Costa Rica latest to adopt Bukele blueprint with new mega-prison | South China Morning Post            (https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3370948/costa-rica-latest-adopt-bukele-blueprint-new-mega-prison)                                         (../../../../../static/manifest.json)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/favicon.ico)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/icons/scmp-icon-192x192.png)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/icons/scmp-icon-256x256.png)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/icons/scmp-icon-192x192.png)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/icons/scmp-icon-192x192.png)  (https://amp.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3370948/costa-rica-latest-adopt-bukele-blueprint-new-mega-prison)  (https://apigw.scmp.com)  (https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com)  (https://cdn.i-scmp.com)  (https://img.i-scmp.com)  (https://cdn1.i-scmp.com)  (https://cdn2.i-scmp.com)  (https://cdn3.i-scmp.com)  (https://cdn4.i-scmp.com)  (https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com)  (https://ad-tech.scmp.com)  (https://c.amazon-adsystem.com)  (https://cdn.keywee.co)  (https://cdn.mouseflow.com)  (https://cdn.opecloud.com)  (https://cdn.petametrics.com)  (https://connect.facebook.com)  (https://fonts.gstatic.com)  (https://js-sec.indexww.com)  (https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net)  (https://widgets.scmp.com)  (https://www.doubleclickbygoogle.com)  (https://www.facebook.com)  (https://www.google-analytics.com)  (https://www.googleadservices.com)  (https://www.google.com)  (https://www.googletagmanager.com)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/4a9777f1b0526d0c.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/024d37ad54557c14.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/127ae35205af64c7.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/bd5ebf0790610eb8.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/a070c9513bea1763.css)    (../../../../../../fonts.googleapis.com/icon@family=Material+Icons&display=swap.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/4a9777f1b0526d0c.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/024d37ad54557c14.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/127ae35205af64c7.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/bd5ebf0790610eb8.css)  (../../../../../../assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/css/a070c9513bea1763.css)       (https://www.scmp.com/?module=masthead&pgtype=article)                                   Advertisement     (https://www.scmp.com/topics/americas?module=breadcrumb&pgtype=article) Americas and the Caribbean  (https://www.scmp.com/news/world?module=breadcrumb&pgtype=article) World   (https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas?module=breadcrumb&pgtype=article) Americas    Costa Rica latest to adopt Bukele blueprint with new mega-prison   President vows Costa Rica will become a ‘global benchmark’ for prison security as 5,100-inmate facility opens to confront cartels       3-MIN READ 3-MIN                                 Listen            (Tiered metal bunk beds with orange inmate uniforms and shoes laid out inside Costa Rica’s new 5,100-capacity mega-prison. Photo: EPA)       (Penitentiary officers at the facility's inauguration. Photo: Reuters)       (Inside the new maximum-security prison. Photo: Reuters)       (A cell in the new facility. Photo: Reuters)       (The outside perimeter of the High-Containment Centre against Organised Crime. Photo: AFP)                                    (https://www.scmp.com/author/associated-press-1) Associated Press   Published: 11:53am, 15 Oct 2026 Updated: 2:00pm, 15 Oct 2026     Costa Rica, considered for decades a peaceful enclave in turbulent Central America, has now made fighting drug trafficking one of its main goals. And it is turning to one of its Central American neighbours for inspiration in its hardline crackdown. On Wednesday, President Laura Fernandez inaugurated a mega-prison that emulates the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) that has become a symbol of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele’s security strategy. Bukele has managed to reduce murders to a historic low in El Salvador but faces accusations of abuses during the state of emergency that began in 2022 and has imprisoned more than 91,000 people.  Costa Rica is not the first to turn its attention to the man who has proclaimed himself the “coolest dictator in the world”. Ecuador has done it. So have the new presidents of Peru and Colombia. From Honduras to the Southern Cone, these countries are joining the hardline security strategy also endorsed by US President Donald Trump.                                       Select Voice           Select Speed     (0.8)    0.8x  (0.9)    0.9x  (1)     1.0x  (1.1)    1.1x  (1.2)    1.2x  (1.5)    1.5x  (1.75)    1.75x      00:00 (0)  00:00             1x  AI-generated voice