Does the new government have a new way of doing politics?

The new government of Luis Guillermo Solís kicked off among great expectations. The country’s problems are complex and there are no magic recipes to clean up the finances, eradicate extreme poverty, distribute resources more equitably, eliminate the corruption in the public sector and quickly repair the deteriorated national road system. And it will be even harder to sidestep the internal contradictions that will soon be blossoming within the governing party.

Karina Fonseca Vindas

Costa Rica decided to change: that’s the phrase that worked its way into the Costa Rican self-image after the surprising victory of the Citizen’s Action Party (PAC) in the first round of the February 2 general elections. It ratified that victory in the second round on April 6, when its candidate Luis Guillermo Solís pulled 78% of the votes, leaving only 22% for Johnny Araya, run-off candidate of the battered incumbent National Liberation Party (PLN). Solís’ 1.3 million votes was the greatest number for a presidential candidate in Costa Rica’s electoral history.

It was also the first time in over three decades that a third party broke the alternation in power between the two traditional parties, Social Christian Unity (PUSC) and the PLN. Only some of the issues that motivated voters to deny the PLN a third consecutive term are its responsibility for the recurring forms of corruption, political clientelism, the deterioration and inefficiency of the public sector, growing social inequality and the almost unrestricted opening of the national market to transnational capital after a long civic struggle to keep the country free if neoliberalism’s worst ravages.

“Solís was bequeathed
“a farm up to its neck in weeds”

Although one could sense the enthusiasm for change in the post-electoral air, the change also implies an enormous responsibility. Solís knows it and has said so. The political erosion that could result from trying to juggle a highly diverse series of scenarios and actors is something he fears he may not be able to handle. Solís says he was left “a farm up to its neck in weeds,” referring to the past governments’ errors. His message is that the beginning won’t be easy as it will be have to correct so many inherited faults.

It would appear that the PAC at least has good intentions and a desire to work honestly and transparently. Presenting itself as a receptive, open-door government is designed to win sympathies, so we can only hope it’s real. The question to watch is whether the enthusiasm we’re seeing in the general population will be lasting or disappointment will begin to creep in sooner than anticipated.

His appointments look
good... for the most part

The euphoria over the victory was followed by great interest in the choice of the work team that will accompany Solís in the PAC’s first-ever administration. Only 8 members of his 22-minister Cabinet (36%) are women. Solís dodged criticism for not keeping his campaign promise to achieve gender parity in the naming of ministers by stating that he has a “broad vision of the Cabinet” and would bring women on as executive presidents of key institutions. And he did: there are now a few more women than men in the top posts.

The appointments have been diverse. They include various academics from the country’s public universities, which is viewed as a relief from the all-too-familiar “professional” politicians who have jumped from post to post in recent governments. This time there’s been a notably thought- through effort to put people in key posts who have the necessary technical and professional preparation, even though they have scant experience in the political world. This need not be seen as an error, but the corrupt and spent politicians who have now moved to the political opposition have gone out of their way to make it appear as one.

Some of those appointed, however, have sparked doubts and concern and blurred the promise of change, specifically various former officials of past administrations and even more particularly certain leftovers from the Chinchilla period.

Appointing Manuel González, who served as foreign trade minister during one of the PUSC governments, as the new foreign minister suggests a certain financial emphasis in that portfolio, an interest in attracting foreign investment and prioritizing exports. If true, it could sideline such key issues as improving our international relations, as is urgently needed with our neighbor Nicaragua.

Then there’s Víctor Morales, who comes into the new Cabinet as labor minister. He too was a minister in past PUSC administrations and also a former mayor. Two centrally important ministries will thus be headed by figures from past governments, and of course we mustn’t forget that two of the PAC Vice Presidents also held key posts in PUSC governments.

Even more controversial is the appointment of Mariano Figueres, a close friend of President Solís, to head up the Intelligence and Security Division (DIS). Figueres is a son of José Figueres Ferrer, the founding caudillo of the Second Republic and three-time President, and a brother of questioned former President José María Figueres. Hiis partner, Giannina Dinarte, was named to the recently created post of deputy minister of the economy. The doubts are even greater because the PAC had come out in favor of closing the DIS and Solís himself said during his campaign that Figueres would hold no post in his government.

