The municipal battle continues, a week after an official declaration of “war” was made by the mayor, Marco Jimenez. The councilors chose to hold nothing back and decided to confront each other again during the ordinary session of the Municipal Council on Monday, May 26.
The main complaint was made by Rodolfo Orozco Juarez, a councilor from the National Liberation Party (PLN – Partido Liberación Nacional), who stood up in front of the council and expressed his disagreement with the statements made on the personal Facebook page of Ana Lizeth Espinoza Fonseca, the council’s former president and also a PLN councilor.
Orozco presentó a los miembros del concejo varias copias del comentario posteado días atrás por Espinoza Fonseca en su cuenta de Facebook en donde a excepción del regidor Carlos Medina, representante del Partido Acción Ciudadana, (PAC) llama al resto de regidores y al alcalde como “depredadores”, por lo difícil según ella que ha sido trabajar en un ambiente hostil durante el presente periodo municipal.
Orozco presented the council with several copies of comments posted by Espinoza Fonseca days before on her Facebook page, where she called the other councilors – with the exception of Carlos Medina, a representative of the Citizen Action Party (PAC – Partido Accion Ciudadana) – and the mayor “predators,” for the difficulties she has had working in a hostile environment during the current municipal period.
However, Orozco’s main complaint centered on text posted later, in which Espinoza Fonseca wrote against him, saying, “…Rodolfo Orozco, who went around crying to return to the council, however, [is] now using his big mouth to insult me and Carlos Medina…Now he is a servant of the mayor and just as offensive and a liar and even more…”
In addition, with regard to the subject of the purchase of land for the cemetery, the councilor wrote that, “I was never part of those negotiations, like Rodolfo Orozco has been.”
Responding to that, Orozco Juarez answered, “She [Espinoza Fonseca] sold out with her best friend, Mr. Carlos Medina,” adding, “You are here because of me, because I supported your political campaign; I’m not going to allow you to tarnish my name on social networks.”
“I’m not going to allow people to call me big-mouthed. If you don’t like what we say here, you better to stay at home; I am going to take this document to the courts,” Orozco promised.
For her part, Espinoza said that, “I use social networks how I want; you aren’t my friend or anything related to me; you don’t even know what friendship is, or respect, and I am also going to appeal to the Public Ministry.”
The councilor also indicated that she would now work to inform the public with documents “to show who’s more ignorant.”
Juan Edwin Yockchen, a councilor from the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC – Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) and lawyer, explained that the claims made by Espinoza Fonseca are very serious from a legal standpoint “because first she is calling another person servile, and she is claiming that he [Orozco] negotiated with the owner of the land [Mario Rojas Huertas] for the cemetery, which is the crime of peddling influence,” said Yockchen.
“If Ana Lizeth says that and cannot prove it, she will have serious problems, because it would be a case of injury and slander,” said Yockchen.
Recent municipal sessions have been marked by increasing confrontation and tension between the mayor, councilors and syndics, specifically regarding the purchase of land for a new cemetery.
On that subject, the municipality is calling for Nicoyans to meet at the House of Culture (Casa de la Cultura) in Nicoya next Wednesday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m. to explain and address doubts regarding the project to purchase land where Nicoya’s new cemetery will be located.
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