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20 years

Costa Rica headed down dangerous path of violence, country’s chief prosecutor warns

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murder homicide scene

(ICR Archive)

August 28th, 2015 (ICR News) Citing “more than 300 killings related to organized crime and drug trafficking in the last year” violence in Costa Rica is headed to a “point of no return,” Costa Rica’s chief prosecutor, Attorney General Jorge Chavarria once again warned this week.

 

Speaking Wednesday on the radio program Nuestra Voz, Chavarria expressed the need for various government institutions, including law enforcement, the judiciary, the executive and municipal governments to work together to address the issue.

 

“Decisions need to be made, the country is headed down a path of violence that has no return, we are a violent country,” Chavarria said.

 

Data released earlier this month by Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) show that the number of homicides recorded in the first half of this year grew an alarming 50 percent compared to the first half of 2014.

 

The OIJ recorded 269 homicides between January and June this year, compared to the 179 recorded during the same period in 2014.  That figure is a new record for the country.

 

Using data for the past 12 months – from June 2014 to June of this year – Costa Rica’s homicide rate now stands at 12.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.  The World Health Organization (WHO) describes a homicide rate of 10 per 100,000 inhabitants or greater as an “epidemic.”

 

The most violent month so far this year was March, with 51 murders in total.

 

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  • Ben

    Costa Rica is gettig out of control. 300 murders is way to many and there 6 months still to go in the year. Costa Rican police try but they are out gunned by gangs and cartels. Crime is everywhere now in Costa Rica and people are getting really conserned some Costa Rica say there need to be curfews for under 18 and other say Nica´s need to deported back to Ortega land. I always thought Costa Rica had very little gangs but now MS13 and Mexican Mafia are everywhere and the Gulf Cartels are buying land everywhere. Money laundry is everywhere in Costa Rica and the Cartels in Mexico love Costa Rica because they can do what they want and bribe polictian and police. Costa Rica has always been a mess now its a bloody disaster.

  • SDPUS

    Really a sad state to see the decline of safety in this country. One thing for sure, is that the top Fiscal, Jorge Chavarria, must accept responsibility for these changes. His office simply will not prosecute government criminals. When Solis was elected President one year ago, Jorge Chavarria was going to retire. But many of the prosecutors in the nation wanted him to stay on. And now in the last year, we have seen violence elevate to a point of no return. One must ask, why would all the prosecutors want to keep him on when things have been in decline? Obviously they wanted that so they could continue getting away with their corrupt deceptions on society.

    If he were replaced a year ago, maybe a head prosecutor could have come in who actually would have cleaned house, and ridded the government of many of its corrupt people. Instead, in the last year, no one from government has gone to jail. And things have gotten worse. You can’t expect violence to quell under these circumstances.

    The drug trade is flourishing the violence. It is not poor criminals who pass tons of cocaine. It is well connected individuals. These well connected individuals operate with impunity in this country. You can’t keep locking up the poor mules, but never take down a big guy who is actually responsible for running the show. But that is exactly what this government has continuously done. The corruption of political leadership is why. Allowing Fiscal General Jorge Chavarria to stay on was a HUGE mistake. A new top prosecutor should have been put in place, and he could of and should of cleaned house of all corrupt people.

    Jorge Chavarria Guzman and the media should now investigate what is going on with rogue elements that are operating out of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste- where this type of behavior has been taking place with agents of the OIJ office there, including the OIJ Santa Cruz Jefe, who is the root of this behavior. A case stemming back to April 29, 2011 is currently being investigated by Oficina de Asuntos lnternos: Nº 031-DRG-14

    The corrupt officers who are part of this scandal:
    1. Victor Chavez Chavarria (OIJ Santa Cruz Boss)
    2. Jose Angel Penaranda (Fiscal)
    3. Roger Hernandez Vasquez (Investigator)
    4. Rodolfo Vasquez Marchena (Investigator)
    5. Margarita Baltodano Pazos (Judge)

    ….Costa Rica can not successfully fight crime by letting rogue government employees operate organized crime syndicates from within. These people should have been suspended immediately, while the investigation takes place. The blatant falsification of documents, irregularities of procedure and manipulation of evidence is quite obvious. The empirical evidence in this case is absolutely profound, not to mention heinous. Justice should be swift, and the integrity of the Oficina de Asuntos lnternos is at stake. Communities deserve honest leadership. People deserve to be safe in their communities!!

    Instead, people in charge, continuously drag their feet on investigations. Letting time pass crucial evidence. Jorge Chavarria is the epitome of that. He will most likely say he needs more resources to do the job, but in effect, he is part of the problem. When he allows corrupt government people to stay in their jobs, he is only serving to embolden them, and in return they commit bigger crimes- because they no they can get away with it. Let me also point out, that Santa Cruz Fiscal Jose Penaranda, who is a corrupt prosecutor, was elevated in stature after his corrupt works in the case referenced above. 3 months after committing acts of organized crime with the above mentioned people, he was rewarded with an appointment in San Jose as a Prosecutor in the “organized crime division”. How fitting for a Costa Rican Criminal Prosecutor to receive such a reward for his obvious acts of corruption!!!! And just a few weeks back, Jose Penaranda just committed perjury in his declaration to the Oficina de Asuntos lnternos. Can’t wait to see how he is rewarded next…

    • NorthendFool

      Police on the take in Puerto and Limon. I personally watched a young man come into the BCR in Cahuita and deposit $25,000 with no questions asked. Teller acted like she knew him. He was wearing alot of bling and drove away in a Hummer.

