Embassy of the United States San Jose, Costa Rica

San José, July 5th, 2012

Ambassador Anne Andrew

Esteemed President and Members of the Committee on International Relations and Trade,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.   

While historically an Embassy represented one government to the Executive Branch of another country, today it is equally important for an Embassy to build strong relationships with the legislative and judicial branches as well as with civil society, the media, and the average citizen.  

During my years in Costa Rica, my embassy has worked to expand our ties with all of these sectors, and it has been rewarding for me and our staff as we build our relationship with the Legislative Assembly.  Almost two years ago, I spoke before this committee about the U.S. government’s priorities and programs in Costa Rica.   Since then, my staff has met periodically with you and members of your staff on matters of mutual interest.  The Embassy’s Information Resource Center has provided information regularly to your staff and the Legislative Assembly’s library.  The relationship between the Embassy and the Legislative Assembly has a strong foundation, and we want to continue deepening our dialogue.

One of the best opportunities I have had to talk with diputados and to highlight the impact of our assistance has been during visits with some of you and your colleagues to your districts.  Together, we have heard from mayors, students, micro-entrepreneurs and others about their experiences and their perceptions of the nation’s priorities.  Using tweets, photos, and videos, we have had the opportunity to share what we have seen and learned with almost 60,000 followers on the Embassy’s social media sites, an audience that parallels that of some newspaper circulations.  For  our outreach visits, we hope you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter.  We welcome your ideas for other ways we can engage; perhaps one or more of you can write a guest entry on our Embassy’s blog.   

Today, I would like to share several highlights from those trips that illustrate the multitude of ways in which the United States is collaborating with Costa Ricans on issues of shared interest.  Knowing the busy schedules you all keep –I want to assure that I will not cover all of our programs and initiatives.  However, a complete list can be found on our assistance tracker on our website.  For example:In visits to communities from Limon to the Osa Peninsula, I was impressed once again by the tremendous advantage young Costa Ricans gain by learning to speak English.  For many young Costa Ricans, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, their opportunity to succeed in this increasingly global economy depends upon their ability to speak English.  Together with a number of diputados and diputadas, I have heard people in many parts of the country voice their need for better qualified English teachers and better teaching materials.    [This is a subject we know something about!]

To help address these needs, my government has invested significant resources in English language training.  In partnership with the Ministry of Education, the United States Peace Corps has brought more than 40 experienced English language teachers into poor communities to help Costa Rican teachers improve their skills.  An additional 70 Peace Corps volunteers also teach English classes in the communities where they live.  Responding to the Costa Rican teachers’ requests, these volunteers have developed a set of manuals for English teachers which are very practical, like this one   entitled, “Cheap Materials and Engaging Activities for Teaching English as a Foreign Language”.  I have brought a set of these volumes, which I would be happy to share with you.   In addition to the Peace Corps program, in 2011 alone, 1200 English teachers improved their professional skills through training funded by the U.S. government, and at least 600 more will receive training this year.    Moreover, in the past two years, 150 students from poor communities have graduated from an intensive two-year English language training program funded by my government, and another 250 are in the training program now.   I am delighted to inform you that the newest site for this intensive English language training program will be in the critically important area of the Osa Peninsula, where we have heard repeatedly that learning English is essential – not just for the youth and economic development but to conserve this world heritage site.       

In the Osa Peninsula, environmental tourism is an essential tool for preserving the region’s incredible biodiversity while fueling the economy.  In these efforts, English language training and conservation go hand in hand.  The United States government is proud to have partnered with the Costa Rican government and environmental organizations in supporting conservation throughout the country by means of two “debt for nature swaps”.  Under these agreements, the United States forgave more than $50 million in Costa Rican debt in exchange for Costa Rica investing that money in projects to conserve the tropical forest habitats.  We were delighted to see the impact of this funding in Bri Bri, when we visited an organization working with the indigenous community to enrich fruit trees to maintain productive biological corridors in La Amistad National Park.  The program fostered the sustainability of the natural habitat and of the economy for the residents of that area.    

From Perez Zeledon to San Carlos, the communities we have visited have underscored that another key to their personal livelihoods and the success of their communities was infrastructure.  Because Costa Rica’s budget cannot alone fund the more than $10 billion projected for the country’s infrastructure projects, the country must rely on public-private partnerships.  One finding of the special investigative committee headed by diputado Victor Granados was that the National Concessions Council must be strengthened so it can carry out effectively its role as a caretaker of government resources.  To help address this need, my government has assigned a U.S. Department of Treasury expert on infrastructure financing to work full-time at the CNC and provide capacity-building programs and initiatives.  

During a visit with diputados to Coopelesca in San Carlos, we observed first-hand how these   cooperatives are some of the most effective institutions in rural areas.  This cooperative provides electricity to residents at a cost 15% lower than that of ICE, and that cost includes a fee that customers pay into an environmental protection fund.  The United States Government takes pride in the knowledge that our investment in establishing these institutions decades ago continues to reap dividends to the Costa Ricans who have worked so hard to make the cooperatives successful.  This is one of many successes achieved through our cooperation with Costa Rica over the past 50 years.  You’ll find a description of the highlights of our five decades of assistance in the materials my staff will distribute to you today.    

One of the most important events during my visit to Parrita with the diputados was our inauguration of a disaster preparedness warehouse.  The United States and Costa Rica have a shared interest in being prepared to respond to natural disasters in this region, and we continue to develop our partnership in this area.  For this reason, the U.S. Government paid for the construction of all four of the National Emergency Commission’s disaster preparedness warehouses and refurbished two schools and one clinic that can serve as shelters in case of natural disasters.  In addition, a major focus of Operation Continuing Promise, which took place a year ago, was to enable U.S. and Costa Rican officials from the Caja, the CNE, and other agencies to practice working together in the event of a natural disaster.  We were delighted that many diputados and diputadas were able to come to Puntarenas to see that cooperation in action.  

