A tidal wave of humanity is sweeping over the idyllic rainforests and famous surf beaches of Costa Rica, one that has no apparent end in sight.
The country is also experiencing a surge of Nicaraguans entering illegally along its northern frontier, many of whom seek to escape the increasingly authoritarian regime of President Daniel Ortega.
It’s a migration tsunami that has left Costa Rican locals and officials desperate for solutions.
In May, during an official visit to Vienna, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo Andre Tinoco told reporters, “We could well process 250 to 400 migrants a day from south to north, but not—as happened last September and October—4,000 a day.”
Almost 1 million migrants and asylum-seekers currently reside in Costa Rica, most from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti.
“This initiative will facilitate access to lawful pathways to the United States and other countries, including expedited refugee processing and other humanitarian and labor pathways,” according to an official State Department statement.
“During the exploratory phase, Movilidad Segura services will be limited to Nicaraguan and Venezuelan nationals who can prove that they were physically present in Costa Rica on the date of this announcement and who are currently registered as asylum seekers.”
While this may serve as a temporary pressure-release valve, some Costa Ricans fear the problem will get worse before it gets better.
Jobs for Everyone
North of Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose, lie the verdant hills of the Alajuela province. It’s one of the country’s signature coffee-growing regions and home to a crown jewel of tourism: the Arenal volcano.At the base of this dormant giant is every kind of adventure or nature activity imaginable. Ziplining, hiking, white water rafting, hot springs, and wildlife photo safaris are all within easy reach.
Coffee farms are another major revenue and jobs generator, contributing more than $370 million to the yearly GDP.
But for all its prosperity, Costa Rica has a unique problem in Latin America: It has more jobs than workers, especially in the coffee sector.
Luis Rodriguez grew up in the coffee-farming town of Naranjo, not far from the Arenal volcano. He now works as a driver for several tourist resorts in the area, but some of his family members are “cafeteros”—regional slang for coffee farmers—in Naranjo.
“There’s a lot of demand for the people who will harvest coffee. Costa Ricans don’t want to do that work because they make more money with tourism,” Mr. Rodriguez told The Epoch Times.
Well-educated Ticos prefer to work better-paid, less physically demanding jobs than coffee farming, even though it pays better than other farm work.
Historically, families in the Alajuela province such as Rodriguez’s have leaned heavily on the influx of illegal immigrants, particularly from Nicaragua, to help bring in the coffee harvest.
A local report from 2020 stated that the average coffee cherry “picker” earns around $2 per basket, based on weight.
A worker can easily clear $60 per day; at five days a week, that’s $300, a high salary for farm workers in Latin America.
But Mr. Rodriguez said farms near his hometown are struggling to find workers this year and are paying up to 5,000 colones—almost $10—per basket.
Some coffee farmers are ready to hand out triple the standard rate this year and there are clearly enough immigrants who need the money. So what happened?
Beg and Rob
Jose Vargas frowns while stirring sugar into a cup of coffee. It’s pouring rain outside the corner café in downtown San Jose, driving people off of the streets near the famous Plaza de la Cultura.The adjacent city square is a popular draw for tourists and locals alike, hosting two of San Jose’s star attractions: the National Theater and the Pre-Colombian Gold Museum.
In sunnier weather, the square is crowded with local families, tourists taking pictures, and illegal immigrants.
It’s a common landing spot for illegals, especially Venezuelans, who’ve just completed the arduous journey through the Darien Gap.
Once they emerge from the dangerous jungle in Panama, a migrant can catch a bus to Costa Rica from San Vicente for about $40 dollars.
And, like many Costa Ricans, Mr. Vargas is pretty unhappy about it.
“They only come here to beg and rob,” he told The Epoch Times.
He’s particularly frustrated with Venezuelans, a common echo heard from hard-working locals in multiple countries throughout the region.
Latin Americans from Chile to Mexico decry the growing number of Venezuelan refugees living in their countries who refuse to work.
They’re easy to spot. Many of those begging hold signs saying they’re Venezuelan. Some will sit on street corners holding cardboard signs or approach cars at busy intersections, tapping on windows without outstretched hands.
The 65-year-old Vargas has worked hard at multiple jobs his entire life to support his family.
In that time, as a San Jose native, he’s seen tides of migration ebb and flow. He noted that most of the illegal immigrants pass through because of the high cost of living in Costa Rica compared with neighboring countries.
But for those with two hands and a desire to make money, there are plenty of jobs.
“In Costa Rica, there is work for everybody, but some just won’t work,” Mr. Vargas said.
The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela that has lasted more than a decade stems from a collapsed currency and a long-suffering economy under the contested President Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
Both have faced multiple accusations of human rights violations from international agencies.
“Costa Rica doesn’t have extreme poverty. Here you aren’t going to die of starvation,“ Mr. Rodriguez said. “You may not be rich, but you’ll have the basic necessities to live.”
By Any Means
“I can’t think of when I’ve ever heard of Venezuelans dreaming of going to Costa Rica,” Evan Ellis, a Latin America research professor for the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, told The Epoch Times.Mr. Ellis said he believes that the majority of the migrants passing through Costa Rica are heading to the United States.
Further, Costa Rica’s economy is in “pretty good shape,” which is part of what drives the ”move it along” mentality locals and officials have toward immigrants.
“There’s an attempt to keep everyone moving through, like there is in Panama,” he said.
Further, Ellis noted that the organization of migration routes through the Darien Gap has become more formal and streamlined over the past couple of years.
What used to be barely discernable, muddy goat paths known only to a handful of cartel-affiliated “guides” have become well-marked trails where cartels operating in the jungle charge a tax for northbound migrants to pass.
Moreover, it’s becoming more common for desperate migrants to turn to human traffickers for aid in their passage to the United States. In response, Panama announced a joint security task force with Colombia to help crack down on human traffickers.
“Operation Choco aims to stop transnational organized crime in the Darien by mobilizing aerial support and confronting crime groups head-on,” Panama’s security minister, Juan Pino, told reporters during a June 2 press conference.
The day manager of a popular downtown San Jose hotel, who asked to be referred to as Maria out of concern for her job, said illegal immigrants aren’t shy about sharing their plans to head to the United States by any means necessary.
Maria recalled a pregnant Venezuelan immigrant who stayed in the hotel with a man carrying a U.S. passport.
After making photocopies of their identification at check-in, Maria asked the woman how long she planned to stay in Costa Rica.
The woman said the man she was traveling with helped her through the Darien Gap in Panama and planned to assist her entry into the United States after departing Costa Rica.
Maria wasn’t the least bit surprised. She also said many of the people who arrive from the Darien Gap are just there to beg.
“There are only a few who arrive to work, but most of them are begging and then leave,” she said.
Like Luis and Jose, Maria has a distaste for those who arrive in her beautiful country and refuse to work.
However, she said the price tag of everything in Costa Rica, from grocery items to utility bills, is a “natural deterrent” to anyone looking to linger for longer than a short spell.
“So they try to spend as little time here as possible,” she said.
Ellis noted that there’s a bit of everything and everyone flowing northward from the Darien Gap these days.
Combined with the surge of Nicaraguans entering Costa Rica from the north, it’s a substantial infrastructure shock for the small nation.
Some studies estimate that 15 percent of Costa Rica’s population is now migrants.
Meanwhile, U.S. southern border officials continue treading water amid the surge of migrants trying to cross in the wake of the end of Title 42.
