To the editor:

Being a dual citizen of the United States and Costa Rica and one who has lived in every continent of the globe and traveled in hundreds of countries, I cannot accept the acerbic approach towards Costa Rica of Jeanette Stauffer and her hired guns with respect to her tragically murdered daughter.

If Costa Rica were as corrupt as Mrs. Stauffer and her hired guns suggest, then consider the following: Costa Rica has a democratic government that follows U.S. approaches to business. Ten years ago, Costa Rica was known as a safe, democratic, peaceful country located between Panama and Nicaragua. Other than being used during the ’80s by the Reagan-Bush administration as a staging ground for illegal drug and weapons running, the country was a tourism haven and coffee producer.

Over the past decade, the government implemented specific plans to change from a coffee producer to an advanced technology producer. The education system was revamped to ensure young people were prepared. As a consequence, companies like Intel (which recently opened an $800 million fabrication plant), Merck Pharmaceutical, and others, have located facilities in Costa Rica.

Every country, including Costa Rica, has its problems. However, Costa Rica has also taken significant actions to improve, and to many in the United States and abroad, it continues to be one of the best tourist locations in the world. This would not be the case if, in fact, corruption, crime and other unfounded derogatory remarks by Mrs. Stauffer and her hired guns were true.

David Phipps,

Belo Horizonte, Costa Rica