Source: SOUTHCOM

One of the most commonly known facts about Costa Rica on the international stage is that our country’s lack of a standing military force dates back more than 60 years. Popular opinion in Costa Rica tends to condemn and reject the idea of militarizing the civil security forces, which are largely made up of Fuerza Publica, the national police force, and a handful of smaller, specialized units.

The aforementioned special units of Fuerza Publica and of the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP) are a source of concern to watchdogs who keep tabs on the growing militarization trend in the Americas. As has been reported by The Costa Rica Star over the last few years, our country is not completely impervious to the whims of the military industrial complex that former United States President Dwight David Eisenhower warned the world about.

Despite not having a military force, Costa Rica participated in Fuerzas Comando 2015, which took place in Guatemala. Basically, Fuerzas Comando is an annual military competition that has been described as being a sort of Special Forces Olympics of the Americas. Fuerzas Comando is sponsored and organized by the Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH), which based in Miami and under the command of United States Marine Corps General John F. Kelly, a military leader who once commented that the Ebola virus could spread from Costa Rica to North America.

According to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Carden of the 196th Mobile Public Affairs Office:

Teams from across the Americas gathered July 15 for the opening ceremonies of Fuerzas Comando ‘15, a friendly competition pitting special operations forces against one another in tests of skill and endurance.

Nineteen countries are participating in this year’s competition that promotes teamwork and improves regional stability throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

The competition consists of several challenges: A physical fitness test, ruck march, marksmanship, obstacle course and aquatic event. They were created to test teams on their fitness, close quarters combat skills, marksmanship, agility, as well as concealment and mobility.

Special Operations military and police forces from Argentina, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and the USA, participate in this year’s exercise.

Over the last few years, Costa Rica has sent teams from the Unidad Especial de Intervencion (Spanish initials: UEI), a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit from Fuerza Publica, to Fuerzas Comando. It so happens that the UEI teams have performed better than expected at Fuerzas Comando, particularly when considering that they come from a country without a military. Costa Rica tends to rank in the top ten of the competition, and our country actually won once.

This year, however, the UEI team from Costa Rica did not make it to the top ten. As of the day before Fuerzas Comando was scheduled to finish, Costa Rica was at number 13, followed by Belize. Not surprisingly, the countries that receive the most military and monetary aid from the U.S. tend to rank higher, to wit: Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras. Over the last few years, the special teams from Panama have been climbing up the Fuerzas Comando ranks, which happens to coincide with the massive amount of military aid the U.S. has been giving that country during the current decade.

One interesting fact to note about Costa Rica’s participation in Fuerzas Comando this year is the uniform that the UEI members wore. In the past, they were the only team to wear solid blue fatigues; this year, however, they chose to wear a digital camouflage pattern similar to the MARPAT developed by the U.S. Marine Corps. In other words, the tactical team from Costa Rica is starting to look more like a military unit.