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Another sensational front page English language news headline yesterday: “Another U.S. tourist dies in apartment invasion.”
There are a couple of phrases in the article that speak volumes…
1. “Neighbors said he liked women, that he liked liquor.”
2. “The two retirees went out together almost every night, said neighbors. Just this one time Bob stayed in,” said a neighbor shaking her head.”
3. “Just 20 minutes before the robbery Salberg’s girlfriend who has the first name of Jenny pulled up in a taxi and went into the apartment, said the neighbor. The cleaning woman and her two children about 10 and 16 years old, also were in the apartment during the murder. They were unhurt.”
4. “Salberg also known as Roberto and Meyers or Marco were well known in the downtown casinos and the bars in Barrio Amón and the downtown, said friends. The two were frequently surrounded by women…”
5. “Neighbors don’t agree. “It had to have been someone who knew the house well,” said one neighbor.”
6. This isn’t the first time this has happened to the same apartment, said the neighbors. In 2006 a similar incident occurred, they said. No one was killed but the neighbors blamed the two robberies on one thing: the occupants’ lifestyles.
Now please don’t misunderstand me here because nobody should die like this however surely we have to take responsibility for our own actions, surely we should try and stay away from dangerous areas and high risk lifestyles?
Surely if we are going to go out almost every night to casinos and bars, drink heavily and socialize with ‘professional’ women who habitually hang around bars and casinos we are going to encounter people who live on the edge, no?
Is it just me? Do you not think the same? I am still fairly young and fit and can handle myself better than most but I would think this would be a high-risk activity to do once never mind every night
What do you think?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI agree. Your chance of being a victim of crime is definitely related to where you are (high risk area), what lifestyle behaviors you exhibit (drinking, drugs, prostitution) and the people you associate with, whether on purpose or by default based on your lifestyle. Random crimes are rare in comparison to non-random crimes, but when they do occur they are sensationalized by the media. When a crime happens in an area not know for crime, it is also sensationalized. Drugs and alcohol significantly increase the probability of crimes and criminal activity.
The US media is extremely biased. A drug dealer gunned down in the Little Haiti neigborhood of Miami might not even make the paper, but an American college student in Italy accused of taking part in a sexual murder in a small Tuscan village would make world headlines.
funny this story should appear after my just having sent my friend Dave an email telling him i wouldn’t rent my house for two months at premium rates to his lawyer-friend, who in an email to Dave, asked if there were lots of hot babes in Costa Rica. the entire scenario flashed through my mind in about ten seconds — he picks up some broad, brings her to my house, her brother knows gang members and she tells them this rich gringo is staying in a house that isn’t occupied all the time, and on her way out the door pockets a pre-columbian piece of pottery, then the worst happens — either i get robbed bigtime, or this bloke gets blown away in my house. at first i thought i was paranoid but after reading that article, i know i did the right thing. i don’t need money that badly to have some idiot do something stupid just because he’s in costa rica and the babes are hot. sheesh.
I am in 100% agreement with your point of view, Scott. The fact that the victim was an American is incidental and not even germane to the story. The lifestyle, character and habitat of the victim are the essential facts.
No question this article as well as other recent accounts are sensational in nature and have given many folks reason to pause. A bad thing from the standpoint of public relations, adding to the negative perception of CR in the minds of some.
Countering as Scott does here assists to a degree—-
On the other hand a certain amount of coverage heightens awareness of the need for crime prevention, both on a personal level and wider community efforts. These articles may also result in building political pressure on the CR goernment to strengthen the public safety and justice systems.
Balance is key, the English language press in CR has to date been less the fair and more than a little imbalanced.
ed fThe English language press may be aiming at Americans who are notoriously fearful by nature. A valid argument could be made that many Americans are just plain stupid when it comes to analysis. Look at today’s big stink about the Obama comment about lipstick on a pig and how the McCain campaign has been able to trick much of the public into thinking Obama is a misogynist because of it.
Palin set herself up for that one—-my first thought on her comparing herself to a pitbull is dogs don’t have very big brains and (if trained to be) are prone to violence. She fits the bill——-maybe she and Mike Vick can work together once he’s released from prison.
i don’t really see how this article was sensationalized. this loving grandfather, uncle, brother (according to the article in AM Costa Rica), comes to costa rica and runs amok, hanging out with hookers in casinos, drinking to excess, and generally acting like an idiot. he gets murdered. what about this is a surprise? what’s that saying — if you lie down with dogs, you come up with fleas. there is a perception that you can get anything you want in costa rica, including all kinds of illicit drugs, underage hookers of either sex, and nonstop partying for as long as you can do it. and there are plenty of guys who pursue those things once they get out of the airport. i don’t even get why anyone is suprised that he got whacked. if he hadn’t been acting like a besotted drunk, maybe he’d be alive today. stupid is forever. so is death.
