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Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez Delgado inaugurated a 5,100-inmate maximum-security prison Wednesday, modeled on El Salvador's controversial Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), as part of efforts to strengthen the country's response to organized crime.
The new High Containment Center for Organized Crime (CACCO), designed to hold high-profile criminals, is located alongside La Reforma prison, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the capital, San Jose.
It is expected to receive its first inmates by the end of October.
"I am certain that today we are marking a before and after in prison security and national security as a whole," Fernandez said at a news conference during the inauguration.
"From this day forward, our country will be a global benchmark for prison security," she added.
The facility draws inspiration from CECOT, the massive prison established under Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as part of his government's crackdown on organized crime.
Fernandez, who took office earlier this year, has pledged to continue the policies of her predecessor, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, who had expressed admiration for Bukele's approach to security.
In 2025, Chaves announced that Costa Rica would gain access to the designs, blueprints and construction methods used for El Salvador's prison facilities.
He said the cooperation would save Costa Rica about $25 million in construction costs.
El Salvador's prison system, however, has faced international scrutiny over allegations of torture and other serious human rights violations.
In a 2025 report, Human Rights Watch documented accounts of repeated beatings, torture and sexual violence involving 252 Venezuelans deported to El Salvador by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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