The president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, said on Friday, May 2 that his country advances in a “alliance” with the government from El Salvador towards the construction of a new prison for 5,000 prisoners.
During an inspection of the La Reforma Penitentiary Center – one of the country’s largest prisons – the president Chaves announced that he works in the search for financing to build a prison with the same design of the Salvadoran Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), which will demand an estimated investment in 35 million dollars.
“The other week we will define the financing. We already have advanced design And the promise of this government was, from the day we put the first stone, they are 195 days of constructionand that is why the alliance with El Salvador, ”said Justice Minister Gerald Campos.
Chaves hardens restrictions in Costa Rica prisons
Together with the promise of a new prison, the Chaves government implemented a series of restrictions in prisons, such as the Elimination of the “pulperías” or small grocery stores that worked in these centers and limitations in visits and the entry of food by the families of the prisoners.
Chaves justified the measures to the crimes that were committed from the prisons themselves, such as drug income, and the operation of clandestine call centers from which bank scams were made.
Costa Rica faces in recent years a wave of violence with a high number of homicides, largely related to the activity of criminal gangs and drug trafficking.
The Costa Rican president also assured that now only conjugal visits to people with proven links are allowed, as women’s visit to prisoners who were not their partners were detected.
During his visit to Costa Rica in September, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele visited this same penitentiary center with Chaves.
“Since the visit of Mr. President Bukele here there is a world of difference. There are no grocery stores, there is no cash, they were 80 in maximum security, now there are a thousand, there are operations with mobile scanners. There is more discipline,” said Costa Rican President.
Change in security measures implemented by Chaves cause protests
The new restrictions in prisons have motivated the protests of the families of the deprived of liberty, who claim that violating their rights and those of their children.
“They are not privileges what they have, they are rights, They took the right to see their childrenthe right to have a visit and eat food from the house, having their parcels, ”he told The Associated Press Katherine López, wife of a deprived of liberty.
Despite the protests, President Chaves said he did the inspection on Friday to verify compliance with the measures and said he will continue to visit the criminal centers to monitor that they are maintained.