Tensions in the clergy
and the rainbow flag

Religious tensions also surfaced around the government team. The main controversy was triggered by the designation of one of Solís’ closest collaborators, Lutheran Bishop Melvin Jiménez, as minister of the presidency. To some his appointment contravenes article 142 of Costa Rica’s Constitution, which establishes that government ministers must be laypersons. The new government justifies Jiménez’s incorporation on the grounds that the inhibition is specifically for Catholic clergy. Jiménez must now wait for the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which has already received an appeal from a citizen asking that the appointment be annulled. It goes without saying that this annoyed the Catholic Church hierarchy, as they think Jiménez should resign his episcopate if he’s going to accept the pubic post.

A few days after his appointment was announced, Catholic priest Gustavo Meneses was selected as executive president of the Costa Rican Institute of Fishing and Agriculture (INCOPESCA), which some interpreted as a way to reduce the Catholic clergy’s displeasure with the presence of the Lutheran minister. Few know that Meneses recently received a doctorate in small-scale fishing, has been linked for years to the struggles of fishermen in the coastal province of Puntarenas and is a man of the church who has maintained a healthy distance from the traditional clergy.

Perhaps for that reason it wasn’t so surprising when he unquestioningly accepted President Solís’ request to fly the flag of sexual diversity in INCOPESCA on May 17, International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Solís sent a positive message to LGBT people by flying the rainbow flag alongside the national flag in the Presidential Building that day and inviting all his officials to do likewise in institutions under their command.

In conclusion, while some designations could be considered positive and others slightly worrying, only time will tell how the Cabinet will jell and how this team will respond to the important demands they will find in their ministries and institutions.

The pact that luckily didn’t happen

The exceedingly high expectations of change that arose with the PAC’s winning of the presidency and the discovery of obstacles that could scuttle any progress toward the promised transformation in the administration of power are reason for concern both for a diversity of interested sectors and for Solís and his team. The new government authorities have fragile foundations and their room for maneuver is very limited. The central campaign proposals made to an electorate with such hope for change were enough to give the PAC an overwhelming victory, but only in the second round and only in the executive branch. In the first round, running against eight other parties, it won only 13 seats in the 56-seat Legislative Assembly, which means that great skill will be required to achieve agreements that forestall its government program being compromised .

A complicated negotiation by the PAC’s Legislative Assembly representatives to gain control of the parliament’s board in the first year of the party’s administration was the first unquestionable evidence that the legislative branch will be a minefield. Many groups linked to human rights struggles, especially those committed to movements opposing discrimination against sexually diverse individuals, were able to halt an agreement being cooked up between various evangelical Assembly representatives and the governing party bench. This would have meant postponing for another year discussion of the law on same-sex couples in exchange for giving the PAC the votes it urgently needed to gain control of the board.

How the PAC got the
legislative board anyway

Strong criticisms of the PAC in the social networks when this deal was barely known led the PAC bench to step back from the “verbal” agreement with the evangelicals and focus its efforts on negotiations with the PUSC, to the point of accepting the inclusion of two representatives from that party on the board. None of this has exactly been a sign that we’re witnessing a different way of doing politics.

Memories are short in Costa Rica. It shouldn’t be forgotten that corruption scandals deeply shook the PUSC less than a decade ago, to such an extreme that two former Presidents from that party, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) and Rafael Ángel Calderón (1990-1994), were tried and sentenced. And now two PUSC figures—both professional politicians—are eating from the same plate as the PAC Assembly representatives. It’s probably just a required political strategy, but has a high cost.

On May 1, the PAC thus gained control of the legislative board for its first year of government, a key victory to try to push through the parliamentary agenda Solís needs for his work plan. Let’s hope this first step indicates that the government’s legislative bench has the leadership skills needed to obtain major national agreements, as it lacks enough legislators to impose its will in the Assembly’s work. While that limitation isn’t a totally bad thing, it creates the risk of turning to subterfuges disguised as political agreements, which could undermine the promised proposals for change and slow down the momentum required for some issues.

