VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0901/01 3232320
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 182320Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0280
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUWDQAA/CCGDELEVEN ALAMEDA CA
RUWDQAC/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
RUMIAGH/COMJTF-B SIMS SOTO CANO HO
RUEABND/DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN HQ WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000901 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, INL/LP, DS/TIA/OSAC, AND DS/IP/WHA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINR ASEC SNAR CONS CS
 
SUBJECT: COSTA RICA: AMERICAN BUSINESS LEADERS ASSIST GOCR 
WITH SECURITY ISSUES; TOUT QUEPOS AS FUTURE REFUELING SITE 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: From October 22-23, Poloff and RSO visited 
the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area, a busy tourist area located 
about three hours from San Jose on the central Pacific coast 
of Costa Rica, to discuss security issues with local U.S. 
investors and government officials.  The RSO spoke with U.S.- 
affiliated business owners about establishing an Overseas 
Advisory Council (OSAC) sub-council in the area.  We also 
visited (largely dilapidated) law enforcement facilities, and 
the construction site of a $250 million, privately-funded, 
marina project.  Local officials and business owners voiced 
concerns that the marina might attract narco-traffickers and 
increase prostitution in the area (which is already a well- 
known destination for sexual tourism.)  Marina developers 
touted the facility as source of jobs and income, and a 
possible refueling point for USCG or USN vessels.  Finally, we 
visited the local Costa Rican coast guard station and 
conducted INL-mandated end-use monitoring on donated 
counternarcotics equipment.  This road trip highlighted the 
security challenges facing communities and tourist 
centers outside of the San Jose area, but also some creative 
solutions, such as informal, private sector-government 
partnerships to help the local security forces.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------- -------------------- ---- 
LOCAL HOTEL OWNER HIGHLIGHTS SECURITY PROBLEMS 
-------------------- -------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Harry Bodaan, the Amcit owner of the hotel La Mansion 
in Manuel Antonio, told us that he had witnessed a drastic 
increase in the level of violent crime and narco-trafficking 
over the last few years.  He complained that it was difficult 
to find trustworthy law enforcement officials due to 
corruption and their (alleged) links to narco-traffickers.  He 
hoped that this relationship could be changed by assisting 
with the physical improvement of local law enforcement 
stations and by providing new equipment. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Bodaan has personally donated thousands of his own 
dollars towards the improvement of the local Fuerza Publica 
(regular uniformed police) barracks, though much of the 
building remains in poor condition.  Bodaan and 
others have also attempted to donate equipment (helmets, 
bullets, vests) to local law enforcement agencies but, for 
liability reasons, have faced bureaucratic constraints in 
transferring the equipment to them.  Finally, Bodaan 
coordinated (and helped finance) the purchase of a new police 
vehicle for the Fuerza Publica.  (NOTE: The budget is such 
that there is no vehicle for the local Chief of Police; Bodaan 
often gives him a ride to work or to crime scenes or even 
lends him his personal vehicle.  However, Bodaan relayed to us 
that this has lead to allegations of corruption/favoritism and 
possibly the Chief of Police's surprising re-assignment to a 
lesser posting.  END NOTE.) 
 
-------------------- -- 
MARINA PEZ VELA PROJECT 
-------------------- -- 
 
¶4. (U) Harold Lovelady, the Amcit main developer and major 
financer of the Marina Pez Vela project in Quepos, told us the 
marina was a $250 million investment geared towards 
sportsfishing tourists.  He said it should be partially open 
by May and fully operational in three years.  Once in full 
operation, the marina will have 308 slips of varying sizes, 
and landside amenities to include stores, required government 
offices (such as immigration and customs), and limited 
housing.  When the marina partially opens, 98 slips will be 
available for use.  Lovelady estimates that the project will 
provide approximately 3,000 jobs to the local economy: 1,000 
at the marina and an additional 2,000 in the surrounding area 
as a result of investment and services required to host the 
elevated level of tourists. 
 
