QCOSTARICA — A group of soldiers from the Salvadoran Armed Forces entered Costa Rica on Wednesday as part of the aid brigade announced on Monday by President Nayib Bukele in response to the rainy emergency during his official visit to Costa Rica.
The entry, however, was without prior approval from legislators who are required by the Political Constitution to authorize the entry of any foreign troops.
The presence of Salvadoran soldiers was acknowledged by Lydia Peralta, Vice Minister of Bilateral Affairs and International Cooperation, who made the report at the end of the afternoon in response to the concerns of several opposition parties.
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“A limited number of members of the Salvadoran Forces have come to Costa Rica to carry out humanitarian work that is not of a military nature” says one of the paragraphs, after mentioning that there are also firefighters, police officers and paramedics in the 300-member brigade that arrived on Tuesday, just hours after Bukele announced it together with President Rodrigo Chaves.
The presence of the military aroused suspicions among legislators due to the possibility of violating Article 121 of the Political Constitution, which in its fifth paragraph states that among the legislative powers is “to give or not to give consent for the entry of foreign troops into the national territory.”
When consulted, the Minister of Security, Mario Zamora, also acknowledged that they are members of the army, but “none of them carry any firearm” and “there is no personnel in military functions in Costa Rica,” conditions that the Political Constitution gives as exceptions.
“The situation is analogous to when we received support from non-armed helicopters from Colombia and the United States for humanitarian assistance in Cinchona,” he added, alluding to the emergency after the January 2009 earthquake.
The president of the Legislative Assembly, Rodrigo Arias, gave the president Rodrigo Chaves, an hour to explain the reasons for the entry of Salvadoran military personnel into the country.
Como parte de la misión humanitaria enviada a Costa Rica para apoyar en las labores de rescate y asistencia tras el impacto del huracán Rafael, hemos desplegado un equipo de 75 elementos de la @FUERZARMADASV, altamente capacitados y especializados en diversas áreas de rescate y… pic.twitter.com/FtZmiOzLCZ
— Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional (@DefensaSV) November 12, 2024
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According to the explanation given by vice-minister Peralta, the Salvadoran contingent from different areas such as the USAR group, the Armed Forces and the Medical Emergency System entered Costa Rica, along with 15 tons of food and 6 tons of supplies to carry out the humanitarian mission in the towns most affected by the rains of the last few days, on Avianca Airlines commercial flights and their work is being coordinated by Costa Rica’s National Emergency Commission (CNE).
Through letter DVMB-096-2024, Peralta justified the entry of Salvadoran soldiers into Costa Rican soil as part of the aid brigade sent by El Salvador in response to the onslaught of heavy rains in the Costa Rican Pacific.
“I would like to inform you that this is a group of volunteers made up of firefighters, police officers, paramedics and a limited number of officials from the Salvadoran Forces who have come to Costa Rica to carry out humanitarian work that is not of a military nature.
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“The volunteers have arrived in Costa Rica on commercial flights of the airline Avianca and their work is being coordinated by the National Emergency Commission,” the letter reads.
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