From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Organization of American States (OAS)
Costa Rica Completes the Second Phase of the Destruction of Obsolete Munitions Program
By OAS
Mar 7, 2012 - 2:00:15 PM

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COSTA RICA - The Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica ended the second phase of the Destruction of Obsolete and Dilapidated Munitions program with a celebratory ceremony today in San José, in which an act was signed declaring that the operations were conducted in conformity with international standards.

The program was executed by members of the Public Security Forces of Costa Rica with training, technical, logistical, financial, and certification assistance from the Arms Control and Munitions Destruction program of the Organization of American States (OAS). During the second phase 301,386 munitions of various types and calibers were destroyed, among them more than 9,000 tear gas devices, in 107 blasts and five open-air incinerations.

The OAS program has supported the efforts of Costa Rica in this matter since March of 2011, when an agreement on Cooperation and Technical Assistance was signed by the Ministry of Public Safety of Costa Rica and the General Secretariat of the OAS. Since then, the OAS has supported the destruction of more than 900,000 munitions of various types and caliber, as well as the destruction of weapons both dilapidated and/or confiscated to organized crime.

The OAS is assisting in the destruction of more than 1,600 tons of obsolete ammunitions in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua, with plans to start new projects in Honduras and El Salvador in the near future.


For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.



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