Source: Fuerza Publica

Escalating violence has marred an ongoing strike by dock workers in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica, and the latest reports from Fuerza Publica, the national police force, indicate that criminal instigators have fired AK-47s and semiautomatic pistols at officers from riot control units. Such was the report filed by Pablo Rojas of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy earlier today.

According to Vice Minister of Public Security Gustavo Mata, none of the Fuerza Publica officers operating in the communities in Limon and the Moin Port were injured by gunfire, which struck some of the protective shields carried by riot control officers. The Vice Minister mentioned that the security operation was compromised last night by burning of tires and hasty roadblocks erected by criminals who are taking advantage of the civil disobedience that took place earlier this week when the labor union representing the dock workers initiated a strike. Vice Minister Mata added:

“Pockets of violent and criminal disorder were broken up late last night and earlier this morning. In some spots, we had to remove burning tires to restore the flow of traffic. We had to push back demonstrators and rioters and used tear gas, and on two occasions shots were fired at us. From what I could hear, it sounded like AK-47s and pistols. Still, we cleaned up the streets.”

Near Moin and the Bananito river, two incidents involving vehicle hijackings were reported. In both incidents, armed hijackers robbed truck drivers, roughed them up and burned their containers, possibly to make the crimes look as if they were related to the strike. The perpetrators escaped towards the mountains near Bananito; although Fuerza Publica officers gave chase, they had to return to the scene to help with riot control duties.

Moin is the main commercial port of Costa Rica. Due to the strike, banana and coffee exporters in Costa Rica are already complaining of delays and economic loss. Not all dock workers joined the strike; many are currently laboring and port operations have resumed. The strike was organized because union leaders are not happy with a particular provision of the contract between the government and port operator APM Terminals, a Dutch business entity.