Ambassador Anne S. Andrew 
Remarks for Community Policing Event

San Ramon, Costa Rica - Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Colonel Andrade, Chief Venegas, distinguished guests and residents of San Ramon:
I am honored to be here with you today in this, the city of Poets and Presidents, a city with such a rich history of leadership and creativity. And how appropriate that you, the people of San Ramon should gather today, which as you know is the International Day of Peace, to again show your leadership and creativity, this time in discussing how to help bring peace and safety to our own communities. I must say, one of the most gratifying aspects of my position as Ambassador has been the continuing partnership shared by the American Embassy with many ministries in the national government. Today, I am glad to say that we now share that sense of partnership with the municipality of San Ramon, its leaders and its residents. 

Last week, in her Independence eve remarks, President Chinchilla called on all Costa Ricans to ask "What am I doing for my community, for my barrio, for my people." I take those words as an endorsement of what you, the people of San Ramon, have already undertaken and are pursuing today. And I am delighted to see that the expatriate residents of San Ramon, many of them my own countrymen, have stepped forward to join their Costa Rican neighbors in their quest for a safer community. 

President Chinchilla has not only called on you, the municipal leaders and average citizens, to work to improve your communities. She has also called on the Asamblea Legislativa to support this effort with resources and laws, and on the courts to support this effort with wisdom. That’s the way it works in a democracy, that’s the shared experience of free peoples everywhere: it is not just the executive - the President, her minister of security, and their national police - who are responsible for the security of a country and its people. No, it is the collective will and determined efforts of all, of the President and the legislature, of the prosecutors and the judges, of the municipal officials and of you the people, that will win back the streets of Costa Rica. United in the quest for this common goal, you cannot fail, you will succeed!

But as you know, these are grave times, and your leaders have said that they need new tools to confront the new challenges of delinquency and organized crime in Costa Rica. I want you to know that the United States Embassy is committed to supporting Costa Rica and her neighbors in their quest for a more secure future. We are doing this in part through the Central American Regional Security Initiative, in which we strive not only to eliminate the scourge of narcotics trafficking from the high seas but also to remove it from the streets of San Jose and the barrios of San Ramon. 

Yes, the Embassy and government of the United States are active partners in this quest. Working with Costa Rican law enforcement officials, we provided training last year to 102 law enforcement officials in American schools and to 214 officials here in Costa Rica by bringing subject matter experts from the United States. We have also begun a 4-year program with the Ministry of Public Security and the Fuerza Publica aimed at strengthening the training programs for all Costa Rican police officials. And we have just approved a one million dollar grant to help strengthen Costa Rica’s investigative, prosecutorial and judicial system capabilities.

Let me add that narcotics and organized crime are not the only problems eroding public safety. Some would say that a lack of opportunity for the poor, which has resulted from a lack of social responsibility by the wealthy, is a major contributor to delinquency. Others would say that weakened moral values have allowed greed, envy and sloth to corrupt a portion of the population. Still others would say that it is simple economics: crime pays, and there is little risk of punishment. I would say that all three have merit: 

Development and opportunity must be within reach for all. 
The values that once allowed you to leave your home unlocked must again become the norm for acceptable behavior.

And crime must become the least profitable and most risky occupation in the country.

In a moment, Chief Venegas will lead us in today’s program. As you participate, please recall that these ideas not only have a proven record of success in the U.S. Many of them have also been explored by Costa Rica’s Instituto de Altos Estudios (IAE), under the coordination of former Vice President Astrid Fischel, and endorsed by both the Fuerza Publica and the Direcion de Seguridad Comunitaria y Comercial. I have here a copy of the IAE produced booklet “Seguridad Ciudadana y Prevencion del Delito.” In addition, the U.S. Embassy has prepared an informal English translation of this document as a way of ensuring that our expatriate community can fully understand and work within the Costa Rican system. Please note that the Spanish pamphlet can be obtained through IAE, while an electronic copy of the English version can be obtained through the Community Action Alliance.

In closing, I would like to return to President Chinchilla’s words: each of us must ask "What am I doing for my community, for my barrio, for my people." Today, the people of San Ramon are answering that question!

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