Bukele Absent From Opening of Costa Rica’s CACCO Maximum-Security Prison

RICO’s Q — Costa Rican President Laura Fernández said her government will examine El Salvador’s proposal to grant conditional early release to some prisoners linked to criminal gangs, while stopping short of criticizing President Nayib Bukele’s domestic policies. Fernández made the comments on October 14 during the inauguration of Costa Rica’s new Center for High Containment Against Organized Crime, or CACCO, in San Rafael de Alajuela, built inside the La Reforma prison complex, to hold up to 5,100 inmates. Asked about Bukele’s plan and allegations of arbitrary arrests during El Salvador’s state of exception, Fernández declined to pass judgment on the Salvadoran government.

“I don’t usually comment on public policies that are decisions made by other presidents in the region,” she said. She added that she would review the proposal with her team during a meeting scheduled for Friday, in El Salvador, with Bukele and members of his administration. “If there is something valuable, given that they have given us so much cooperation, we will study it,” Fernández said.

She also expressed hope that Costa Rica could bring back “even more positive things” that might benefit the country. Bukele announced the proposed release mechanism policy on October 13, a day before our Presidenta announced her idea. Bukele’s—now Laura Virginia’s—proposal would reportedly focus on prisoners who were not central participants in violent crimes.

Bukele said the measure could apply to roughly half of the prisoners linked to gang structures. The Salvadoran president presented—as Laura Virginia will also do—the proposal as an attempt to distinguish between violent gang members and people who assisted criminal organizations under pressure or coercion. Bukele cited the example of young people who warned gang members when security forces were entering neighborhoods under their control.

Fernández’s response carries particular weight because Costa Rica’s new high-security prison was modeled on El Salvador’s approach. The CACCO drew on the design and security principles donated by Bukele, of El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, known as CECOT. While Doña Laura takes the credit for the CACCO, former president Rodrigo Chaves worked with the Salvadoran government to study its prison model and receive technical assistance.

Fernández’s comments reflect a careful political calculatio… Q Costa Rica — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele did not attend the opening Wednesday of Costa Rica’s new maximum-security prison, despite being invited to the ceremony and having helped inspire the facility’s design. The Centro de Alta Contención contra el Crimen Organizado (CACCO)—High-Containment Center Against Organized Crime—was inaugurated on Oct.