Montserrat Sagot, sociologist and professor at the University of Costa Rica: “The factors that lead to a rise in crime in a particular country are usually complex. In the case of Costa Rica, the one-dimensional answer would be to say that the country has evolved from a place of transit of drugs to a territory of domestic gangs and criminal networks that are no longer under the control of the big cartels. In fact, in some cases, those transnational cartels have become rivals, which has provoked the development of strategies of informal warfare among them. However, that situation is not really the cause, but rather the result of more structural problems that explain how the participation in violent illegal enterprises can become a mode of life for certain people. First, the growing social inequality, economic deprivation and lack of opportunities in the country, as several studies have shown, have a strong and causal effect on crime. Second, the implementation of market-oriented policies in recent years has led to…”