¶5. (SBU) When asked, Lovelady said it should be possible for 
Coast Guard (U.S. or Costa Rican) ships to refuel at the 
marina.  He said that there would be refueling services for 
boats up to 200 feet in length, which could potentially 
service some USCG or USN vessels and all of the Costa Rican 
Coast Guard (SNGC).  (NOTE: This could provide a secondary 
option to the refueling services offered at the Port of 
Golfito.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Lovelady recognized that this project could lead to 
increased crime.  He plans to contract two private security 
companies to secure the marina.  Lovelady told us he would be 
interested in coordinating with local law enforcement, 
including the SNGC, though his current outreach has not 
produced any firm commitments.  He expressed interest in 
receiving security opinions from Post's ODR and DEA offices 
about this project due to his concern with the marina becoming 
a haven for narco-trafficking. 
 
------------ 
OSAC MEETING 
------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) The RSO briefed a group of local American business 
owners on the possibility of setting up an OSAC sub-council in 
Quepos.  Local Americans expressed interest in having a sub- 
council in Quepos but needed further discussion amongst 
themselves; we also suggested to Bodaan after the meeting that 
Quepos could simply become part of the San Jose council. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The mayor of Quepos, Oscar Monge, also attended the 
OSAC meeting and told us that although tourism had brought a 
great deal of investment and development to Quepos, the 
deteriorating security situation could seriously damage the 
local economy.  Monge underlined that one of his main duties 
was to protect all citizens in the Quepos area, not just Costa 
Ricans.  He welcomed partnership with the U.S. to help reduce 
crime and requested our assistance with training and 
equipment.  We briefed the mayor, in general terms, on the 
Merida Initiative and advised him to work with the GOCR 
leadership in San Jose to see if Quepos could benefit from 
that funding and security assistance. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Monge relayed to us that he had recently dissolved 
the Quepos Municipal Police force (a separate law enforcement 
entity from the Fuerza Publica roughly equivalent to "city 
cops"), but would be rebuilding soon with "a fresh group of 
young men."  The new group purportedly would have no links to 
former politicians or law enforcement agencies.  Additionally, 
the mayor stressed that he did not want this group to be 
corrupted by narcotraffickers or other criminals because he 
had seen, first hand, the problems this can cause. 
 
-------------------- ----- 
QUEPOS COAST GUARD STATION 
-------------------- ----- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Taking advantage of our trip to the area, we visited 
the local SNGC station and conducted end-use monitoring of 
INL-donated equipment.  The building that houses the SNGC 
station was constructed with INL funds in 2003 and is 
noticeably in better condition than other local law 
enforcement agencies' facilities.  The barracks could easily 
house several more coast guard personnel(or for that matter 
other law enforcement such as Fuerza Publica) than the SNGC 
currently has assigned to this station. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Also located at SNGC Quepos are six INL-donated 
Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs).  However, these six boats 
have not been operational in some cases for four-five years 
due to maintenance problems and lack of properly trained 
crews.  Some parts of the RHIBs, as authorized by INL, have 
been used to improve other vessels used in counternarcotics 
operations.  Examples of these cannibalized parts include 
radios, GPSs, and radars.  The SNGC has two operational boats 
in Quepos, including one with parts from the RHIBs.  These two 
boats, though running, need to be painted to keep their hulls 
from rusting, but the SNGC lacks the capacity to remove the 
boats from the water easily, which has delayed this needed 
maintenance. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Quepos Coast Guard station has a staff of 30 
men, although nearly half  were unable to work at the time of 
our visit due to sickness and injury.  The local commander, 
Rodolfo Coto, has requested additional staff from his parent 
organization, the Ministry of Public Security. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Post is well aware of the security concerns 
expressed by local American businesspersons in the Quepos area 
and has encouraged them to work with local law enforcement to 
address rising levels of crime.  However, we assess those 
local law enforcement agencies to be poorly equipped, 
undertrained and inadequately manned to effectively curb crime 
in the area.  We expect this problem to only get worse as the 
new marina comes into operation over the next three years. 
While the minimal capability of the SGNC to conduct 
counternarcotics operations in the Quepos area is also 
alarming, even more distressing is their limited ability to 
perform "normal" search and rescue operations. 
 
¶14. (SBU) For the Quepos economy, the marina represents both 
good and bad: more investment in the tourist industry, more 
jobs, and one of the few boatyards on the Pacific coast south 
of Mexico, but also more petty criminals and, perhaps, 
narcotraffikers.  We are convinced that Bodaan and his 
Security Council will continue to work to improve the security 
environment in Quepos via donations, influence, and 
cooperation with law enforcement and the GOCR. 
 
CIANCHETTE