Someone had their way
with car shipped from Texas

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I recently shipped a very good 1999 Suzuki Vitara from Texas. I have owned it for three years with the sole purpose of shipping it to Costa Rica for my personal use. It had given me good service in the States and had passed every state inspection for those same three years.

My Vitara was bailed out at the aduana for a little over $3,300 in taxes. After the ransom was paid, it was discovered that the gas and oil had been removed from the car. It was after dark at the aduana's storage yard. Gas and oil were inserted, but the oil flowed out, which was not discovered in the dark. Because someone thought that steeling the oil where the oil filter screws in was easy, they did not see the value of screwing the filter back in. Needless to say, my Vitara froze up from lack of oil, which generated the need for a new, rebuilt engine.
 
After the new engine was installed, my Vitara would not pass the emissions test. It was finally discovered that the air flow system had been removed and replaced with an air flow system for a smaller engine. Because my Vitara's system had an inferior part in place, then only did a specialist discover the switch.
 
I have read what A.M. Costa Rica stands for, and I think that an individual should be able to retrieve from the aduana, the same vehicle that was shipped, instead of it being used for parts.

Congress would listen
to letters on tax form

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Thank you so much for your excellent coverage of the FATCA issue that the American Citizens Abroad has been working so diligently on the past year.  I am the country representative for ACA and anyone who wishes more information should contact me at annwildey@gmail.com.  FATCA is truly an overreaching regulation that has had disastrous consequences for American citizens who live or work overseas.  As we know, the U.S. Congress responds to letters and expressions of discontent.

Tax sale of narcotics
and get rid of crooks

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Your editorial on drug arrests is misguided and out of date. Arresting and adjudicating people for possessing small amounts of drugs is a waste of scarce government resources (i.e., taxes). And such enforcement does absolutely no good in reducing consumption. One only needs to look to the United States to see how such policies fail. Thousands of people are dying in Mexico because of these failed drug enforcement policies, while drug use in the U.S. has climbed and the number of people in U.S. prisons and jails incarcerated because of possessing small amounts of drugs has skyrocketed.

Costa Rica has it half right - focus on those dealing dangerous drugs. The other half would be to decriminalize certain drugs, such as marijuana. Regulate its use and tax its sales. That puts those who sell the drug illegally out of business. It frees the criminal justice system to focus on dangerous drug activity, as well as other, more pressing enforcement concerns. And it provides a new revenue source for important government functions.

Prohibition didn't work in the U.S. in the 1930s, and laws making simple possession of drugs like marijuana don't work either. And an analogy to wife beating? Please!



Costa Rica has to step up
with rehabilitation proposal

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

If as you say,"The purpose of drug laws is to reduce consumption," then it falls upon society to provide an effective rehabilitation program for drug-law offenders. There is certainly no evidence to support the notion that jail time reduces drug consumption but plenty of evidence to suggest that it is a costly and ineffective alternative to drug rehabilitation programs.

"Republican governors and state legislators in such states of Texas, South Carolina, and Ohio are repealing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing opportunities for effective community supervision, and funding drug treatment because they know it will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer costs," said Tracy Velázquez, executive director of the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute.

So are several other states — egged on by a group of hardline conservatives who have joined the Right on Crime movement. These include Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former speaker Newt Gingrich, the tax-fighter Grover Norquist and the former attorney general for President Ronald Reagan, Ed Meese.

Studies in Texas and elsewhere agree that treatment and probation services cost about one-tenth of what it costs to build and run prisons. A cost-benefit analysis indicated that every dollar spent on those services was worth $9 and 34 cents in avoided criminal justice costs. Besides that, offenders emerge much less likely to commit fresh crimes than those with similar records who go to prison.

Fiscal General Chavarría may well have come to the same conclusion as his conservative colleagues in the U.S. It is now up to the government of Costa Rica to follow through with the same services,


Here's another viewpoint

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

How ignorant are these people to condone and encourage drug use by not enforcing the laws. This will only increase the crime rate dramatically. Idiots!

Why support the Occupiers
and not the Tea Party?

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Now the Nazis, Communists, and the radical Muslims (Iran and others) have expressed support for Occupy Wall Street. They however did not support the Tea Party. Enough said.