"Have you never considered Costa Rica? It?s actually the safest and best-developing country in Latin America."
What are you basing that on? I've been to Costa Rica more than a few times, and I found it to crime-ridden, dirty, and very unsafe.
In fact, Costa Rica has a higher murder rate per capita than the US, and it is also higher than all other Latin American countries, excluding Columbia, Venezuela, and Mexico.
NationMaster - Murders (per capita) (most recent) by country
In my opinion, Panama is quickly following in Costa Rica's footsteps.
As other posters have noted, the world is much smaller than before, and crime seems to be increasing across the board, but the DR is at least understandable and manageable, at this point in time, and is relatively safe for an expat who is reasonably careful and aware.
It appears to me that Costa Rica is completely unsafe, and beyond redemption.