QCOSTARICA — The Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) faction insists on a bill to prohibit motorcyclists from traveling with male companions as a measure against hired assassins or sicarios in Spanish.
María Marta Carballo, the leader of the PUSC faction in the Legislative Assembly, headed the bill drafted by PUSC legislator Alejandro Pacheco, known as file 24.047, “Law against hired assassins in Costa Rica and initiative 24.137, Reform to the Law of Traffic on Public Roads and Road Safety, Law No. 9078 of October 4, 2012, to Establish Temporary Safety Measures for the use of Motorcycles.”
“I make a vehement call to my fellow legislative faction leaders and to the Executive Branch to continue actions in the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Branches to fight against drug trafficking, organized crime and contract killings,” said legislator Carballo.
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What does the project seek?
Initiative 24.047 against contract killings proposes prohibiting, at a certain time of the day, motorcyclist drivers from traveling on two-wheeled motorcycles with a male companion.
This prohibition does not apply when the companions are:
- Women
- Children
- People with disabilities
- Authorities (ie police) in the performance of their duties
Record numbers
The bill comes at a time when Costa Rica faces a record number of homicides. The director of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), Randall Zúñiga, detailed that 2024 ended with 880 homicides.
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This was the second most violent year, with a decrease of 2.7% over the record number of 904 homicides in 2023.
Zúñiga, in a press conference, highlighted the decrease in homicides in Guanacaste, going from 100 in 2023 to 75. On the other hand, the province of San José had a significant increase in homicides, going from 219 to 250.
The province of Heredia was the only of the seven provinces to have the fewest homicides in 2024, with 39 of the 880
Why? The OIJ director explained the reason for this phenomenon.
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“Heredia does not have so many precarious people. Of the 10 cantons that Heredia has, 8 have Municipal Police. In addition, it has the highest rates in terms of education,” said the official.
“Heredia has a whole series of very specific conditions that favor the decrease in homicides. There are possibilities of hope for young people to be able to work and have a better future,” he added.
The OIJ chief added that employers in Heredia are concerned about the issue of security, as well as being the place where the most micro-trafficking police operations take place.
A lesson to be learned by the governments in the other provinces.
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