Luis Guillermo Solís

August 23, 2016 By Fausta

Costa Rica: US sends $1million for refugees, $30 million in military supplies

Obama Admin Has Given Costa Rica Nearly $1 Million To House Immigrants

Many of the immigrants pouring into Costa Rica are from other Central America countries, Cuba and Haiti. Speaking at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C, [Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo] Solis pointed out that Costa Rica is also receiving a lot of “extra-continental” immigrants.

Primarily these immigrants are from African countries, but Solis mentioned that his country has received some as well from Pakistan. The nearly million dollars Costa Rica received from the U.S is going to be used to “install camps” in the northern part of Costa Rica. President Solis mentioned that at one point there were more Cuban immigrants in the northern Costa Rican town of La Cruz than Costa Rican residents.

Obama Agrees to Massive Military Donations for Costa Rica

In a bid to help curb organized crime and human trafficking, Obama, accompanied by Vice-president Joe Biden, agreed to donate around $30 million in military supplies to Costa Rica, which includes two cargo planes, two large patrol boats and two smaller interceptor boats, air surveillance equipment and biometric software to help identify illegal immigrants in the field.

The agreement also provides supplies for law enforcement, including three armored vehicles, the construction of virtual shooting ranges and communication equipment for the guards at Corcovado National Park.

In addition to the equipment, the U.S. will provide Costa Rica with extensive Coast Guard training and maintenance packages for the boats.

Solís had recently expressed concern over neighboring Nicaragua’s purchase of fifty T-72 Russian tanks, according to A.M. Costa Rica (no direct link).

Additionally (emphasis added),

Last month, Costa Rica announced that it would offer temporary refuge to people fleeing from the violence-plagued Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala – a decision spurred by U.S. efforts to stem illegal entries along its southern border with Mexico.

As part of the program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will pre-screen people seeking protection and transfer them to Costa Rica for processing before resettlement in the U.S. or another country.

h/t JC.

February 4, 2014 By Fausta

Left turns: El Salvador and Costa Rica

Both countries held elections on Sunday, both go into runoffs in March, both favoring leftists:

In El Salvador, former FMlN leader and current vice-president Salvador Sánchez Cerén is ahead:
El Salvador: former leftwing guerrilla takes lead in presidential election
Salvador Sanchez Ceren was rebel leader in bloody civil war but with nearly half votes counted he is favourite to win March run off. Otto Reich sees a grim future if Sánchez Cerén wins (emphasis added):

Sánchez Cerén is no ordinary contender. For example, he has admitted to participating in the brutal execution of members of his own guerrilla force, the Popular Liberation Forces, or FPL, who did not comply with his orders and rules.

Witnesses and survivors accuse him of ordering the torture and subsequent murder of hundreds of alleged “traitors” and of guerrilla soldiers accused of desertion. Anywhere else in the world, Sánchez Cerén would be condemned for his record on human rights. In El Salvador, he is at the top of some polls.
…
Like [current president Mauricio] Funes, Sánchez Cerén paints a rosy picture of reformist, democratic rule. But Sánchez Cerén is being backed by the Venezuelan government through a multimillion-dollar enterprise called ALBA Petroleos. That enterprise was set up with Venezuelan money to provide FMLN mayors and officials exclusively with valuable products such as gasoline and toilet paper, which are scarce in Venezuela, in order to generate political goodwill for the FMLN party. ALBA Petroleos is managed by José Luis Merino, another former FMLN fighter, top official in the Salvadoran Communist party, and one of Sánchez Cerén’s closest advisers.

According to U.S. and Colombian intelligence and counter-narcotics agencies and international press reports, Merino has ties to the Marxist Colombian FARC army, to multinational drug cartels, and even to the Italian Mafia. It is persons like Merino who would staff a Sánchez Cerén government, or else stay outside and continue to manipulate resources that should go to the poor but instead are used to illicitly enrich FMLN party and government officials.

Likewise, in Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solís is ahead: Leftist Costa Rica outsider leads election, run-off expected

Luis Guillermo Solis, an academic who has never been elected to office, had a slim lead over ruling party candidate Johnny Araya despite trailing in pre-election polls and early vote returns.

Araya was seen as the front-runner ahead of the vote, but his campaign was hurt by corruption scandals that plagued President Laura Chinchilla’s administration.

Solis, who ran on an anti-corruption ticket, won 30.9 percent support on Sunday compared to 29.6 percent for Araya with returns in from around 82 percent of polling centers.

Left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Villalta was in third place with 17.2 percent. His supporters could help carry Solis to victory in the run-off against Araya, although votes from a host of smaller parties who commanded around a quarter of the tally on Sunday will also be fought over.

A Solis victory in the run-off would mark another triumph for center-left parties which have gained ground in much of Latin America in recent years.

Federico Delgado wrote about how Costa Rica Flirts with Chavismo with Frente Amplio candidate Jose Maria Villalta; so far Villalta came in third in Sunday’s results.