Along with Puntarenas and Limon, Guanacaste is a province in Costa Rica that is known to attract many revelers for New Year’s Eve celebrations. These provinces also happen to be hotspots of disorderly activity and domestic violence that transpire during the festivities, particularly after 10:00 pm on December 31^st. For this reason, officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, are planning to increase their presence in Guanacaste and other places where tourists and residents will flock to bid goodbye to 2014.

 

Since Tuesday, foot patrols by Fuerza Publica officers have been augmented in popular tourist sports in Guanacaste, including Tamarindo Beach and the following coastal towns:

 

• Junquillal
• Pinilla
• Ostional

 

For Fuerza Publica officers and Red Cross rescuers in Costa Rica, the Caribbean region is one of the most problematic during New Year’s Eve. This week alone, Fuerza Publica has confiscated about a dozen firearms that were illegally carried around Limon and the Southern Caribbean. According to a report by Pablo Rojas of online news daily CRHoy.com, New Year’s Eve 2012 netted a total of 110 domestic violence calls in the province of Limon. In previous years, Cahuita, Limon and Puerto Viejo have been hotspots of disturbances at the end of the year.

 

This past Wednesday in Nicoya, a 45-year old woman who had requested a no-contact, restrictive order imposed on her husband was the victim of a murder-suicide perpetrated by her estranged, 60-year old spouse. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Guanacaste is the province with the greatest rate of domestic violence incidents, and these tend to worsen during December and on the final days of the year.