Costa Rica and Caricom

Today in class, for all of you that were elsewhere, we discussed Caricom, or The Caribbean Community Secretariat, which is an organization of several small island countries in the Caribbean Sea (you can find out which countries here).

I couldn't help but draw a parallel between Costa Rica and Caricom. Dependence on the US is a common theme, in one way or another, throughout the Western Hemisphere. Costa Rica and Caricom are in need of US for different reasons, but it manifests itself in the same way. Because Costa Rica has no substantial military, it has to make sure not to make any policy, or engage in any relations, that will upset the US too much. This same behavior is true for Caricom, for the same reason, but also because it is dependent on the US for markets in which to engage in trade. I know there are many parallels that can be drawn between many Western Hemisphere states, but I find this particularly interesting, because Costa Rica and the Caricom states are very different in almost every way.