Costa Rican President gets tougher on security as crime soars

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Daniel Calderon, the Director of the country's Police and border control operations, said nearly twothirds of the country's murders are due to the "settling of scores between criminal organisations."

"We are going to mend the course we lost a long time ago," said Chaves, a week after criticising those who condemned the security crisis.

Aformer Vice President of Venezuela's State oil firm PDVSA was arrested as part of a widening anti-corruption probe looking into wrongdoing at the State company, a Government official said on Wednesday.

The investigation that began in October has led to the arrests of more than 60 Venezuelan officials and businessmen, and prompted the resignation of the country's Oil Minister. It is examining missing oil payments and the use of crypto currency for trans - actions.

Ysmel Serrano, formerly a PDVSA Executive Vice President and chief of trade between 2017 and 2018, appeared in court on Tuesday after being arrested by a special anti-corruption Police unit designated by President Nicolás Maduro for the case, said Venezuela's Information Minister Freddy Nanez on Twitter.

Antonio Perez Suarez, who also served as PDVSA Vice President, was previously arrested.

The anti-corruption Police also arrested busi -

From 2020 to March 2023, PDVSA accumulated US$21.2 billion in commercial accounts receivable, Reuters revealed last month citing internal PDVSA documents. The receivables were tied to dozens of little known middlemen companies that replaced big-name firms barred by US sanctions.

The total receivables include US$3.6 billion in accounts classified by PDVSA as potentially unrecoverable as the customers took oil cargoes away from Venezuelan waters without completing due payments. (Reuters)

Costa Rica's President on Wednesday presented a set of security measures in response to surging crime rates in the Central American country, which is currently on track this year to beat 2022's record murder rate.

"I want people to be able to walk down the street in peace," President Rodrigo Chaves said as he introduced the measures, including more Police, tougher juvenile criminal laws, permitting the extradition of nationals in overseas drug trafficking cases and stricter rules on ammunition sales.

Costa Rica ended 2022 with a record 12.6 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to the judicial research agency OIJ. The agency calculates that homicides are up 41 per cent in the first 100 days of 2023 versus the same period last year.

This represents one murder every 10 hours in a country of some 5.2 million, which has for years been hailed for its peaceful environment, which has helped make it a top destination for tourists and pensioners

Government officials have blamed decades of deteriorating social conditions, pressure from international drug trafficking groups, limited Police resources, and judicial inefficiency for the soaring crime rates.

The country's main business chamber on Friday called for a state of "national emergency", fearing a hit to foreign investment and tourism.

As Chaves nears the end of his first year in power with favourable opinion ratings, polls nonetheless point to insecurity among the main challenges in the country, which abolished its army in 1948. (Reuters)