Costa Rica Foreign Aid

In the days after a killer earthquake ripped up its southern Caribbean coastline, Costa Rica hurriedly repaired the docks that launch its most valuable export--bananas--to the rest of the world. The 107-mile highway to San Jose, the highland capital, was bustling with commerce a week later, thanks to the prompt repair of four damaged bridges. The country's sole oil refinery was pumping again, only briefly interrupted by a quake-induced fire.

In the days after a killer earthquake ripped up its southern Caribbean coastline, Costa Rica hurriedly repaired the docks that launch its most valuable export--bananas--to the rest of the world. The 107-mile highway to San Jose, the highland capital, was bustling with commerce a week later, thanks to the prompt repair of four damaged bridges. The country's sole oil refinery was pumping again, only briefly interrupted by a quake-induced fire.