Security & Strategic Review January 2009 (ISSN 1741-4202)

COSTA RICA-NICARAGUA | Row over 'abolished' army. The Nicaraguan ambassador to Costa Rica, Harold Rivas, was summoned to the Costa Rican foreign ministry for a dressing-down on 8 January, following statements he had made to the Nicaraguan press which cast doubt on Costa Rica's claim that it has not had an army since 1946. Rivas had commented on the 'heavy' weaponry [M-16 rifles] he had seen in the hands of the police on the border with his country. Costa Rican security minister, Janina del Vecchio, issued a communiqué noting that legislation allows the police to use M-16 rifles, and that this is frequent in border areas because of the illegal traffic in drugs, arms and people. Actually, President Óscar Arias recently signed a decree authorising the police to use 'prohibited weapons' (a category that includes any firearm capable of firing bursts of bullets) to control strikes and demonstrations. Del Vecchio has also quietly confirmed that Costa Rica will resume sending police officers to train at the US-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School for the Americas (SOA).