Costa Rica: Safety Without an Army

This country fired every single soldier and became one of the safest places on Earth.

Because in 1949 Costa Rica did something wild. They abolished their entire military.

Not reduced it. Not downsized it. Deleted it. But everyone thought they were crazy.

Because you need an army to protect yourself, right? That's how countries

survive. So neighboring countries waited for the collapse. For the invasion. For chaos.

But it never came. Because here's what Costa Rica did instead. They took all that military budget

and dumped it into healthcare and education. So while other countries were buying tanks, Costa Rica was building

schools. But this is Central America. Wars. Coups.