Well sure a good bit is beahvioral but lets face it. Costa Rica is slap full of thieves. Maybe not violent criminals but thieves galore.
I don’t think being American has too much to do with it since I have dozens of Tico friends who have been robbed either a home break in a car window smashed or recently, my e and his family at knifepoint mid-day at Baldi hot springs.
Matter of fact I do not know ONE SINGLE PERSON Tico or Gringo or German or anyone who has not been ripped off in some manner in the last three years. The police are either dopeheads ( 1500 suspended now) or trying their best only to have some idiot judge let them on their way the next day like the 2 bozos with ” armas pesados” who were caught red handed in Tilaran and arrested only to be set free the next day. Thank you for “protecting” the public Judge Sandra.
2 other idiots in camo were caught loitering outisde the bank with 9 MM pistols and a Tico called the cops. They arrested them but had to let them go since they hadnt robbed the bank YET !!!
How bout the guys on the autopista that were dressed up as cops looking in cars that were arrested and let go cuz they ” hadn’t committed a crime” ?
This place that I love is a joke run by completely incompetent idiots !
Here’s one :
http://www.elon.edu/pendulum/Story.aspx?id=821How about the real estate girl who wrecked her car in June on Playa grande and ejected her and her infant from the car ? The Ticos stopped to help her. …out of her papers, jewelry, purse, laptop and even took the kids clothes. Left them lying there !
Yeah Reality
Pura Vida.Love McCain?
Take a look at this ‘baby’ story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-nickolas/the-anatomy-of-a-deceptio_b_120381.html
The Anatomy of a Deception: How The McCains Changed Their Baby Adoption Story Just Before 2008 Campaign Began.
Truly sickening
More lies
More deceit
More cover ups
It is the same old story
Nothing will change
We can expect more of the same from him and Obama – Whoever is elected, the same people behind the scenes are pulling the strings
Pick and choose what stories you want to believe. First of all, I find it hard to accept that you know nobody who has NOT been robbed. I don’t know anyone who HAS been robbed. I guess we hang out with a different crowd, huh? I wonder which o us is more likely to be a victim of crime.
If you live in San Jose or the Pacific and are an Idiot or act like one, then you will be robbed, mugged, killed, etc.
These 2 US citizens went to bars to pick up women and bring them to their apartments. Either Colombian, Nicaraguan or from the Dominican Republic. Wake UP, prostitution is legal in Costa Rica and they have to carry ID. Go to the love motels not your homes with women that have no ID and Pimp’s. If you pick up these women of the night and take them to your home’s, they will see where you live, security, entrance and exit, what kind of goods you have and rob you with the aid of their male friends.
These are not only Costa Ricans commiting these crimes but illegals by 90% of the times. If you go asking for trouble you will find trouble. Go flaunting Dollars at the Red Zone or some other un-healthy places like some Bar’s at 2:00 AM, alone and I will bet you by the time you leave you will be robbed or maybe even murdered. This happens all over the world not just in Costa Rica. 9 times out of 10 a Tico will commit a crime of opportunity, steal your camera, laptop, cell phone etc. Because you left them in the open but these other crimes are commited by hard core criminals against foreign nationals that go to the obscure places where crime is not a joke.
Use common sense but if you want to go to any country and savour your dark instincts then you will have to go to these places and it will cost you, one way or another.
Warren
Of course that lifestyle puts you in more danger of being robbed or killed. One doesn’t need a whole lot of sense to figure that out. I do not see any sensationalism in the article either. Everything is spelled out very clearly. I will continue to read this English language newspaper to keep informed of what’s happening.
Today in the same newspaper, is an article stating that two people go on trial today for murder in a home invasion of a presidential candidate last year. The suspects *are accused of killing* the domestic employee and also a neighbor who was on his balcony, curious as to what was happening.
On the same token, it doesn’t take a whole lot of sense to realize that having a lot of valuables or living in a luxurious home puts you in more danger than living a modest lifestyle.
Jon
Edited on Sep 10, 2008 11:55
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