QCOSTARICA — Costa Rica’s Attorney General, Carlo Diaz, responded to the attacks of President Rodrigo Chaves against the Public Ministry on Wednesday during the weekly cabinet meeting, accusing the Judicial Branch of “harassing” him.
Wednesday morning, the Fiscalía (Prosecutor’s Office) raided the offices of the Ministry of Health to investigate the alleged abuse of authority by the President and his former Minister of Health, Joselyn Chacón, by closing the Parque Viva.
President Chaves accused the attorney general of defending private interests, to which Díaz responded:
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“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is a legal body that is legally responsible for carrying out criminal prosecution, so it will not refer to malicious statements that seek to question our objectivity and independence in the operational actions in execution.
“Any legal discussion about the work we direct will be done only where appropriate: in the Courts of Justice.”
Rodrigo Chaves and the current Minister of Health and Second Vice President Mary Munive spent almost 20 minutes during the press conference pointing out the Judiciary for investigating them and referring to other issues.
Among other things, the president said:
“Today they raided the Ministry of Health because the Attorney General told the Third Chamber, which is the supreme court for criminal matters, that I, Rodrigo Chaves, had created a kind of criminal syndicate to close Parque Viva.
“That this merited investigating your servant – the leader of the gang -, the director of Firefighters, the director of Traffic, the Minister of Public Works and Transportation at that time, the executive president of the National Institute (he did not specify) at that time and a lot of entities, because they had fallen into a game that, according to them, is closing Parque Viva for reasons other than public welfare.
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“”(…) It is one more example of the institutionality, in this case of the Attorney General’s Office and the Third Chamber, the president Patricia Solano, being people who captured those institutions to try to harm the government, to try to harass me and try to silence me. That is what they are doing. (…)
So many things, but no. An investigation authorized by the Third Chamber must be carried out to see how it was that I led a criminal group to affect Parque Viva and La Nación. (…)
“I am not saying it, Mr. Carlo, you have the documents. If you believe that there was a conspiracy, you are totally wrong.
“There are the technical documents from honest people like the Fire Department, the Traffic Department, etc., and now you say that, in your protection of the La Nación Group because I see nothing else, you say that there was a criminal act on our part.”
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For her part, Munive, was at the Ministry of Health main office Wednesday morning during the time of the raids. However, she left the institution in her vehicle quickly.
Hours later, at the press conference with Chaves, Munive referred to alleged irregularities within the National Council for Older Persons (Conapam), which she had filed a criminal complaint months ago. But she omitted or did not provide any response about the raids in the ministry, only saying, “Just today I realized, once again, what the priorities of some Powers of the Republic are. (…) Today we were raided to go and search, together with the Attorney General and 5 high-ranking magistrates, a lot of papers at the level of the Ministry of Health, but something that could presumably be a homicide is sleeping the sleep of the righteous. (…)”
The Attorney General’s Office is seeking to gather evidence to include in the investigation into alleged abuse of power by President Rodrigo Chaves, when the Parque Viva, an entertainment center owned by Grupo Nacion (also owner of Costa Rica’s main newspaper La Nacion) was closed in mid-2022, several months following Chaves’ inauguration as president.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office directed an operation in which they intended to seize documents, electronic evidence (emails, text messages and phone calls) and clues relevant to the investigation.
Attorney General Carlo Díaz confirmed that the complaint focuses on Rodrigo Chaves.
In addition to the main offices of the Ministry of Health in downtown San Jose, the raids extended to the Alajuela office of the Ministry of Health, under the direction of the Attorney General’s Office, in collaboration with agents from the Anti-Corruption and Cybercrime sections of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ).
President Rodrigo Chaves, and Joselyn Chacón Madrigal, and Luis Amador, former Ministers of Health and MOPT, respectively, appear as defendants in the investigation, according to information released by the Attorney General’s Office when the file was opened. For this reason, the Attorney General must lead the proceedings.
The crimes being investigated for the closure of Parque Viva are those of prevarication and abuse of authority, processed under complaining file 22-000049-0033-PE.
Although suspects or defendants in criminal cases are usually investigated, the Attorney General pointed out that President Chaves will not have to appear before the judicial authorities like all citizens, because he is a member of the Supreme Powers of the State.
According to Díaz, when it comes to a person in the presidential office, there is a special procedure, and, therefore, the president will not be detained to make a statement, it will only file charges if sufficient evidence is found.
The raids on Wednesday were endorsed and supervised by the five magistrates of the Third Chamber of Criminal Cassation of the Supreme Court of Justice.
“The Third Chamber is in full session. The five magistrates of the Third Chamber who were currently in office are carrying out the search,” said Díaz.
“It is a search related to the closure of Parque Viva, where members of the Supreme Powers are being investigated. The search, as it is, I repeat, of members of the Supreme Powers, must be requested from the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and was authorized by the magistrates who are also carrying out the procedure,” added Díaz.
The investigation began after a complaint, given that the Ministry of Health, headed by Joselyn Chacón, ordered the closure of the entertainment two days after Chaves questioned the financial solvency of Grupo Nación, to comply with financial commitments acquired through the placement of debt bonds, which were purchased by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS).
The closure occurred on July 8, 2022, two months after Chaves took office. However, the technical reports to justify the closure arrived days later with the order to temporarily revoke the operating permit.
At the time Chaves defended his actions arguing that the closure order was made based on technical criteria from institutions such as the Bomberos (Fire Department) and the Fuerza Publica (National Police), which reported the difficulty of responding to emergencies when there are mass events at Parque Viva, and on the recommendations of National Emergency Commission (CNE), the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), and the Costa Rican Red Cross.
On October 21, 2022, the Constitutional Court annulled the health order issued on July 8, 2022. The Court determined that the action violated freedom of expression, allowing Parque Viva to resume operations.
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