The visit of Obama to Costa Rica to attend the meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA, by its Spanish initials) was nothing more than a smokescreen for anything but the SICA meeting. There was never any intention of holding a real SICA meeting.
Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948 and recognizes a constitutional right to peace. But recent decisions to militarize the police and allow U.S. military presence and training in the country violate the constitution and threat the commitment to peace.
Last April 28, 2011, a Costa Rican court nullified a Presidential Decree issued by former President Oscar Arias that granted police chiefs of police the power to authorize and use weapons of war. The ruling represents a victory, but Costa Rica’s commitment to peace is being undermined from within.