Alliances as necessary
as they are risky

In such a fragmented Legislative Assembly, the necessary political negotiations will constantly put the new government to the test. Although it’s expected that the PAC’s main ally will be the left-leaning Broad Front bench whose nine members are ready to join the cause of change, such alliances will still depend on substantial agreements and still won’t give it the majority needed to pass bills and reforms.

The governing party bench will inevitably put its alliance with the Broad Front at risk each time it tries to push through its own agenda and pull votes from smaller benches that understand the value of their backing perfectly. These benches usually form tiny groups caught up in single-issue, essentialist demands that have little to do with the comprehensive project of putting the country back together.

Such is the case of the predictable opposition of evangelical and like-minded Assembly representatives to bills regarding women’s sexual and reproductive health, same-sex couples or in-vitro fertilization. These are juridical fields in which mental narrowness posing as religious conviction could perpetuate the serious damage to human rights denounced in the country for years.

The PAC is not expected to cede to the pseudo-Christian interests of those who, Bible in hand chanting “no abortion,” will continually use their vote as a bargaining chip given the PAC’s permanent need for their support. But will the PAC back off of the human rights issues it promised to defend in order to achieve a certain level of parliamentary “governability”?

The eight PUSC Assembly members will also participate in these negotiations. The PUSC is riddled by clientelist politics and ongoing corruption, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that, like the PLN bench, it represents the interests of national and transnational business. While the PUSC could support the PAC at certain moments, it will do so with one eye on protecting the interests of the big businesses operating in the country, and the other on re-launching the party with a view to the 2018 elections. As Costa Rican economist Luis Paulino Vargas has suggested, the PAC’s alliance with the PUSC could mean that the economic transformations the country needs will not prosper as they should because they affect the pockets of the most powerful.

The teachers’ strike
was the first test

Luis Guillermo Solís had not yet taken office when he came out in favor of the national teachers’ strike that began in the last week of the Chinchilla administration. The President-elect seemingly didn’t grasp that the conflict was going to get more militant and thought it a good idea to rack up a few more points against the outgoing President and her education minister, Leonardo Garnier, by using the same anti-government tone that characterized much of his electoral campaign. Perhaps he felt shielded by the 3.3 million votes he had just won.

If so, it was a mistake to think that such backing would protect him and his new education minister, Sonia Marta Mora, from a mobilization that was only beginning to heat up. As it turns out, it was the PAC government that had to deal with the strongest wave of the strike and it took three weeks of negotiations just to reach minimal agreements.

There’s some background to this crisis. In 2008 the Comptroller General’s Office required the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) to implement a new automated payment system given the complexity of calculating the salaries. The computer system in use at the time was seriously outdated and had been cranking out errors for years.

With a payroll of more than 75,000 employees and many specifications about types of payment and inputting of codes, workdays and other data, complying with the comptroller’s demands was difficult and it took a lot of time to migrate the database. A special program had to be designed to handle the MEP’s whole payment system then began to be used parallel to the previous one, with tests done until it was up and running on its own. The order was finally given to put the new system into operation in April of this year, a delay of over six years and with a total investment that rounded out at US$3.8 million.

The union leaders’ central argument for calling the strike was the errors in teacher payments created by INTEGRA 2, the new system. They alleged that it wasn’t functioning properly, leaving more than 3,000 educators without their paychecks for more than a month. Although viewpoints vary about other possible reasons and interests behind the strike, the unarguable objective fact is that indeed thousands of teachers weren’t getting paid for their work.

Lack of management capacity

After a series of failed negotiations, Minister Mora announced that the missing checks would be ready on May 26, but that most of the corrections would have to come afterward. The teachers’ unions kept their movement active, however, arguing that the errors would persist and that they had reports that at least 6,000 teachers would continue suffering problems, despite the government’s promises. The MEP authorities retorted that they wouldn’t negotiate with union representatives again unless the school year resumed.

With the situation deadlocked, José Rafael Quirós, the archbishop of San José, offered to mediate and the government agreed to sit back down at the negotiating table even though the strike continued. That made way for a satisfactory agreement to be reached, at least for the moment.

