QCOSTARICA – Former MOPT minister Luis Amador left Costa Rica early this Thursday morning, entering a period of “self-exile” as he declared Wednesday, wanting to distance himself from the “tentaculos del mal” (tentacles of evil).
In the short video sent to the press, Amador denied any responsibility of any alleged corruption or errors in awarding the contract to the MECO company for repairs to the Guanacaste Airport (LIR) runway.
Amador alluded that he will be back for the 2026 presidential election cycle.
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48 hours earlier, on Tuesday, President Rodrigo Chaves announced the removal of Amador as Minister of the Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT), for the approval of a project on the airport runway project that the president described as tailor-made for the company that won the contest and at an additional cost of US$1 million dollars.
Regarding the tender, Amador distanced himself from the preparation of the terms of reference, the review of the terms and their approval, the evaluation of the offers, the award, and the appeals.
“Costa Ricans, friends from all over the country who have written to me, everyone is wondering what has happened, today I come to you to tell you with the same transparency with which I have always, with the truth, what has happened.
“The tender for the Daniel Oduber Quirós (Guanacaste) airport was a necessity for the country, imperative to repair the runway because otherwise the international classification would be lost and flights would stop arriving to Liberia.
“In this process, the National Emergency Commission together with the National Directorate of Civil Aviation was the one that carried out the preparation of the terms of reference, the review of the terms of reference, their approval, the exit to the competition, evaluation of offers, award, appeals and finally, finality.
“At none of those stages did I have the document in my hands, that was a mere procedure between the National Emergency Commission and the civil aviation directorate, solely and exclusively.
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“I did not prepare the terms of reference, I did not review or approve the terms of reference, I did not award or recommend, this is something that has been foisted on me for purely political reasons.
“I leave very calm, knowing that I gave my all for the country, that I did everything humanly possible to try to improve the conditions in which you and I have to live,” Amador stated in the video message.
“With the same tranquility, we will return in the future, today to survive I leave the country, in a voluntary exile where the tentacles of evil do not reach me, I will return soon, and we will all be again unifying forces to be able to run in that campaign of 2026,” Amador concluded.
En primeras declaraciones de exministro Luis Amador tras su destitución, habla de “los tentáculos del mal” y reitera sus intenciones de correr por la presidencia de la República. #Interferencia #RadiosUCR pic.twitter.com/03eEdC0e8w
— Interferencia (@interferenciacr) March 14, 2024
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This self-exile comes at a time when the Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalia) confirms that, since January, it has been investigating the former minister under file 24-000030-1218-PE.
This case pursues apparent irregularities in a request to include in an emergency decree due to Tropical Storm Bonnie in 2022, the serious impact of the landing strip of the airport in Liberia.
This even though the natural phenomenon had no relationship with the damage to the air terminal.
Also under investigation in the case by the Attorney General’s office are President Rodrigo Chaves; the Ministra de la Presidencia (Chief of Stadd), Natalia Díaz; the executive president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE), Alejandro Picado Duarte; as well as the former director general of Civil Aviation, Fernando Naranjo.
Naranjo was dismissed by the president on Tuesday, along with Amador.
The investigation came to light after the president suggested in a press conference that there were anomalies in the urgent tender for the repair of the runway, in which the construction company MECO was the winner of the contract.
From the point of view of President Chaves, there are indications that the terms of reference of the tender required an experience that only the MECO company fulfilled. Such a situation left the Pedregal company empty-handed, despite the fact that it had made an offer that was US$2 million cheaper.
The president MECO, José Alfredo Sánchez, in a television interview on Thursday, assured that President Rodrigo Chaves had wanted, he himself could have stopped the questioned tender that his company won for the repair of the Guanacaste airport runway.
If it turns out that Chaves was really involved, then the big question is, who’s gonna kick the president out?
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