Insecurity Conscious

Security is a constant concern in Nicaragua, even though this country is reported to have the lowest crime rate in Latin America. The huge disparity between rich and poor makes petty crime a chronic problem, and as a result houses are typically constructed with iron bars on windows and doors. Those who can afford to do so surround their homes with high walls topped by jagged glass shards or razor ribbon. Anything of value has an armed guard watching it twenty-four hours a day, making private security companies a huge industry. Property owners have no choice. Policemen are poorly paid, barely trained and ill-equipped, so their response to incidents of crime is half-hearted at best. A local resident recently had his home robbed and when he called the police they demanded gas money to drive out to his house. Walking past the local police station, I noticed that the on-duty officers park their motorcycles inside the building to prevent theft, a practice that hardly instills confidence.

Lack of security has a more subtle effect on a society than simple street crime. As one example, some tourists note the low standard of local building construction. Those who have visited Greece, for instance, recall the solidly built stone houses that have been there for centuries and make the towns so picturesque. The typical Nicaraguan house is a rather ugly rectangle of stuccoed cinder block, topped with a corrugated tin roof. The wars, revolutions, repressive dictatorships and natural disasters that Nicaraguans have suffered through have created a mentality of low expectation. Why build, work or invest for the long term when it can all be taken away from you tomorrow?

In places like Iraq, Afghanistan and the Congo, security is obviously a far more critical issue than it is in Nicaragua. Whereas it is an impediment to development here, in those countries no significant improvement of any kind will be seen until security problems have been addressed and people are no longer living in fear. Canadians, western Europeans and other citizens of the first world can take security largely for granted, but for the rest of humanity it is a factor that to some degree circumscribes their lives. Even in the United States, violent crime is so common that a large part of every major city is a 'no go' zone, particularly after dark.

Honest, effective police, a court system that works and transparent government would make an enormous difference to the quality of life for Nicaraguans. These things are a fundamental requirement for economic and social development, but few nations outside the rich countries enjoy their benefits. Training programmes for police and judiciary personnel are part of the foreign aid package for Afghanistan and Iraq, but are missing from assistance to the rest of the developing world. More attention to such basic foundations of civil society would pay disproportionately large dividends.