On March 24^th, the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs heard testimony provided by William R. Brownfield, the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The testimony focused on the assistance given to Central America under the INL program. Highlights of Mr. Brownfield’s testimony as they relate to Costa Rica are presented below:

Within corrections systems, INL provides technical assistance for critical reforms. We are developing regional models in Costa Rica and El Salvador to secure these [correctional] locations more effectively and ensure that criminal enterprises are not run from inside prison walls, while allowing for rehabilitation and reintegration services that will lower recidivism rates. We also are in ongoing discussion with the Government of Honduras regarding a forthcoming prison reform law.

We are also focused on addressing gender-based and family violence, which contribute to the high rates of violence and homicide throughout Central America. INL programs, in close coordination with partners at USAID, will provide complementary assistance to address these challenges. Last year, a group of prosecutors, judges, and doctors, selected by the President of Costa Rica’s Supreme Court, attended a Gender Based Violence (GBV) INL training in the United States. Upon their return, participants quickly acted on what they had learned in training. As a result, they recommended creating a specialized unit to help victims of sexual assault, launching a national campaign to promote awareness and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence, and called for a national congress to provide train-the-trainer workshops for 450 people to combat gender-based and domestic violence.

INL support for vetted units in the region has been crucial to the removal of transnational crime leaders and organizations. INL supports vetted units in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama. Members of these units are often the best of the police force; officers who focus on specialized areas such as counternarcotics, violent crimes, and financial crimes. The work of these units is essential to reducing the power and influence of these sophisticated transnational criminal organizations, which are responsible for promoting much of the growth in violence and corruption of public officials in the region that undermines security and governance. Recently, these vetted units have seen notable success in taking down large transnational criminal organizations and, in some cases, extraditing their leaders to the United States.