COSTA RICA: VP CHINCHILLA ON SECURITY ISSUES

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000389 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, INL/LP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR SNAR CS SUBJECT: COSTA RICA: VP CHINCHILLA ON SECURITY ISSUES REF: SAN JOSE 287 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On April 29, Charge, DEA Country Attache, ODR Chief and NAS officer met with Vice President (and Minister of Justice) Laura Chinchilla to discuss current and planned bilateral USG security assistance, including the Merida Initiative, to Costa Rica. We also explained the delayed entry into the U.S. of Costa Rican Attorney General Francisco Dall'Anese on April 23 at Miami International Airport(septel),and briefed Chinchilla on the status of Costa Rica's pending (due to shortage of funds) new national wiretap facility. Chinchilla gave us the green light to proceed with our planning to conduct a National Security Planning Workshop in early August and asked for police professionalization training and help to remove crack cocaine from the streets of Costa Rica. END SUMMARY. ================= MERIDA INITIATIVE ================= ¶2. (SBU) We briefed Chinchilla on the Merida Initiative, focusing on the major programs that would affect Costa Rica if the proposed legislation was passed by the U.S. Congress. In her capacity as Minister of Justice, Chinchilla was particularly interested in prison management assistance. She emphasized that Costa Rica needed the Merida Initiative to help address its deteriorating domestic security situation in all its aspects and she appreciated any assistance the USG could provide. She asked that the GOCR be involved in the plan to assist Costa Rican law enforcement entities. To further that request, we briefed the Merida Initiative and legacy INL assistance programs to the new Minister of Public Security, Janina Del Vecchio, on May 7. Del Vecchio appeared to be very engaged on the topic and requested as many details as possible. NOTE: We continue to consult closely with the affected Costa Rican security agencies on all aspects of USG security assistance, including the potential Merida Initiative. END NOTE. ================ WIRETAP FACILITY ================ ¶3. (SBU) We updated Chinchilla on the progress of Costa Rica's new wiretap national facility. Funding, even with $100K dedicated from INL funds and $700K from the GOCR, remains short by about $700K (the facility's estimated cost is approximately $1.5 million). Also, the Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD) and the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE, which controls the national telecom) need to complete internal GOCR agreements to harmonize software and hardware issues. Chinchilla fully supports the wiretap facility and said the sooner it was in operation the better to help combat narcotrafficking and organized crime. ============================================ POLICE PROFESSIONALIZATION AND CRACK COCAINE ============================================ ¶4. (SBU) Chinchilla requested police professionalization assistance for Costa Rica's various police entities. She said that the police here try hard but need to get better at basic police tasks. She cited as a positive example that could apply to Costa Rica, the police professionalization program that the USG funds in Panama. We told her that the Merida Initiative included funding for police training and equipment. NOTE: Post is investigating various options for police professionalization training, including the NGO that NAS Panama is using in their program. END NOTE. ¶5. (SBU) Chinchilla also requested assistance to combat the growing epidemic of crack cocaine use in Costa Rica. She noted that several U.S. cities had successfully implemented anti-crack campaigns and said that those could serve as models for Costa Rica, especially for San Jose. Partially due to the serious crack problem, Chinchilla added that the people of Costa Rica had a sense that the government only works to combat international narcotics trafficking and does not do enough to address domestic drug consumption problems. NOTE: After the meeting, we double-checked statistics provided to us by the Costa Rican Anti-Drug Police (PCD). The PCD's statistics report that 70 percent of their 2007 anti-drug operations were from national trafficking (286 cases) versus 30 percent (125 cases) for international. Additionally, of 400 detained individuals in 2007, 75 percent (303 persons) were Costa Rican versus 25 percent (102) foreigners. We will work with the GOCR to dispel the notion that the bulk of drug cases are international. END NOTE. ¶6. (SBU) In our separate meeting with Del Vecchio on May 7, she also emphasized the alarming impact that crack cocaine was having on Costa Rica's youth. She told us that an estimated 80 percent of crimes in Costa Rica are related to the trafficking, distribution and selling of crack cocaine. By far, she said, it was Costa Rica's number one internal drug problem. =============================== SUPPORT FOR DOD-FUNDED PROJECTS =============================== ¶7. (SBU) We briefed Chinchilla on several DOD-funded assistance projects in Costa Rica, including a National Security Planning Workshop (to follow up the 2006 workshop she attended),support for the new Costa Rican police academy, upcoming visits by WHINSEC Mobile Training Teams, and various humanitarian projects. Chinchilla, recalling the utility of the 2006 National Security Workshop, gave us the green light to conduct the follow-on, tentatively scheduled for this summer. She reiterated her appreciation for all of the security-related support that the USG provided Costa Rica. Del Vecchio echoed Chinchilla's gratitude for USG security assistance, underlining that "the more the better, and the quicker the better." ======= COMMENT ======= ¶8. (SBU) Chinchilla's (and Del Vecchio's) strong support for USG security assistance from both civilian and military sources is a full 180 degree turn from the Arias Administration's position from even 12 months ago. The deteriorating domestic security situation, mainly due to rocketing violent crime as a result of increased narcotrafficking, helped push the Arias Administration to admit that it needed USG help. Though bilateral relations with the U.S. have been historically good, the GOCR's re-iterated request for security assistance (especially from the Minister of Public Security) is a welcome and positive development. Del Vecchio repeated several times that she wanted to get USG security assistance accelerated and on a high level as soon as possible. It seemed clear to us that she was receiving pressure from the top leadership in the country, quite possibly from President Arias himself, and that she needed to quickly get a handle on security issues and begin to reverse the deteriorating domestic security situation. During his May 1 State of the Republic address, Arias stressed that the country's domestic security problems were not "imagined" and were his administration's top concern. This seemed a deliberate rebuttal to Del Vecchio's earlier comments (reftel) that the perception of domestic security problems were worse than the reality. BRENNAN