Election in Costa Rica: Longing for a troublesome hand | EUROtoday

Less than three weeks earlier than the presidential and parliamentary elections this Sunday in Costa Rica, two males are standing in entrance of a development web site in Alajuela, a suburb of the capital San José: President Rodrigo Chaves and his visitor, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

Together they lay the inspiration stone for the “Centro de Alta Contención del Crimen Organizado” (Cacco), a brand new high-security jail. It is a scaled-down copy of the notorious “Cecot” mega-prison in El Salvador. A fancy for greater than 5,000 severe criminals is being constructed for round $35 million.

The proven fact that Bukele personally wields the spade marks a turning level. In the nation that abolished its navy in 1948 and lengthy noticed itself as a peaceable haven in Central America, there’s a rising eager for a hard-line coverage, like in El Salvador, the place Bukele wages a cruel combat towards the gangs and enjoys nice recognition.

The jail development is an expression of a gradual erosion of safety in Costa Rica. Although the nation continues to be thought-about comparatively secure regionally, its particular place as a “safe haven” in Central America has been misplaced.

There has been a big enhance within the homicide fee lately. In 2023, it reached a historic excessive of just about 18 murders per 100,000 inhabitants with over 900 homicides. Last 12 months 873 murders have been registered. The port metropolis of Limón on the Caribbean coast is especially affected, the place turf wars between rival teams are driving violence effectively above the nationwide common.

The predominant driver is drug trafficking. What was as soon as an insignificant transit nation for cocaine from Colombia has change into an more and more essential hub for deliveries to Europe and North America, because the assume tank “Insight Crime” notes. At the identical time, seizures elevated: in 2024, the authorities confiscated round 27 tons of cocaine, and a bit of greater than 21 tons the 12 months earlier than.

With Costa Rica’s rising significance in regional drug logistics, cartels from Mexico and Colombia are more and more searching for alliances with native teams – a improvement paying homage to Ecuador. With the “South Caribbean Cartel”, the authorities lately recognized a company labeled as transnational for the primary time.

Within a number of years it developed from a road gang right into a construction with direct contacts in Colombia, corrupt officers and a community of contract killers. In a significant raid in November, practically 30 suspects have been arrested and medicines, automated weapons, actual property and dozens of autos have been seized. Several of these arrested have been on US needed lists.

The violence is more and more affecting uninvolved folks. In 2023, an eight-year-old boy was killed in his sleep by a stray bullet in San Jose. Fear is rising among the many inhabitants. In a survey performed by the University of Costa Rica on the finish of November, greater than 42 % of respondents cited crime as their greatest concern – forward of unemployment and the financial state of affairs.

Accordingly, the subject dominates the election marketing campaign. Laura Fernández, candidate of the right-wing “Sovereign People’s Party” (PPSO) and political ally of President Chaves, notably advantages from this. The former economics minister is clearly main the polls and will win within the first spherical of voting. It broadcasts the continuation of the safety coverage course, which was lately characterised by harder legal guidelines.

Contract killing has been punished with as much as 40 years in jail, and a constitutional reform permits Costa Rican residents to be extradited for drug-related offenses for the primary time. Fernández additionally obtained help from Bukele, who acknowledged throughout his go to that Costa Rica was trying ahead to “better days” underneath the present course, which was met with sharp criticism from opponents.

According to Insight Crime, the rise of organized crime would hardly have been potential with out corrupt officers. The most severe case is Celso Gamboa Sánchez, former safety minister and Supreme Court decide. He was arrested in June on the request of the United States. The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) accuses him of coordinating cocaine deliveries from Colombia.

Chaves himself can also be underneath strain. The judiciary tried unsuccessfully to have his immunity lifted over corruption allegations associated to cash from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE). Further instances of cash laundering, fraud and embezzlement increase the query of how a lot corruption has contributed to the erosion of safety coverage lately.