The Happiest Country in Latin America

Asked how he explains the fact that his country — one of Latin America’s most stable and democratic ones, but not among the world’s richest — ranked so well, Solis told me that Costa Rica has a “virtuous combination” of democratic stability, no armed forces —they were banned in 1948 — a relatively good social security system and an economy based on small businesses. All of this has helped the country improve its living standards over more than a century, he said. So why are other domestic polls in Costa Rica showing high levels of unhappiness? I asked him. A recent poll by the University of Costa Rica’s Center of Research and Political Studies (CIEP) showed that a whopping 60.6 percent of Costa Ricans think that the country is doing “badly” or “very badly.”