Costa Rica inaugurates 5,100-place prison modeled on El Salvador’s approach

Reporting Notes

This article synthesizes published sources listed below. Consult those sources for their evidence and scope.

Opening ceremony precedes inmate transfers

Costa Rica inaugurated the CACCO maximum-security prison on October 14, Reuters reported. President Laura Fernandez opened the facility as her government stepped up its response to organized crime.

The prison has capacity for 5,100 inmates and sits within the La Reforma penitentiary complex in San Rafael de Alajuela, roughly 25 kilometres from San José, according to local reporting by The Tico Times. The first transfers are planned for the end of October. Inauguration should therefore not be confused with a fully occupied, operating prison.

A Salvadoran design adapted for Costa Rica

The Tico Times reported that El Salvador donated the plans and that the design draws on its CECOT prison. The new Costa Rican facility includes five housing modules.

The construction project began under former President Rodrigo Chaves. Both accompanying photographs date from January 2026: one shows the construction site, the other Chaves with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Neither depicts the October inauguration or the completed prison.

Rodrigo Chaves and Nayib Bukele at the CACCO construction-start event — Photo: Casa Presidencial El Salvador — Archive photo: Rodrigo Chaves and Nayib Bukele at the construction-start event, January 2026.

Capacity is only one test of the policy

Reuters reported that Fernandez linked the prison’s impact partly to securing more convictions. The Tico Times also described legal challenges and concerns raised by Costa Rica’s National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture about minimum guarantees and standards.

Those concerns do not establish that a court has prohibited the opening. Equally, the ceremony does not by itself demonstrate that the policy will reduce crime or satisfy detention safeguards. The next practical milestones are inmate transfers, operating arrangements and independent oversight.