Before several hundred people gathered in the square of Recaredo Briceño Park, in Nicoya, President Rodrigo Chaves Robles moved the conflict he has with Congress and the Comptroller’s Office to the 200th anniversary celebration of the Annexation of the Party of Nicoya to Costa Rica.
During his speech, the president defended his controversial project known as the Jaguar Law and harshly criticized the role of the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Legislative Assembly and the Constitutional Court.
“God forbid there had been a Comptroller’s Office [in 1824 when the annexation was signed], God forbid the courtroom this, the courtroom that… We’d have had 200 years of litigation in the courts. It was the people who decided it, just as it should be the people today who have to define the future of the great country,” said an effusive Chaves, drawing a parallel between the signing of the annexation act and the project he is promoting today.
Chaves spoke for 27 minutes before an audience that, mostly, was in his favor and displayed banners and signs with drawings of jaguars and phrases of support for the Minister of Education (MEP), Ana Katharina Müller.
Student groups and producers dissatisfied with the so-called Rice Route decided to remain on a street next to the square, anticipating that people allied with the government could intimidate them. But finally, a group of fishermen moved over to there to throw them out with pushes and shouts.
“Out, out!” they told them, while carrying signs not linked to defending their sector but in support of the Jaguar Law and the Minister of Education. “Communists!” “Vagabonds,” they shouted.
“We hoped to have peaceful visibility, but since they cordoned us off, that didn’t allow it and we felt that it could make us vulnerable,” said Valeria Briceño, a student representative from the National University of Nicoya. “It’s sad and regrettable, because we also want to represent the needs of the fishing sector, but they aren’t aware of what we were doing,” she indicated, after they were removed from the area of the commemorative events.
During his speech, President Rodrigo Chaves Robles had with him a stuffed jaguar that a girl gave him, which he took and lifted up several times in front of the attendees to evoke support for his project known as the Jaguar Law.Photo: César Arroyo Castro
The student and rice sectors weren’t the only ones who tried not to get close to the heart of the events. Earlier, the Public Force cordoned off ICE workers, who were carrying a letter to deliver to President Chaves. The government advisory staff received the letter, and then the police accompanied them until they left the park while several people present reproached them.
“The idea was to get a letter to the president to avoid the privatization of ICE, which has been talked about so much. ICE is not for sale, ICE is defending itself,” said Mario Céspedes, one of the protesters from the institution. “It’s understandable,” he said about the booing. “Many people don’t understand. Everyone has the right to have a different opinion,” he added.
The request of the ICE employees is to “discard and archive bill 23.414, ‘Law of Harmonization of the National Electric System,’ and not to carry out any other action that threatens the SEN (National Electric System) model, so that the people of Costa Rica can continue enjoying the benefits that, in terms of energy, our province provides mutually to the country.”
Education, security and 5G
One of the most notable absences from the government team’s speeches was that of the Minister of Security, Mario Zamora, who was in the plaza but didn’t offer an evaluation of the work carried out by his department in the province.
In Guanacaste, the homicide figures rose from 61 in 2022 to 103 in 2023. In the district of Nosara, the number of deaths doubled, going from four cases between January 1 and July 24, 2023, to eight homicides during the same period this year.
On the other hand, the head of MEP, who received a vote of no confidence on July 17 by the legislative branch, did have a notable presence during the morning of the 25th. On several occasions, President Chaves enthusiastically asked the audience to support her management. Chaves’ messages of support matched, almost like an orchestra, the banners held by supporters in the square.
”For those who censor purely for the sake of noise and for political reasons: listen to this, Guanacaste. Today, I announce that Guanacaste is the first province in which 100% of the educational centers are connected to the Internet,” Chaves declared.
Then he asked the public: “Let’s see… censor with more applause!” and to the applause, he emphasized, “Listen to the censorship of the people!”
In addition, the president promised that, in two weeks, Guanacaste will inaugurate the first 5G network in Costa Rica.
“Even though we’ve been ‘balked’ by the horse, the cart and the bus, by those who say that it can’t be done, by those who have the interest of defending a foreign company instead of defending ICE.”
While the central and local government leaders were gathered in the municipal council’s solemn session, a group of students and producers marched for 3 kilometers to present their demands. A budget for higher education, food sovereignty and water for the communities were some of their statements.Photo: César Arroyo Castro
Criticism from Nicoya and the Court
During the morning, in the municipal council’s solemn session, the mayor of Nicoya, Carlos Armando Martínez, highlighted the contributions of Guanacaste to Costa Rica and criticized the shortages that the people of Guanacaste experience.
“I speak for this community that celebrates with joy, but that demands greater security, more sources of work, greater social inclusion, better public health conditions, better education, among many other needs,” Martínez expressed.
The mayor reminded the president and his team present at the colonial church that Guanacaste continues to be a peripheral and deprived province.
“In this country, there are many countries and several of them do not have access to a good education, a good health system and material well-being,” the mayor of Nicoya cited as examples.
Criticism was also present from the Supreme Court of Justice. Its president, Orlando Aguirre, lamented the repeated cuts to the judicial budget and the threats to its independence.
“A state of law exists not only where there are courts but where judges are guarantors of the rights of the people, and the moment that these judges are not independent and do not decide for themselves, we are no longer facing a democracy but an autocracy,” he expressed.
The magistrate pointed out that in two years as president of the court, he has had to go twice to defend judicial independence to prevent the election of magistrates from being politicized.
“There are threats that are sometimes justified by economic reasons…. and also actions by the political class that, from time to time, we find promoting things that seek to weaken the justice system,” Judge Aguirre conveyed.
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