El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, recommended that Costa Rica toughen its prison system, describing it as too “permissive” after visiting a Costa Rican prison with his counterpart, Rodrigo Chaves, on Tuesday at the end of an official visit.
“We believe the prison system should be less permissive, focusing more on the rights of those outside and a country’s right to security,” Bukele said after touring the La Reforma prison, located 23 km east of San José.
During Bukele’s visit to Costa Rica, the two presidents discussed different security approaches and strategies to combat organized crime. They also signed memorandums of understanding on tourism, trade, and bilateral relations.
Bukele noted the contrasts between Costa Rica’s prison system and that of El Salvador, which he reformed as part of his “war” against gangs launched in March 2022 under a state of emergency allowing arrests without warrants.
The Salvadoran president pointed out Costa Rica’s high cost per inmate, which he estimated at around $1,200 per month.
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“They are spending nearly two minimum wages per inmate. It’s an injustice,” Bukele stated, adding that Costa Rica’s penal system “needs reform.”
Regarding inmate rights, Bukele suggested limiting intimate visits and TV access to prevent prisons from becoming “headquarters for crime.”
“We hope you take the necessary measures,” Bukele said about the increase in crime in Costa Rica, which has seen 757 homicides in 2024, mostly related to drug trafficking.
El Salvador delivers aid to Costa Rica amid severe flooding and red alerts
Costa Rica raised alert levels on Tuesday due to ongoing heavy rains that are expected to continue throughout the week. So far, flooding has forced 1,369 people into shelters, and the country is receiving humanitarian aid from El Salvador in response to the emergency.
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) declared a red alert (the highest level) for the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas along the Pacific coast, and an orange alert (high level) for the rest of the country, except for Limón province (Caribbean), which is under a yellow alert (intermediate level).
The CNE reported that the rainy pattern is expected to persist throughout the week. The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) is also monitoring tropical wave number 46, which has a high potential to develop into a tropical cyclone over the Caribbean Sea in the next seven days.
“Rainfall is expected to continue over the coming days, especially along Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. Additionally, there is a high saturation of soil across much of the country, creating significant vulnerability to incidents like flooding and landslides,” explained the CNE.
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, who is wrapping up a two-day visit to Costa Rica on Tuesday, announced on Monday the dispatch of a plane carrying humanitarian aid. Originally, the aid was intended for flood victims in Valencia, Spain, affected by a recent storm.
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Bukele explained on Tuesday that Spain is currently not accepting international aid, so he decided to redirect the shipment to Costa Rica, splitting it across three smaller planes, with an additional 20 trucks carrying 400 tons of aid set to arrive in the coming days.
On Tuesday, planes carrying humanitarian aid arrived in Costa Rica, as confirmed by both governments.
“We have sent aid missions to Turkey, and we intended to send one to Spain, but the government there did not accept international assistance—not just from us, but from anyone. We were surprised at how swiftly the Costa Rican government acted,” Bukele stated on Tuesday.
Nicaraguan Naval Force seizes cocaine on Pacific Coast, suspects escape
The Nicaraguan Army’s Naval Force reported on Tuesday the seizure of two bundles containing 80 packages of cocaine along the Pacific coast, although none of the four suspects were apprehended.
The illicit substance was seized near the Quizalá beach, in the municipality of San Rafael del Sur, Managua department. According to the military report, the four suspects “fled, leaving the drugs behind” after “detecting the presence of Army troops.”
The two “red bundles (…) contained 80 rectangular packages of cocaine,” the Nicaraguan Army stated.
The operation was conducted by the First Naval Troop Battalion “Commander Richard Lugo Kautz,” part of the Naval Force.
Authorities did not provide details on the individuals connected to the drug haul or the weight of the cocaine seized. They confirmed that the drugs were handed over to the relevant authorities for legal proceedings.
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Nicaraguan authorities emphasize that they are implementing a strategy called the ‘Containment Wall,’ aimed at preventing the movement of drugs or drug-related money into populated areas. They maintain “close cooperation” with regional countries as well as the United States, Mexico, and Russia.
Nicaragua is located along a major drug trafficking corridor from South America to North America, where Mexican cartels operate, and the primary consumers are located.
Bukele begins official visit to Costa Rica based on security, cooperation and trade
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, began this Monday an official two-day visit to Costa Rica in which he will address with his Costa Rican colleague, Rodrigo Chaves, issues of security, trade and cooperation.
Bukele’s agenda for this Monday includes a bilateral meeting with Chaves and an extended one with representatives of both cabinets in which both countries will sign agreements and talk about trade, security and cooperation issues, according to official sources.
The Salvadoran president will also receive the Juan Mora Fernández National Order decoration in the Grand Cross Golden Plate degree, the highest distinction that Costa Rica grants to distinguished heads of state or government.
“El Salvador was one of the most violent and unsafe places in the world (…) with Dantesque murder rates and now El Salvador is one of the safest countries in the world, even more than Switzerland, I never imagined getting to see that,” said President Chaves last Wednesday when he announced Bukele’s visit.
The president assured that the order is granted to Bukele for “his contributions in public security and for having turned that society into a safe society” and also because “a large number of the people of Costa Rica admire the achievements of that country.”
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At the end of the day this Monday, they will participate in a state dinner.
Bukele’s agenda in Costa Rica
For Tuesday, the agenda released by the Government of Costa Rica indicates that both presidents will make a “working visit” to the La Reforma Penitentiary Center, one of the main prisons in Costa Rica, and then give a press conference.
“We are not going to take him to the most beautiful place in Costa Rica or to a volcano, or to the National Museum, we are going to go to La Reforma on a work visit, we are going to see what that represents, how it smells, what it smells, what it feels like and there we are going to sit down to work,” Chaves said.
This visit has generated criticism from several opposition political parties in Costa Rica that refused to receive Bukele in the Plenary of Congress for the allegations about violations of human rights, institutionality and the Constitution during his mandate.
The Supreme Court also refused to receive Bukele, according to President Chaves, who ruled out bilateral meetings or with groups of deputies or magistrates.
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Chaves criticized that there are opposition deputies who did not want Bukele to visit Congress because the initiatives he has implemented in El Salvador against crime and violence contradict the “hugs to those who shoot,” a phrase that the Costa Rican ruler has used to criticize deputies and the country’s laws, which he considers “soft” against crime.
