Costa Rican president signals openness to domestic US military operations

President Laura Fernandez notes that Costa Rica’s Congress would need to approve any US military operations within the country.

Costa Rica's President Laura Fernandez is interviewed by Reuters at the presidential palace in San Jose, Costa Rica, on September 4 [Mayela Lopez/Reuters]

Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez has suggested that United States military operations in the country’s territory could bring national security benefits.

But she added caveats. In an interview published on Friday, Fernandez emphasised to the news service Reuters that such measures would require approval from the national legislature.

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She also added there were no plans in the works for US forces to operate in the country.

“It would obviously be very good for national security if it were about pursuing a common objective against transnational crime, transnational drug trafficking, transnational terrorism,” said Fernandez, a right-wing populist who took office in May.

Fernandez succeeded her mentor, former President Rodrigo Chaves , after a February election in which concerns about security and rising violence in the Central American country played a prominent role.

Though she ran on a tough-on-crime platform, Fernandez has said that she is not currently considering a state of emergency to address the problem.

Such emergency declarations typically suspend key constitutional rights, in favour of giving police or the military added powers to crack down on violence.

That model has been popularised under the right-wing president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele .

But critics point out that the states of emergency are meant to be short-term measures, not permanent ones. El Salvador has been under an emergency declaration since 2022, with the government extending it dozens of times.

Crime has become a top voter concern in Costa Rica. The Central American country’s homicide rate has doubled in the last decade, reaching 17.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.

That figure still places the country’s average well below many others in the region, but the change, partly attributed to increased drug trafficking activity, has startled many residents.

Fernandez’s remarks also reflect growing pressure from the US to reduce crime across the Western Hemisphere.

Since returning to office for a second term, US President Donald Trump has pushed to expand his country’s influence across Latin America, notably through military engagements.

Earlier this year, he launched the “Shield of the Americas”, also known as the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC), to bring together right-wing leaders across the region to address drug trafficking.

Trump used the inaugural meeting to encourage Latin American governments to embrace a military-driven approach to crime, despite concerns about human rights.

He has also carried out and threatened military operations in sovereign countries, on the premise of combatting crime.

Some countries, such as Mexico, have baulked at the prospect of US military forces carrying out operations on their territory. Critics point to Washington’s long record of interventions and rights abuses in the region.

But other countries have been more receptive. US forces, for instance, have recently carried out military operations with the right-wing government of Ecuador, in an effort to lower crime rates.

Ecuador’s armed forces, however, have been accused of crimes such as torture and enforced disappearance, abuses that experts warn could be worsened by support from the US.

A July report from Human Rights Watch warns that the military collaboration between Ecuador and the US has already had dire consequences.

Ecuadorian fishermen have reported facing attacks at sea, and in one case, Ecuadorian soldiers allegedly detained and tortured four Colombian farm workers, using methods such as mock executions, beatings and electric shocks.

That incident reportedly took place during a raid near the border carried out with US support .

“The two countries’ security relationship is deepening at a moment when both governments have engaged in serious human rights violations fueled by their insistence on framing their confrontations with organised crime groups as a kind of war,” the report says.

Those raids come after Ecuadorian voters rejected a referendum last year that would have allowed foreign countries to set up military bases in the country.

总统劳拉·费尔南德斯指出，任何美国在哥斯达黎加境内的军事行动都需要得到哥斯达黎加国会的批准。

9月4日，哥斯达黎加总统劳拉·费尔南德斯在哥斯达黎加圣何塞总统府接受路透社采访。[Mayela Lopez/路透社]

哥斯达黎加总统劳拉·费尔南德斯表示，美国在该国领土上的军事行动可能会带来国家安全方面的好处。

但她也补充了一些注意事项。费尔南德斯在周五发表的一次采访中向路透社强调，此类措施需要得到国家立法机构的批准。

列表1/3：劳拉·费尔南德斯宣誓就任哥斯达黎加新总统

人权观察组织称，在美厄联合军事行动中，平民遭受袭击和虐待，这是其中三项措施中的第二项。

列表 3/3：为了对抗中国，特朗普主持召开拉丁美洲领导人峰会

她还补充说，目前没有美军在该国开展行动的计划。

“如果是为了打击跨国犯罪、跨国毒品贩运和跨国恐怖主义，那么对国家安全显然是非常有益的，”费尔南德斯说道。他是一位右翼民粹主义者，于今年五月上任。

在二月份的选举中，费尔南德斯接替了她的导师、前总统罗德里戈·查韦斯的职位。在这次选举中，人们对这个中美洲国家的安全和日益严重的暴力事件的担忧发挥了重要作用。

尽管费尔南德斯竞选时主张严厉打击犯罪，但她表示目前并未考虑宣布进入紧急状态来解决这个问题。

此类紧急状态声明通常会暂停关键的宪法权利，以便赋予警察或军队更多权力来打击暴力行为。

这种模式在萨尔瓦多右翼总统纳伊布·布克莱的领导下得到了推广。

但批评人士指出，紧急状态本应是短期措施，而非永久性措施。萨尔瓦多自2022年以来一直处于紧急状态，政府已数十次延长紧急状态。

犯罪问题已成为哥斯达黎加选民最关心的问题之一。这个中美洲国家的凶杀率在过去十年中翻了一番，预计到2023年将达到每10万居民17.2起。

尽管这一数字仍然远低于该地区许多其他国家的平均水平，但这一变化（部分归因于毒品贩运活动的增加）令许多居民感到震惊。

费尔南德斯的言论也反映出美国对降低整个西半球犯罪率施加了越来越大的压力。

自连任以来，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普一直致力于扩大美国在拉丁美洲的影响力，尤其通过军事行动来实现这一目标。

今年早些时候，他发起了“美洲之盾”（又称美洲反卡特尔联盟，简称ACCC），旨在联合该地区的右翼领导人，共同打击毒品走私。

尽管人们对人权问题表示担忧，特朗普仍利用就职会议鼓励拉丁美洲各国政府采取军事手段打击犯罪。

他还以打击犯罪为由，在主权国家实施或威胁实施军事行动。

一些国家，例如墨西哥，对美国军队在其领土上开展军事行动的前景感到担忧。批评人士指出，华盛顿在该地区有着长期干预和侵犯人权的记录。

但其他国家则更为接受。例如，美国军队最近与厄瓜多尔右翼政府开展了军事行动，以降低犯罪率。

然而，厄瓜多尔武装部队被指控犯有酷刑和强迫失踪等罪行，专家警告说，美国的支持可能会使这些虐待行为更加恶化。

人权观察组织7月份的一份报告警告说，厄瓜多尔和美国之间的军事合作已经造成了严重的后果。

厄瓜多尔渔民报告称在海上遭到袭击，其中一起案件中，厄瓜多尔士兵据称拘留并折磨了四名哥伦比亚农场工人，使用了模拟处决、殴打和电击等手段。

据报道，该事件发生在美军支持下，在边境附近的一次突袭行动中。

报告称：“两国政府都坚持将与有组织犯罪集团的对抗定性为战争，并因此犯下严重侵犯人权的行为，而与此同时，两国的安全关系却在不断加深。”

这些突袭行动发生在厄瓜多尔选民去年否决了一项允许外国在该国设立军事基地的全民公投之后。