Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2014
Source: Latin American Herald-Tribune (Venezuela)
Copyright: 2014 Latin American Herald-Tribune
Contact: http://www.laht.com/Contacts.asp
Website: http://www.laht.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5047

COSTA RICA INSTALLS COASTAL RADAR TO MONITOR DRUG SMUGGLING

SAN JOSE  President Laura Chinchilla inaugurated on Thursday a radar
station on Costa Rica's Pacific coast that will be a tool in the
country's fight against drug trafficking and illegal fishing.

The radar, which has a range of 50 nautical miles, is located in
Puerto Caldera.

Chinchilla said that during her four-year term as president, which
will conclude on May 8, she has made security a priority, adding that
her administration had made "the greatest investments to improve the
monitoring and protection of our citizens and our territory by land,
sea and air."

The Puerto Caldera radar is the first one to be installed as part of
the National Maritime Control and Monitoring Strategy, a project that
includes up to 13 sites where radar units and information analysis
equipment will be installed to provide monitoring capability all along
the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, as well as on Coco Island in the
Pacific, more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) offshore.

The second radar will begin operations in the coming weeks on Coco
Island, an environmentally sensitive area where illegal fishing is a
major problem.

The radar on the island, the installation of which requires an
investment by the government and environmental organizations of $3.6
million, will have the capability to detect boats in a radius of 32
nautical miles and will work together with a specialized
identification and tracking system.

Costa Rica, which has not had any armed forces since 1948, has a joint
maritime monitoring treaty with the United States.

The Costa Rican coast guard consists of 73 small boats and 10
monitoring stations. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D