Corruption in Costa Rica: could the Cochinilla Case be a sign of progress?

Though Costa Rica is seen as one of the Latin American countries best able to combat corruption, the country’s politics have repeatedly been shaken by major scandals in recent decades. But the nature of the investigation into the ongoing Cochinilla Case, involving kickbacks for public-works contracts, may actually be a sign of an increasingly effective anti-corruption drive, write Evelyn Villarreal Fernandez (State of the Nation Programme) and Bruce M. Wilson (University of Central Florida).