      • Ben

        I have seen this before many times and the bankers seem not to care. Cartel and Mafia control Costa Rica

    • Ben

      Good luck with getting any cops put in Jail the goverment protects there enforcers. Your right who can you trust in Costa Rica. NO one can be trusted in goverment because they are all tainted by coruption.

  • Ken Morris

    Let’s be clear about what’s going on, namely “killings related to organized crime and drug trafficking.”

    True, the more of this that goes on, the more hangers on will be tempted to thuggery, but surely neither curfews nor sending Nicas back will attack the root problem. Neither will outfitting cops with more military gear and training. By the time there is shooting in the streets, the battle is already lost.

    Organized crime is by definition, duh, organized, and the only way to combat it is to unravel the organizations. This is white collar police work, not street crime fighting.

    I wish I were as sure as SDPUS is in identifying specific culprits in government. I just myself don’t know the facts.

    However, he is on the right track. For organized crime to exist, the cooperation of non-criminal organizations is usually required. Odds are some of this cooperation comes from public officials, though it would seem to me that the cooperation of banks is also necessary.

    Mostly importantly, railing against the alleged corruption of almost everyone in government or elsewhere gets us nowhere. Most people in all occupations follow the herd. The challenge to identify the people leading this herd.

    Of course, it would help a lot Costa Rica just legalized most currently illegal drugs too. This would deprive organized crime of its profits and thereby eliminate most of the corruption.

    • SDPUS

      Trying to eliminate drugs by criminalizing them is one of the most inept strategies that could ever be implemented. It simply will NEVER happen. Governments know this. It is no secret. We have decades of its effects on society clearly documented to understand this.

      I certainly don’t know all of the corrupt players throughout. But, the ones we have concretely identified in this specific case are clearly highlighted. Extortionists!!

      This case is being pushed from behind the scenes by some pretty powerful players. Top brass in CR political circles are well aware of the situation. Just as DOJ in the USA are. And this has created a very uncomfortable and difficult situation between nations and government institutions who work together on the “drug war”.

      The powers to be know they have an extremely difficult situation to remedy. And Ben, you may be exactly right. I am well aware of that. This case is already going on 5 years. But the empirical evidence against these people will eventually be what dooms everyone involved. Including those who have helped try and cover their tracks here. Eventually this case will probably have to be resolved by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Where the issue has already been well documented over the last few years at its Wash DC Headquarters. At that point, we will be able to use our own lawyers from the USA, and not be totally dependent on help from here.

      If this case goes all the way to the Inter-American Court, we are very confident of a better result. Lawyers within CR are useless in this situation, as they will not take these people on.

      Essentially, Costa Rica can continue to protect these corrupt people from what they did, by continuing to kick the can down the road. Or they can adequately apply justice to this situation. This case is only the tip of the iceberg for those who are involved.

      One way or another this case will continue to progress, and as those involved in the internal investigation know…the evidence against these people is profound and absolutely irrefutable. So they will have a very difficult job in not indicting them for trial. But if they do choose not to indict, surely they know this case will have strong reflections on them.

      In these accused peoples official declarations which were given last month to internal investigators, they each committed perjury. The internal investigators know this and have in their hands the concrete evidence to prove it. And they also know that we are not very trusting of the system at this point. Soon we will see what kind of integrity these internal investigators have. We also have them stuck between a rock and a hard place with some other evidence we still have not made available to them. Consider this a test of their integrity…

  • Ray N

    Having lived here for over 30 yrs, I can say CR has changed, gotten dirty, no one should be out after dark, only the lawless have guns, just try to get a permit to legally own one, so being a criminal is easy when the average person is defenseless. After it gets yet worse and there is an international quarantine on CR, PERHAPS a tougher stand will be taken.

  • Yeims

    It’s a real shame the government has so frivolously spent the hard-earned money of the taxpayers on pet nonsensical projects and now have no funds to deal with real problems.

  • richard schlinder

    This is not just criminals,this is a culture that is woven into the young Ticos.I have been here ten years and love C.R. But from experience,the very Chico you hire to work for you is the very chico that will steal your tools and the panels off your roof. If you got it,they want it and they will take their time to get it. I rarely leave my farm unprotected.If this bothered me,it would be a measurable place to live.Fortunately,I love staying on my farm each day.There is always something to do and those things are quite rewarding to me.But for those of you who think you are safe,forget it. Everything is in jeopardy from your belongings to your life.

  • prdatki

    I think it is called a Self Cleaning Oven(SCO) those 300 dead would be in jail costing the Government money. Let them shoot their selves,What the country needs is the death penalty , remove their organs and sell them to reduce the prison cost.

  • disgusted

    Reading how Uruguay, USA many states and Ecuador has been dealing with the criminal element. They decided to decriminalize the marijuana. I like how Uruguay now going to make it a cash crop for them. Nice. How would that be for the indigenous population allowed to grow this and make a living as well. Rather than spend thousands on police and helicopters searching for this and the justice system is chuck full of prisoners. And they have no food to feed themselves.

    Naw! Solis is going to take a trip on Costarricense colon and go to Washington, DC .. A wasted trip except for his posse and expense account . So sad most Tico’s can hardly make ends meet.

    A bakery here small shop pays over 800,000 for electricity and 250,000 for water How many loaves of bread do you have to sell just to pay this, not to mention salaries, rent and the dreaded Caja. Wonder here how everything so expensive especial for the Tico’s.

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