QCOSTARICA — Costa Rica’s Attorney General, Carlo Díaz, was quick to reply to the Government’s response to the raids of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) officials on Monday, assuring that the Fiscalia (Public Prosecutor’s Office) will continue to carry out the raids without distinction against whoever it is.
“We will attack corruption without distinction of the person who apparently committed the crime,” he said.
Díaz added that the Prosecutor’s Office relies on its powers to do what corresponds to it, as an auxiliary body of justice. We comply with the law and respect the rights of the parties.
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Monday morning, Judicial officials executed 28 raids including the home of Marta Esquivel, executive president of the CCSS. She wasn’t home but later detained (arrested) in Perez Zeledon when she voluntarily turned herself into authorities.
Regarding the statement by the Ministra de la Presidencia (Chief of Staff), Laura Fernandez, that the Fiscalia’s actions were a reprisal against the government, the Attorney General said that one cannot speak of abuse of power or authority when there is a series of evidence that, with a sufficient degree of probability, supports the existence of criminal acts.
“Our actions are not intended to send an intimidating message (to the government), as is clear from the statement issued by the government representative,” he continued.
For the second time in a week, the government of Rodrigo Chaves has stated that the judiciary, in this case the prosecutor’s office, has committed abuse of power against the executive branch.
Fernández indicated in a video that “the people, democracy and the government, must not tolerate abuses of power by any public institution, in this case, by the Attorney General’s Office.”
The minister also spoke of unnecessary show and sensationalism, while indicating that “this does not smell good at all” and that it is a clear threat against the government, to such an extent that it is trying to intimidate the government, as in the case of Marta Esquivel.
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“We as a society must prevent the Attorney General’s Office from using its force to paralyze the government, through illegitimate harassment. The government will not back down. We hope that the government is alert and vigilant, because we are facing an unprecedented threat in the history of our country,” said Fernández.
“After an extensive and detailed conversation with the President, I have come to give you the government’s position regarding the acts of abuse of power that led to the arrest of members of the CCSS board of directors, including its president Marta Esquivel. All officials of this government are willing to respond to any investigation. The people, democracy and the government must not tolerate abuses of power by any public institution, in this case, by the Attorney General’s Office,” said Fernández.
In the video, the Chief of Staff stressed that the actions of the prosecution are absurd, from any legal and moral point of view, as well as abusive.
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For her part, Pilar Cisneros, the head of the ruling party and government’s lapdog in the Legislative Assembly, the arrest of Marta Esquivel and the 28 raids carried out by the OIJ and the prosecutor’s office, for an alleged case of corruption in said institution, were described as a “political setup”.
For Cisneros, the arrest of Esquivel and other CCSS directors for a case of prevarication is not justified.
The legislator added, in statements to Radio Monumental, that in decades, she does not remember a person being arrested for that crime in public office.
“They are being accused of prevarication, which consists of issuing resolutions contrary to the law or based on false facts, but I ask one thing, was there any possibility that they would evade justice, or that they would hinder the investigation? None, none. I do not remember in decades that someone has been arrested for an investigation of prevarication. The judicial authorities can get to the bottom of the investigation and the CCSS authorities said that they would give all the information. What there is is a political montage. It is a montage of the Judicial Power, wanting to intimidate the people who are participating in these brave decisions to prevent 130 Ebais from being put out of service. “It’s a complete outrage,” Cisneros said.
Last July, the CCSS awarded the administration of 138 cooperatives and Ebáis and ten health areas (Escazú, Santa Ana, Pavas, Desamparados 2, San Francisco-San Antonio, Tibás, La Carpio-León XIII, Barva, San Pablo and San Sebastián-Paso Ancho), for a period of ten years, even though a technical report advised against it. This decision ended up costing the CCSS an extra ¢12.4 billion colones.
So far, eight people have been arrested and are being questioned; the same procedure is currently underway with the first two accused, Esquivel and a CCSS board member.
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