QCOSTARICA — A bill promoted by the Frente Amplio (FA) would eliminate the pensions of former presidents. The text, already in the legislative process, would suspend those already granted when the beneficiaries receive an income higher than three base salaries (¢1,386,600).
On the other hand, it establishes that the beneficiary who receives income from the Disability, Old Age and Death Regime of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), the National Teaching Staff, or the Judicial Branch will not have the right to retire from the former presidents’ regime. The only way they could maintain it is by demonstrating that they receive monthly income lower than three base salaries.
Jonathan Acuña, promoter of the initiative, affirms that this regime benefits a very limited number of people and generates a significant expenditure charged to the country’s Budget.
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In 2016, it only had 11 beneficiaries at an expense of almost ¢518 million colones. Furthermore, if we look at the amount budgeted between 2007 and 2021 to meet these commitments, on average ¢420 million per year were projected, for a total of ¢6.293 billion in the aforementioned period.
“The pensions of former presidents are luxurious. President Rodrigo Chaves has refused to reject his privileged pension and has said that he has doubts about renouncing (the benefit).
“So that neither he nor any future president have any problems, in the Frente Amplio we have again presented a bill that years ago was promoted by legislator José María Villalta with the objective of eliminating them completely.
“They never contributed a single colon to obtain them,” said the legislator.
The pensions for former presidents has existed since 1939 and is currently around ¢4 million colones monthly.
Budgeted for former president’s pension program:
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- 2014 – ¢410,997,700
- 2015 – ¢513m490,000
- 2016 – ¢517,892,000
- 2017 – ¢496,027,746
- 2018 – ¢477,990,278
- 2019 – ¢518,000,000
- 2020 – ¢450,200,000
- 2021 – ¢450,385,000
Currently, there are 8 former presidents collecting the benefit:
- Rafael Angel Calderon (1990-1994),
- Oscar Arias (1986-1990 and 2006-2010),
- Jose Maria Figueres (1994-1998),
- Miguel Angel Rodriguez (1998-2002),
- Abel Pacheco (2002-2006),
- Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014),
- Luis Guillermo Solis (2014-2018), and
- Carlos Alvarado (2018-2022).
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