Costa Rican Military - Last month, Costa Rica's Public Security Unit participated in the regional "War Games" in Tolemaida, Colombia, where they competed in grueling challenges that tested their stamina. physical, weapons, water skills and tactical skills. Called "Fuerzas Comando", the initiative is an initiative of the US Southern Command to promote cooperation, trust, readiness and interoperability between international special forces and other military and police units.
Special forces from 17 countries across the Americas - including Costa Rica - participated in the Fuerzas Comando skills competition from July 23 to 31. The activity was divided into exercises for the assault team and the sniper team. When the scores were tallied for the week, Team Colombia was in first place with 3,065 points and Team USA was in second place with 2,855 points. Costa Rica ranked 10th with 2,020 points – not bad for a country without a military. after the 1948 constitutional ban.
Costa Rican Military
Although Costa Rica does not have an army, it has a well-trained and heavily armed national security force. Seven members of Costa Rica's "Special Intervention Unit" (Unidad Especial de Intervención or UEI in Spanish) participated in Fuerzas Comando 2014. The UEI is part of a larger special security apparatus known as as the Department of Intelligence and Security, or DIS.
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Officially, the DIS is a non-military special police force assigned to inform the President of Costa Rica on matters related to national security. The UEI implements measures against terrorism and drug trafficking. UEI chief of operations Miguel Torres said the elite force was formed in 1982 after he and his colleagues returned from training with Israeli special forces in Panama. UEI has about 70 members.
DIS Director Mariano Figueres told The Tico Times: "UEI is an intervention group for the police, not the military. It is involved in drug trafficking and other crimes when the rate is high. the risk, to monitor and protect the police and/or judicial team."
However, members of these higher forces are certainly more similar to the military than to the police. During Fuerzas Comando, UEI members wore military fatigues and carried rifles. A YouTube video shows heavily armed DIS members flying helicopters near the Nicaraguan border.
DIS is not part of the national police, but receives its budget and orders directly from the President of Costa Rica. The organization was established according to articles 13 and 17 of the police law. Article 19 states that the purpose of the UEI is to "carry out dangerous acts of terrorism and drug trafficking".
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In 2014, the budget of DIS and UEI was ₡4.82 billion (less than $10 million) – about 46 percent of the total budget of the Ministry of Presidency. If not, there is always a debate about the financing and existence of DIS.
Patricia Pérez, a former legislator of the Libertarian Movement Party, told crhoy.com online: "There are serious questions about the resources allocated to them [DIS]. There are more important programs with a smaller budget and it requires clarification.DIS asked and said their work is confusing and has never been explained.
Two political parties, the Broad Front and the Citizen Action Party (PAC) have called for the program to be stopped. However, President Luis Guillermo Solís, a member of the center-left PAC, decided to go ahead with the program and appoint Figueres as leader. There was also controversy over UEI's involvement in Fuerzas Comando.
Torres told crhoy.com that much of the controversy surrounding UEI's involvement with Fuerzas Comando stems from a misunderstanding of the group's meaning and purpose. For example, he said he trained members if Nicaragua invaded Costa Rica during a territorial dispute currently being heard by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The UEI has also been used in hostage recovery situations and notorious drug crimes.
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Regardless of what DIS is doing in its capacity after returning from Fuerzas Comando, Robert Appin, deputy director of information and operations for the US Southern Command, told The Tico Times that the application is always good.
"Now we have these people from different countries who are practicing the skills they need in emergencies and then improving them because they're talking about what they did or how they can improve them," said Appin.
Skills tested included physical fitness for sniper and assault teams. The assault teams participated in a confidence course, close combat, backpack march, water activities and a trail. Sniper teams performed marking, concealment and movement operations.
In addition to the skills competition, Fuerzas Comando jointly organized the "Anti-Terrorism Scholarship Program". 28.-30. On July 20, top military officials met in Bogota to discuss regional challenges in the field of international organized crime and illegal drug trafficking. The purpose of the program is to promote cooperation between the military.
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Actions like Fuerzas Comando appear to be part of what US foreign policy expert Alexander Main, senior fellow for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, calls "United States review of Central America and Mexico" in a 2014 report. North American Congress on Latin America. Over the past two decades, as drug trafficking routes have shifted from the Caribbean to the Central American corridor, the U.S. government has worked with seven Central American countries to promote “ "war on drugs" is becoming more and more common, Main wrote.
By providing training and equipment, the US Southern Command, which is responsible for US military operations in Central and South America, is actively involved in maintaining this military approach to the "war on "international crime". According to their website, the US Southern Command's approach "supports the 2011 White House strategy to combat transnational organized crime and complements the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), and the Merida Initiative."
Since 2008, the United States has poured billions of dollars into these regional security programs - the Merida Initiative and especially CARSI. According to Main, "Although government officials emphasize investing in justice reform and drug prevention programs, most of the money has been used to support drug prohibition and enforcement." the way."
Millions of these dollars were used to train the police in Costa Rica, and they also received donations of equipment and vehicles. UEI itself received direct grants and training from the United States.
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Although military operations have done little to stop the flow of illegal drugs throughout Central America, in many countries, the military's increase is equated with an increase in violence and human rights violations. Although Costa Rica does not have a history of abuse, perhaps for the region itself, the police force has grown accordingly.
Fuerzas Comando is the 10th of its kind since the first one in 2004. Previous operations have been held in other US military strongholds such as Honduras, El Salvador, Paraguay and even even the state of Texas. Fuerzas Comando 2015 is scheduled to take place in Guatemala. Many of these places have committed human rights abuses and violence on behalf of their soldiers and police.
In addition to Fuerzas Comando, Costa Rican police units have participated in other military exercises throughout the region since 1999, according to the US Southern Command. The US Southern Command partnered with the US Navy to promote the PANAMAX 2013 exercise, a similar exercise by Fuerzas Comando in which Costa Rica also participated. However, Figueres was quick to point out the differences between UEI exercises and military operations.
"UEI is not a military unit and does not participate in military operations with the US Southern Command or other similar organizations," Figueres told The Tico Times. "This year's Fuerzas Comando competition is the same as last year." 1 of 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption - (left to right) SGM Bryan K. Zickefoose , SOUTHCOM Commander, presents a seminar certificate to Sgt. Humphreys, a member of the Panamanian National Police. Also there was Michael Soto, Minister of Public Security of Costa Rica, ...
Southcom Commander Visits Costa Rica To Strengthen Security Partnership > U.s. Southern Command > News
GUAPILES, COSTA RICA - A U.S. NCO from the Western Center for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), two U.S. Marines from MARFORSOUTH, and a U.S. soldier from the Program met in Costa Rica Partnering with the New Mexico National Guard in Costa Rica for a three-day training workshop. by improving the core skills and best practices of the VAT department and developing leadership.
This USSOUTHCOM Theater Commander Activity (TCA), titled "Non-commissioned (NCO) Assessment and Professional Development" Seminar at the Costa Rican National Police Academy in Guapiles, Costa Rica, involved 37 mid-level officers and senior NCOs from of Costa Rica and Panamanian Army personnel.
The seminar was an exchange of experience between military and law enforcement leaders and an initiative by the US Southern Command to strengthen relations with partner countries in the region. WHINSEC, a unit based at Fort Benning, Georgia, facilitates these exchanges by traveling to partner countries in the region and holding talks designed to light the spark.
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