nations, and many governments do not possess the know-how or effort needed to combat these crimes.
During the second half of the twentieth century, when the Cold War was on its midst, the United States played an important role in world affairs. The increasing military power that the United States had during the Cold War, allowed it to influence the political decisions that many countries had during this time. The United States directly opposed the idea of communism, which the Soviet Union promoted. This conflict between this two great powers, lasted for five decades, and it tremendously affected the political ideologies of the world. Both countries tried to push their political and economic interest to as many nations as they could, especially those close to their borders. During this time, Guatemala was undergoing a social revolution with communist ideas. The revolution happened as a response to the social injustice committed by the United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company started to lose land, due to a land reform passed b...
To understand the machinations of General Guardia, we must first look briefly at Costa Rica’s historical situation. As noted by innumerable books and articles on the subject, the term “Costa Rica” was something of a misnomer for the country until the coffee-boom of the 1830s and 40s. The “rich coast” was named, as legend has it, by Christopher Columbus himself after landing there in 1502 and seeing natives adorned with gold. Ironically, the natives witnessed by Columbus were not natives at all, but invading members of the Carib tribe that had brought their own gold to this relatively poor place. True to form, Columbus displayed a stunning misinterpretation of the facts and coined the site “Costa Rica” (Watkins). This “discovery” in 1502 would, as in the rest of Latin America, herald the end of life as the indigenous knew it. For the next 300 years Costa Rica would find itself under Spanish control, yet this burden was significantly lightened by the absence of riches the Europeans craved. These long centuries under Spanish influence would find Costa Rica in the position of the periphery, relatively spared from the harsh rule often employed in more profitable sectors.
... A final prayer ends the ceremony. The women then rush to the kitchen to serve dinner while the men set up the tables. After dinner the afternoon is spent visiting, playing games and matchmaking. Sometimes the bride will match unmarried boys and girls who are over 16 years old to sit together at the evening meal which ustarts at 5:00 P.M. The day usually ends around 10:30 P.M.
Masculinity was made hegemonic, by defining power in terms of force and control. This is because men are naturally created with body physique, which is characterized by a higher controlling force than women are. Therefore, using force and control to define power naturalized male superiority. The male body was used to represent power, which was masculinized as force, physical strength, control, speed, toughness, and d...
The effects from this corrupt enterprise are undeniably painful and scaring. In common societies women are belittled and objectified excessively, it is hardly considered a conflict when unimaginable pain is inflicted upon them. The physical, emotional, and mental distortion and destruction, caused by violence last an eternity. The inane fear, agony of sha...
The quest for power is one which has been etched into the minds of men throughout history. However, it can be said that true power is not a result of one’s actions but comes from the following one’s own beliefs without being influenced by others. This principle sets up the story for Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. The protagonist, Orwell himself, is a sub divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. Orwell must try to find and use his inner power when he is faced with the decision of whether or not to kill an elephant which has ravaged the Burman’s homes. The state of power established through the imperialistic backdrop show that Orwell, as a colonist, should be in control. As well, the perspective and ideas given by Orwell show his true character and lessen the overall power set up for him. Lastly, the symbols shown are representations of traditional forms of power, but take on different implications in the story. In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses setting, characterization and symbols to show that true power comes from following the dictates of one’s conscience.
A police officer in the British Raj, the supposedly 'unbreakable'; ruling force, was afraid. With his gun aimed at a elephant's head, he was faced with the decision to pull the trigger. That officer was George Orwell, and he writes about his experience in his short story, 'Shooting an Elephant';. To save face, he shrugged it off as his desire to 'avoid looking the fool'; (George Orwell, 283). In truth, the atmosphere of fear and pressure overwhelmed him. His inner struggle over the guilt of being involved in the subjugation of a people added to this strain, and he made a decision he would later regret enough to write this story.
Costa Rica is a small, democratic country, located in Central America. Nicaragua is to the north of Costa Rica and Panama to the south and it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country is very small, only about 32,000 square miles and is slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia (CIA, para. 2 2013). This beautiful country only covers about 0.03% of the earth’s surface, yet contains about 5% of the biodiversity in the world (Visit Costa Rica, para. 2). The climate is tropical and subtropical and has four volcanoes, two of which are still active (CIA, 2013, para. 2).
nurture. In the writing, “Trafficking in Men,” author Gutman states, “There are at least four distinct ways that anthropologists define and use the concept of masculinity and the related notions of male identity, man hood, manliness, and men’s roles.” Each of these characteristics coincides with one another and creates the image of what it is to be a “man”. How men think, act, size up, and interact with one another often define the level of masculinity. Yet the underlying fact still remains that all cultures around the world comprehend masculinity differently. “My encounter with Machismo in Spain” by David Gilmore describes the Andalusians’ ideal view of masculinity is composed of virtue, honor and bravery. In some instances masculinity can be merely be defined as being a provider, due too the fact that some cultures don’t resort to placing stigma behind the term. “Semoi of Malaysia, violence and aggression are obsolete” (Kindlon &Thompson) It goes to show the even with the various interpretations of masculinity, its meaning is not strictly biological. Where and how a male lives, will greatly determine his level of
The United States of America and Costa Rica’s constitutions have several similarities and differences. The United States and Costa Rica have two of the most successful constitutional republics in the history of the world. They are alike in several ways, however, there are some major differences that allows them to thrive in their own environments. There are many components that describe the two countries: physical structure, traditions and how the constitutions were established, how the constitutions work, languages, military, religion, education, voting rights, presidential elections, and structure of the legislative branch, presidential terms, vice presidents, and Supreme Court justices.
Despite people celebrating marriage in different ways it all comes back to one thing; marriage is a social ritual that by which two people affirms one abiding contracts between. The ceremonies are composed of rituals which symbolize facets of married life and the obligations being undertaken. In Hinduism the marriage celebration can start weeks before the actual ceremony depending on the preferences of the family. Once the day of the ceremony comes around the day starts with the brides’ family welcoming the groom into their home and both families are formally introduced. Both the bride and groom sit at the Mandap- tent where the ceremony is held under,-and are offered a drink. Gifts between the two families are generally exchanged at this point. The groom's mother gives an auspicious necklace to the bride, which is essentially an emblem of the married status in the Hindu religion. Then scared fire is lit and a pundit recites t...
The plan begins with a Tulba. The “tulba” is a professional way of asking for the hand of the bride. This event is more private and limited to only close relatives of the bride and groom. This happens when both the bride’s and groom’s families have approved of the couple's decision. At the tulba, the groom
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the case for CAFTA is based on the growth, opportunity and democracy of the aforementioned regions. The agreement will eliminate 80% of tariffs on U.S. goods exported to these regions. Even though these countries are small, they represent big consumer markets. Central America and the Dominican Republic heads the second largest U.S. export market in Latin America, closely trailing Mexico. The rest of the tariffs will be phased out over the next decade. This will give American businesses, workers and farmers even greater access to 44 million Central American consumers.
A Hindu wedding process can take several days depending on the economic and social standing of the bride and the groom’s families. The actual ceremony can be short like an hour to three hours. The ceremony itself is more for the couple and their parents having little guest involvement. Some guests skip the ceremony all together and come later for the celebration time of the