Laura Fernández toured CECOT to learn about El Salvador's prison model

Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado toured the Terrorism Confinement Center to learn about El Salvador's penitentiary operations. (Infobae Centroamérica/Emerson Del Cid) Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado toured the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador this Friday to learn about the structure, internal procedures, and operation of the penitentiary model promoted by Nayib Bukele's government. Infobae accompanied part of the official visit to the maximum-security prison. Fernández arrived in the morning at the San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport of El Salvador, where she was received by the Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexandra Hill Tinoco. The president's agenda includes protocol activities and meetings with authorities from both countries, with regional security as one of the central focuses. Before entering one of the pavilions of CECOT, the Costa Rican president held a private meeting with El Salvador's Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro; the Minister of Defense, René Francis Merino Monroy; and the director of the penitentiary center, Belarmino García. Also participating in the meeting were the Salvadoran Ambassador to Costa Rica, Diana Marcela Vanegas; the Costa Rican Ambassador to El Salvador, Tatiana Araya Rojas; and other members of the official delegation. Costa Rican President Laura Fernández greets Gustavo Villatoro, El Salvador's Minister of Justice and Security, upon her arrival at CECOT. (Infobae Centroamérica/Emerson Del Cid) Also part of the Costa Rican delegation is the Minister of Justice and Peace, Gabriel Aguilar Vargas, who accompanied Fernández in the activities carried out during the official visit and in the meeting with Salvadoran officials prior to the tour of the penitentiary complex. Salvadoran officials explained to Fernández the security scheme applied in the country, the criteria for incarceration, the classification of inmates, and the controls implemented inside the prison. The president received information about the daily administration of the complex and the protocols governing the transfer, surveillance, and confinement of detainees. The tour allowed the Costa Rican delegation to observe part of the facilities built in Tecoluca, in the department of San Vicente. During the tour, the president observed firsthand how inmates receive medical treatment and engage in physical activities. The president even entered maximum-security areas to which the press had no access. The center was created to house people accused of being part of criminal structures and has become one of the main symbols of the Salvadoran government's security policy. CECOT operates as a maximum-security facility for members of criminal structures. (Infobae Centroamérica/Emerson Del Cid) The visit took place two days after Fernández inaugurated the Center for High Containment Against Organized Crime (CACCO) in Costa Rica, a prison with a capacity for 5,100 inmates. The project was modeled on CECOT's infrastructure and included blueprints and technical assistance provided by El Salvador. The Costa Rican president anticipated that her administration seeks to deepen its knowledge of the operating mechanisms of the Salvadoran penitentiary system. The intention is to evaluate which procedures could be adapted to the new Costa Rican prison, intended for inmates considered highly dangerous. The Costa Rican government is evaluating the adaptation of procedures from the Salvadoran model for its new 5,100-inmate prison. (Infobae Centroamérica/Emerson Del Cid) Fernández's official visit to El Salvador will extend until October 18. Her agenda also includes a meeting with President Bukele to address matters of bilateral cooperation and regional security.