Residents and business owners in Nuevo Arenal, a town in north-central Costa Rica near the Arenal Volcano, are demanding a greater police presence after a spike in crime in recent months.
Libertarian Movement Party lawmaker and former presidential hopeful Otto Guevara has presented a bill to abolish Costa Rica's Department of Intelligence and Security, and President Luis Guillermo SolÃs' pick to head the agency has drawn criticism.
In preparation for year-end Christmas bonuses, which usually prompt a spike in robberies and assaults, police are stepping up patrols in the nation’s capital.