Cooperation on a range of security issues is an important component of our partnership.   In Tarcoles,the diputados and I heard about the problems that afflict this coastal community and, more importantly, how the community had organized to address these threats.  Using a grant from the United States government, the community worked to get new regulations implemented to protect fishing up to one mile out from the coast.  This measure protects both the natural resources and the livelihood of the fishermen in the community.  With better economic opportunities the Tarcoles community now has the courage to partner with the Costa Rican Coast Guard to work against narco-trafficking in the area.  

This Tarcoles project exemplifies the intersection of security and economic development and the ways our assistance can foster both.  Over the past two years, the United States has invested about $2.5 million in youth and community development projects, including in Accion Joven among others.   

As you all are aware, partnering with the Government of Costa Rica on security matters is one of our important areas of emphasis.  One of our primary tenets is that we invest where Costa Rica is invested.  We recognize the importance of the action taken by this Legislative Assembly in approving taxes to increase funding for security.  We share this information with Washington, and the fact that you are increasing your investment of your own assets in security has an impact on the amounts of assistance we are able to bring to Costa Rica.  The United States is working with the government of Costa Rica as it builds secure borders – both land and maritime.    To better secure the southern border, we are partnering with Costa Rica by building an inspection station at KM 35 on the Pan-American Highway that will be used by the Fiscal Control Police, the Drug Control Police, and other Costa Rican officials to interrupt the flows of illicit cargo coming from the south.  As Costa Rica increased its assets to protect its maritime borders, we are pleased to have added to our Embassy’s staff a maritime advisor who will work in partnership with the National Coast Guard Service to improve its capacity to carry out its mission.  

Another vital tool in our countries’ joint efforts to protect our people from illicit trafficking is Costa Rican-U.S. joint maritime patrols.  We appreciated that a number of diputados and diputadas were able to join us in Golfito in December of 2010 to go aboard one of the U.S. ships involved in these patrols.

The Asamblea recently renewed its authorization of port calls by U.S. Coast Guard ships participating in counter-narcotics missions, and the request for approval of port calls by U.S. Navy ships remains on the agenda.  As you consider that request, please keep in mind that, while the Navy ships are on counter-narcotics patrols,  the Coast Guard officials aboard direct the operations; in other words, these Navy ships  are being used for  Coast Guard operations.   When these ships come to port, drug trafficking activity in the nearby water diminishes.  When U.S. ships cannot make port calls here in Costa Rica, Costa Rica’s coasts are more accessible to criminal organizations.  While the total number of U.S. Navy ships that has made ports calls in any 6 month period has been between two and five, for the benefit of Costa Rica and the region, we hope you will vote to approve port calls by  these U.S. ships conducting counter-narcotics missions.

Costa Ricans want their communities to be safe, and safe communities is another key area for our security initiatives.  My government is working intensively with the Ministry of Public Security to improve community policing, data analysis, and accountability within the Fuerza Publica.  We have helped the institution reform the curriculum and the administrative practices of the Police Academy, and we are helping the Ministry of Public Security strengthen its Internal Affairs program.  We fully expect that you and the average Costa Rican will be seeing the beneficial impact of these programs in the near future.  

Women’s security is another area in which my government is reinforcing its collaboration with Costa Rica, and it was a pleasure to have several impressive diputadas join a recent discussion that I hosted about this issue.  During this discussion, Gloria Bejerano, Carmen Munoz, Ileana Brenes, Mireya Zamora, and Alicia Fournier made clear that people with common concerns can work together across ideological and party lines to advance shared goals.  They agreed that the issue of gender-based violence demands urgent attention.  INCAE reports domestic violence is one of the three principal causes of deaths in Costa Rica and the region.  According to the Ministry of Public Security, as many as 80% of calls to 911 in Costa Rica are sparked by domestic violence.  Women often are the linchpins of their families and their communities.  If women cannot trust government institutions to protect them, they lose faith in government institutions.    Children who witness or experience violence in the home are more susceptible dropping out of school and to to becoming involved in crime and violence outside of the home.   Security begins at home.  For this reason, this issue warrants the attention of everyone who is committed to making Costa Rica safer.

In these times of fiscal austerity, the United States Government continues investing in Costa Rica because doing so is good for Costa Ricans AND for the people of the United States.  

• When Costa Ricans prosper, they fuel both the Costa Rican and the U.S. economy.  U.S. exports to Costa Rica increased from $4.7 billion in 2009 to $6.1 billion in 2011.  During the same period, Costa Rican exports to the U.S. increased from $5.6 billion to $10.1 billion.  About 70 percent of foreign direct investment in Costa Rica comes from the United States.
• When Costa Rican institutions are strengthened in a case – such as through our assistance in improving the Ministerio Publico’s case management systems - , both of our countries are safer.  
• When Costa Rica’s clean energy is “smart energy” – for example ICE’s installation of the 100 smart grid meters made in the U.S. with savings to ICE, it benefits our joint efforts to mitigate climate change, and creates opportunities for U.S. clean technology.  

Our Embassy’s mission statement is, “A safe, prosperous, green Costa Rica benefits both of our nations.”   It is worth adding that a strong relationship between the Legislative Assembly and the U.S. Embassy benefits both of our nations.  We look forward to continuing our very fruitful collaboration in the year ahead.