Leave it to the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party to spoil the fiesta. Our sparkling new 34 million dollar megaprison was all ready to be opened. The transfer of the gangbangers and cartel leaders and random violent killers in La Reforma to their new supermax (at least by Tico standards) jail was a done deal. Then the most radical of Costa Rica’s many political parties sued, defending the rights of hardened criminals to not have to endure conditions too hot or uncomfortable.
At this writing the CACCO as it is officially called, for Centro de Alta Contención y Crimen Organizado (High-Security Center and Organized Crime Unit) waits expectantly for its new inhabitants. I am all for putting the worst of the worst in a place where they can no longer control any illicit operations from a jail cell.
Costa Rica has long had a curious mentality toward lawbreakers. Leniency has always been the given. Faith in rehabilitation of the bad guys part of the fabric of crime and punishment. Forgiveness was always an “I’m sorry and I won’t do it again” away. Prisoners are referred to as “Privados de Libertad”, those deprived of liberty. That their actions were what deprived them of liberty in the first place goes unspoken.
Now the pendulum has swung back furiously the other direction. Our president Laura Fernandez made the pilgrimage to El Salvador to tour their famous new megaprison, accompanied by Bukele, the right wing rock star president. The two were accompanied by various officials, all photographed waltzing down the prison corridors like travel agents inspecting a new five star hotel.
The prison in El Salvador is the model for the new one here, albeit with much larger capacity. Which is fitting, given that the crime problem in El Salvador caused by gangs was far greater than anything we have experienced in Costa Rica. The dream of the present government here seems to be that the new prison will bring about change as dramatic as what has happened under Bukele. Build it, fill it and our country will be safer.
There is an important distinction between the criminal elements of our two countries. The MS-13 gangs of El Salvador began among refugees of the long civil war who ended up in the poorer neighborhoods of Los Angeles. By the mid-1990s the gangs had gained notoriety with local and federal law enforcement agencies, and thousands with criminal records were deported back to El Salvador.
Many of the gang members had little previous connection with El Salvador and did not assimilate back into society. Instead they took up locations throughout the country and became a dangerous predatory class. The bulk of their money was made through extortion of local businesses, though they were also involved in human trafficking, and contract killings.
Their influence was much like that of organized crime mobs in the urban US through much of the 20th century. Any place the gangs took up residence became their personal fiefdoms, and they got a piece of any type of financial transaction. When Bukele went after the gangs he throttled the problem at the source.
The difference for Costa Rica is that we are a shipment bridge for international drug transactions, particularly cocaine. The cartels established their territories here over time, relying on force, but also extensive bribery at all levels of law enforcement. There have been a recent number of highly publicized cocaine busts, but even the most optimistic reports from the US Coast Guard and DEA estimate that the amount captured accounts for only about 10 to 15 percent of all coke shipments.
Busting local cartel leaders does not get to the root of the problem. The problem is both the source– the cocaine producers of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and the market: Millions of consumers in North America and Europe, all too ready to snort blow and jabber the night away.
Until the unlikely day that there are no more users, the cocaine will flow, and Costa Rica will continue to be a strategic point along the shipment route. The demand is too great and the earnings too lucrative to think that removing those at the top of the chain will solve the problem.
Meanwhile CACCO awaits. Soon it will be full and only time will tell if our new hardline attitude toward organized criminals will make a difference in our overall safety and sanity
