Costa Rica doesn’t have the near the number of retirees that Mexico has, but it is 1000 times safer

Mexico currently has around 1,000,000 retirees because of its proximity to the U.S. The Mexican government says that it wants to lure 5,000,000 retirees form the U.S.and Canada in coming years. This is really a “pipe dream” since an epidemic of violence is extending its evil tentacles throughout the country. A battle for control of the profitable drug trade by the cartels has brought the drug war closer to the heart of Mexico, terrifying the city of Cuenravaca. Known for its charming Spanish-colonial downtown and for posh homes with lush gardens and swimming pools, Cuernavaca, “The City of Eternal Spring,” has always been has been a favorite retreat for Mexico’s rich and powerful and U.S. retirees.

Unfortunately drug-gang violence has soared claiming nearly 23,000 lives throughout Mexico, with Cuernavaca becoming the latest front. “We hadn’t seen this violence before,” said Dawn Housand, a 60-year-old Boston native who moved to Cuernavaca to retire more than 10 years ago looking for a quiet place to live. “I don’t have the money to move. If I did, I would leave.”

This is a city that depends on tourism and what violence has done is collapse our economy,” said club owner Andres Remis, president of the Cuernavacan Nightclubs and Bars Association. “The only thing that we can do is to wait for one of the groups to win or for the army to win.”

More than 50 people have been killed this year in Cuernavaca’s gang battles.

As I have mentioned before at the rate things are going in Mexico, the country will be hard press to attract many retirees. On the other, Costa Rica is fast becoming the number one retirement haven in Latin America. When you listen to the news or television and Costa Rica is mentioned, all that you really hear about is the country’s natural wonders and other positive information. The country is not crime free but fortunately doesn’t suffer from the endemic violence that plagues Mexico and some of the other countries in the region.