Peering at the monitor, beer in hand, all Zach Boyd can see is a small cottage, a pick up truck and clusters of trees. He is playing the game GeoGuessr, which shows players a street view image from Google Maps, then has them guess its location. Boyd and the other owners of Brewha Costa Rica in the Orosi Valley play it often.
A presidential ride on the plane of a suspected drug trafficker, almost legalizing gay marriage by accident, and the Unity Party’s descent into minor status all made news.
Between all the ancestral claims and secret canals, 2013 proved to be one bizarre-o year for diplomatic relations between the two Central American neighbors.
The secret assistance, which also includes substantial eavesdropping help from the National Security Agency, is funded through a multibillion-dollar black budget. It is not a part of the public $9 billion package of mostly U.S. military aid called Plan Colombia, which began in 2000.
“Our national parks are under siege, some of the most pristine forests in Central America are being logged out, while exotic birds are being extracted,” says Belize’s ambassador to the U.S.
