Fijatevos.com - Look Deeper

Costa Ricans have a choice of 404 different types of credit cards from 29 companies and banks, a recent Ministry of the Economy study shows. And they pay for it dearly with 23% to 45% interest rates.

Of those 404, 96 are registered to Credomatic, Citibank offers 78 and Banco Nacional 37. From February to April, 32 cards were withdrawn from circulation while 28 new ones were posted.

The death July 11 of Heredia private school principal Nancy Chaverri, 39, who was shot in the neck by a resentful 17-year-old student, has fueled a national debate on two fronts: the balance between school discipline vs. student rights and gun control. Chaverri lingered on life support at Hospital Mexico for nine days before succumbing to her wound. (See previous story.)

Gun purchases have skyrocketed during the past decades in response to citizen alarm at rising violence in this traditionally tranquil country. The nation's constitution has no equivalent of the U.S.'s second amendment, so gun control would be possible for lawmakers to pass, though  politically unpopular.