QCOSTARICA — Mauricio Batalla, former minister of the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT), was arrested this Tuesday, part of a series of 23 early morning raids by the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) in various areas of the metropolitan area.
Present at the raid on the Batalla home was the Attorney General, Carlos Diaz.
Also, arrested were Alejandro Picado, head of the National Emergency Commission (CNE), and Marcos Castillo, director of Civil Aviation, among others.
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The raids were also carried out on officials of the Conavi and the construction company MECO, in Curridabat, Pavas, Oreamuno in Cartago, and Santa Bárbara de Heredia.
All are linked to alleged irregularities in the repair of the runway at the Guanacaste Airport (Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport) in Liberia, Guanacaste, in 2023.
The same incident that saw the departure of former MOPT Minister Luis Amador and to some extent the former minister of the Presidency, Natalia Diaz, who according to the Attorney General are persons of interest in the case.
According to the OIJ’s thesis, the National Emergency Commission requested that the Executive Branch include the canton of Liberia in an emergency decree to address the damage caused by the effects of tropical waves 11 and 12 and Tropical Storm Bonnie, which affected the northern region and not the Guanacaste area in 2022, according to Randall Zúñiga, head of the OIJ.
This allowed bidding processes to be processed under the emergency regime, that is skipping the normal checks and balances with respect to tenders for public works, including approval by the Comptroller’s Office.
The contract for the runway repair was awarded to the company MECO. The allegation is that the tender bid, as it was written, could only be completed by MECO, bypassing competing contracts with the experience and resources, such as the PEDEGRAL, overrunning costs by US$4 million in the US$40 million tender.
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The OIJ is investigating the increase, meanwhile, the Attorney General’s office is investigating the process.
After the project was awarded, the construction company proposed applying “value engineering,” claiming that it wasn’t necessary to intervene in certain underlying layers of the runway because they were in good condition.
This approach analyzes materials, processes, and designs to identify areas where costs can be reduced.
Batalla resigned from his position earlier this year to run for President in the 2026 elections but later decided not to do so following the revelation of sexual harassment allegations against him.
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His predecessor, Amador, after being fired by President Chaves, began a self-imposed exile and left for Canada in March 2024. He returned to Costa Rica in November following a request by the Attorney General’s office, to give testimony, in which he pointed fingers at President Rodrigo Chaves, for skirting blame where it was due.
Earlier this month, Amador made his intentions public to seek the presidential nomination to run for president in 2026. So far no political party has endorsed him as their candidate.
In a nutshell, the Guancaste Airport, a fundamental premise for the economy of Guanacaste and the country before, required urgent repair to guarantee the continuity of the airport’s operations due to deterioration since 2020. Judicial officials allege that corruption occurred due to the expedited processing and exceeding of costs.
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