Costa Rica’s president visits El Salvador’s mega-prison amid regional security talks: Video
Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves visited El Salvador’s Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in Tecoluca during a trip aimed at finalising a bilateral security agreement.
Video released on Friday, December 12, showed Chaves touring cell blocks inside the high-security facility, accompanied by journalists, marking the first time a foreign head of state has been granted access to the prison.
The visit places Chaves among a limited group of international officials who have previously entered CECOT, including US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and former Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich. The prison, widely associated with El Salvador’s crackdown on organised crime, has become a focal point for regional security discussions.
Chaves’ tour concluded a visit that began on Thursday and included meetings with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. During the trip, both leaders signed the Shield of the Americas Alliance, an agreement designed to strengthen cooperation against organised crime and enhance national security efforts between the two countries.
CECOT is the largest prison in Latin America, built to house up to 40,000 inmates and currently holding around 15,000 people accused of links to the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs. In August, Chaves announced plans to construct a 5,000-inmate prison in Costa Rica inspired by El Salvador’s model, a project scheduled for completion in 2026 but which has yet to begin construction.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
