Q COSTARICA — After warning that in a new Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) government, “he who does wrong pays for it,” Juan Carlos Hidalgo, the party’s presidential candidate, asserted that “no violent criminal will serve time outside of prison.”
The “Unidad” candidate made this promise after a violent weekend, which saw a triple homicide and several other incidents that put Costa Rica on track to close the year with more than 900 homicides.
“We have to guarantee that everyone can live in peace, without fear of shootings or assaults. Security is a problem that requires comprehensive attention, and although there are no miracle cures, we will promote judicial reform so that no violent criminal serves time outside of prison. He who does wrong pays for it,” said Hidalgo.
The PUSC candidate is clear that the war between drug trafficking gangs over territory is the country’s main problem, and therefore, the first thing he would do would be “to work with our friends in the European Community to help us control the ports.”
Since the 2019 opening of the Moín seaport in Limón, criminal groups have continued to fight for control of the port and its surrounding territory to ship cocaine inside containers leaving the port.
On Monday, August 18, 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Costa Rica has become a key global cocaine transshipment hub for groups trafficking cocaine into the United States.
The idea, in this case, is to cut off drug traffickers’ income. Hidalgo also proposes penal reform to crack down on criminals and promises to strengthen the police force with more officers and better technological equipment.
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