In early 2009, Venezuela gave the Honduran government under President Zelaya $100 million for use in disaster relief and preparation through the Permanent Commission for Contingencies (Comisión Permanente de Contingencias, Copeco). According to financial records, $2 million was spent to fund a civil protection agency. The other $98 million vanished.

Honduran prosecutors through the Tribunal Superior de Cuentas (TSC) accuse former President Zelaya and his government of walking away with the cash. Zelaya denies ever having received the funds.

An audit done by Tribunal Superior de Cuentas and analyzed by the anti-Zelaya newspaper El Heraldo suggests that funds went to fictitious purchases of grains and fuel and were then deposited in the personal bank account of government officials. One specific details published suggests US$65,000 ended up in the personal bank account of Rigoberto Isaías Lara, who administered Copco during the Zelaya administration. Another US$10,000 was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture. While not much, it goes against Zelaya's claim that his government never received the money.

Meanwhile, funds from Venezuela to Nicaragua are also receiving scrutiny. Over the past four years, McClatchy News estimates that President Ortega has received at least US$1 billion in donations from Venezuelan President Chavez. Many of these donations are funded into state-run businesses that have few accounting measures.

Specifically, Alba-Nica (alternatively spelled Albanisa) has received large amounts of oil donations, worth over US$400 million in both 2008 and 2009, from Venezuela that are used by the Nicaraguan government. However, the Ortega government considers Alba-Nica a private company that does not have to disclose its financial forms.

On 17 August, Venezuelan opposition politician José Ramón Sánchez went to the Nicaraguan embassy in Venezuela to demand transparency in the funds, specifically those for Alba-Nica.

On 1 July 2010, the Costa Rican Congress authorized the entry of 46 United States Navy warships, 200 helicopters, 10 AC-8B Harrier aircraft, and 7,000 U.S. Marines into Costa Rican territorial waters. The permission for the deployment of the U.S. Armed Forces in Costa Rica supported a six-month allowance from 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2010.

The authorization was approved in a 31 to 8 vote with support of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN), Libertarian Movement, and Congressman Justo Orozco from the Evangelical Renewal Party. The Citizen Action (PAC), Ample Front (FA), and the United Social Christians (PUSC) Parties opposed the move on the grounds that the navigation of foreign warships through territorial waters was a threat to Costa Rican sovereignty as well as on the basis that the destructive capabilities of the equipment and manpower approved would be disproportionate to agreement to combat narcotrafficking and provide humanitarian aid.

Furthermore, the track record of United States’ policies and actions, silence of the U.S. Press on the issue, and the absence of press releases from the U.S. State Department led to great suspicion from the left. The left perceived the deployment as an attempt to strengthen U.S. presence in the region and overthrow the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, three of which were cited as sponsors or uncooperative with U.S. counterterrorist policies in a State Department’s “Country Reports on Terrorism 2009” released on 5 August 2010.

However, on the basis that the situation in Mexico forced drug cartels to modify their tradition routes to enter the United States, the proposal to deploy a large U.S. force to prevent narcotrafficking through Costa Rica was heavily supported by President Laura Chinchilla.

The support of Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla should not come as surprise given her reputation as tough on crime. During the 2010 presidential election campaign, security was consistently cited as the main concern of the Costa Rican population. Chinchilla appropriately ran on a platform of fighting crime with more police, increasing the professionalism of law enforcement, improving training and salaries, and ending corruption at all levels of government.

Upon her inauguration on 8 May 2010, she followed through with many campaign promises including the creation an anti-drug czar. Chinchilla appointed Mauricio Boraschi as the Director of the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs (ICD), which focuses on improving police intelligence and coordination with other law enforcement agencies with the overall aim to combat the growing fight against narco-trafficking. On 5 August 2010, President Chinchilla also announced the need to almost triple the Public Force, from around 10,000 officers to between 20,000 and 25,000, to meet the country’s security needs. She asked the legislature to increase funding for the forces through an annual tax of US$200, which would generate around US$220 million annually.

President Chinchilla announced in April 2010 the reintegration of Costa Rica into the Central American Integration System (SICA) in order to receive US$9 million in security assistance from the United States under the Merida Initiative. In 2009, Costa Rica received US$4.3 million from the United States under the same agreement, which is a security cooperation agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and the countries of Central America to combat narco-trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering through training, equipment, and intelligence assistance.

During her first 100 days in office, Chinchilla has overseen the graduation of 700 police officers, the construction of new prison facilities, and large narcotics seizures including, notably, the seizure of 1,091 kilos of cocaine on 6 August 2010 in Bejuco Cells.