(CNN Spanish) – Clashes between criminal groups are robbing peace in Costa Rica, a country known internationally for its atmosphere of calm and which, in March this year, topped the list of Latin America’s happiest nations and ranked 23rd in the world, according to the World Happiness report network of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) reported that 602 murders have been recorded in Costa Rica so far this year, 184 more than in the same period in 2022, when 418 murders were recorded.
Security Minister Mario Zamora Cordero told CNN that the government regrets that a democracy as consolidated as Costa Rica’s is faced with a situation of murders like the current one, “where one of the characteristics of Costa Rica is respect for the lives and rights of people was”. The official added that a battle was rife between gangs that “have become Mexican and have influences from Colombian and Jamaican cartels.”
The OIJ report places the province of Limón with the highest number of homicides in the period January to September 1, 2023 with 151 murders, 42 more in the same period in 2022, followed by San José with 147 (76 more) and Puntarenas in the province Limón Central Pacific with 96 murders, 28 more than a year ago.
The government announced this Thursday an investment of 3.2 billion Costa Rican colones, about 6 million US dollars, for the construction of several police stations in the Caribbean of the country, stressing in a press release that the aim is to ensure peace and tranquility in the to restore land. City of Limonense.
Faced with the crime wave in this province, on May 25, the Ministry of Security, in coordination with the OIJ and the Public Ministry, launched Operation Limón Impact 2023. 15 days after the Government of Costa Rica launched Segura Plus, a plan to combat insecurity and the increasing number of murders, which is putting more public officials on the streets.
Aerial view of San Jose, Costa Rica taken on May 23, 2020. Photo credit: EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images
Clashes continue to occur between criminal gangs dedicated to drug trafficking. However, Zamora claims that the delegation of the central canton of this province recorded a 37% decrease in homicides as part of Operation Limón 2023.
At the country level, authorities are seeing a downward trend in the Safe Costa Rica Plus Plan, with 85 homicides in April, 77 in May, 72 in June and 70 in July. “They are indicators that the strategy applied is producing results with a tendency towards reduction,” said the minister. He assured that the efforts were focused on the contract killers and that so far this year “almost 85 murderers have been arrested red-handed who carried out contract killers”, which, according to Zamora, shows the capacity of the police to respond, “although there is one. “a lack of human resources for prevention throughout the national territory,” he stressed.
The official says the number of homicides rose to 74 in August, tied to the seizure of more than 2.5 tons of cocaine. “This creates a war between the gangs that previously marketed this type of product and disputes arise that are paid for with death (…). It has always been a pattern that after large drug seizures, a series of murders occur because of the “mistake.” “In these groups, the price is paid with death,” the official said.
Other measures
As part of the measures, Operation Sovereignty began in July with the installation of two scanners and a police presence to check containers entering and leaving the Moín terminal in the Caribbean, which is operated under a concession by the company APM Terminals .
According to President Rodrigo Chaves, it is a plan aimed at restoring sovereignty “so that there is no longer any organized crime or drug trafficking, because it is not worth it that our country is one of the leading cocaine exporters in the world.”
In Congress, lawmakers from various factions are trying to speed up projects to combat the crime wave, including one to allow the extradition of Costa Rican criminals demanded by foreign authorities and another to improve telephone tapping technology.
For Priscilla Vindas, MP from the left-wing Frente Amplio party, the initiatives are not enough. According to the lawmaker, there are studies around the world that show that “these high levels of crime are due to a lack of investment in health, education and other basic services.”