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U.S. Government
donates motorcycles and trains teams
of Costa Rican police
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Three police officers, Andrés
Balmaceda-Peralta, Sergio Meza-Calderón,
and Milton Lizano-Retana, were trained for
more than a month, on leadership
development, at the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation, known
as WHINSEC, at Fort Benning in Columbus,
Georgia.
The WHINSEC institute was established by
federal law and opened in January 2001 to
provide professional education and
training to military, civilian, and law
enforcement personnel from eligible
nations from the Western Hemisphere.
"The Institute provides the nations of the
Western Hemisphere the opportunity to
enhance the professional level of their
national military, uniformed police, and
civilian security workforce and to provide
them the tools to successfully use
multinational and interagency approaches
to regional security challenges," said the
institute in its statement.
According to WHINSEC, an equally crucial
component of the mission is the
establishment of professional and personal
relationships within and among
participating nations, encouraging
cooperation at all levels.
The three Costa Rican officers were
trained from July 15th to August 23rd,
along with 88 students from countries such
as Colombia, Ecuador, and the U.S.
According to the Ministry of Security, one
of the Costa Rican police officers, Andrés
Balmaceda-Peralta, achieved second place
academically received the award for best
leadership and a prize for physical
excellence.
"The course was based on activities which
focused on personnel leadership. Through
field exercises, students developed the
critical analysis to resolve conflicts
that may occur in daily duties," said the
Ministry in its statement.
According to the Ministry, the training
was based on the importance of compliance
with Human Rights.
The U.S. Embassy, through the U.S. Bureau
of International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement (INL), also donated two weeks
of training for another team of 15 Costas
Rican officers.
U.S. Embassy courtesy photo
According to the Embassy, with the support
of the official U.S. Border Patrol, the 15
Costa Rican officers received training in
Basic Bicycle Patrol, carrying out tests
such as bicycle tours for 217 kilometers,
"pedaling through rain, humidity, and
heat."
This training is a "demonstration of our
commitment and joint work with Costa Rican
authorities for a safer Costa Rica," said
the Embassy in its statement.
And on Friday, the U.S. Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement donated six motorcycles to the
municipalities of the communities of Alajuelita*, Desamparados*, and Cuidad Colón* in the
province of San José.
U.S. Embassy
courtesy photo
"The donation of these motorcycles comes
to strengthen our police to give more
security to the citizens," said Modesto
Alpizar, Mayor of Alajuelita.
Mayor of Desamparados, Gilbert Jimenez,
said thanks for the donation, it will
increase the work to "prevent violence in
the canton".
Also, Gilberto Monge, Mayor of Cuidad
Colon, thanked the Embassy for a donation
that is "a great blessing ."
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Besides security, what other issues in
Costa Rica, requires more support from the
United States government? We would
like to know your thoughts on this story.
Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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