Perhaps the hardest part to understand is why a conflict that seemed resolvable with a little diligence and managerial capacity got away from the government. It’s true that the inconsistencies in the salary checks were significant, but we’re left with the feeling that something remained hidden; the argument that the problems were exclusively due to the new computer system just weren’t convincing. Among other conjectures, there was talk that the crisis was fueled by an internal boycott of the incoming authorities and acts of corruption among some MEP officials in league with representatives of the outgoing government. It’s also true that that there are serious internal rifts among the education unions’ leaders so the moment may have been used as part of a struggle to reassign quotas of power.

“Cilantro’s good, but in smaller doses”

The government had to come out of this well; it couldn’t so quickly risk the huge sympathy accumulated in previous months. Yet an enormous contradiction appeared in the middle of the conflict: the affable face of the warm, approachable, good-guy “Presi” was undergoing a drastic change. As the strike got more complicated, Solís adopted a serious, strong, even offensive tone, which will be the most emblematic expression of the government’s first month. “Cilantro’s good, but in smaller doses,” he quipped as he demanded that the teachers immediately end their strike.” Switching to a far heavier tone, Solís then added that his hand wouldn’t shake in declaring the strike illegal if reasonable agreements weren’t reached.

The next day many teachers were carrying bunches of cilantro on the picket line in repudiation of the dismissive nature of Solís’ comment. It remains to be seen what cost this other face the President exhibited will have on public opinion.

“At arm’s length”

In an interview published by La Nación newspaper, the new foreign minister was asked what his government’s position toward neighboring Nicaragua would be. “Arm’s length,” was his answer. González went on to affirm that it would be possible to reactivate the binational agenda as long as there was no attempt to negotiate anything to do with the border litigation pending in international courts. “In no way could a dialogue be interpreted as a sign of weakness,” he stated. “We could make an effort to encapsulate the conflicts and address the migratory reality, security or trade.”

Two weeks before taking office, President-elect Solís toured Central American and Caribbean countries, with the exception of Nicaragua. The minister of the presidency explained that the trip was to “deliver the Presidents their formal invitation to his inauguration, advance some talks about relations with the region and show an interest in regional links based on the concept that Central America is a great region and great market.”

Solís has insisted that he will not meet with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega until relations between the two countries are normalized. After meeting with Solís as part of the transition meetings with the new government, outgoing Foreign Minister Erique Castillo declared that “as long as the government of Nicaragua has territorial pretensions over Costa Rica and the issue has not been resolved in the judicial seat, I see no possibilities of normalizing relations at the highest level with Nicaragua.”

“Without grounds for divorce”

When other international media questioned Solís on his position regarding border relations with Nicaragua, Solís referred to the country as “the uncomfortable neighbor that Costa Rica and Colombia have to be careful with.” He insisted that “what is resolved in The Hague will be respected, as Costa Rica has a long tradition of adherence to international law. We can do nothing else as we lack both armed forces and an aggressive vocation with respect to other countries, so we depend on court rulings.”

It may not all be discouraging. In the same interview he also said, “I’m clear that, being contiguous countries, Nicaragua and Costa Rica need to have a relationship that gives no grounds for divorce. Thousands of Nicaraguans live in Costa Rica and thousands in remittances go to that country, so we have interactions beyond the fights between foreign ministers and even differences between States.” Many in Costa Rica hope it’s this declaration that carries the day.

The controversial border highway

President Laura Chinchilla knew that Costa Ricans saw her handling of the border tensions with Nicaragua as one of the most positive aspects of her administration, apart from her reliance on nationalistic speeches and development of a project that ended up draining her weakened image: the construction of a highway running the length of the border with Nicaragua, much of it right along the edge of the Río San Juan.

We can only hope Solís has no plan to continue down the same path. Nonetheless, it was a bad omen when, in the middle of the crisis triggered by the teachers’ strike and the new government’s inability to resolve it, Solís made his first two-day tour in the country to learn personally about the current situation of that highway and to deal with charges of trafficking in people and drugs in the area.

“I have a sweet-and-sour sensation,” he told journalists in the area. “On the one hand I feel very happy because we’re going to be able to improve this. And on the other, I’m worried because I think lots more work must be done.” On his return to the capital, Solís confirmed that even though only 20 kilometers of that 160-km highway, which Chinchilla had baptized Route 1856, are well built, he would continue with its construction. He didn’t say a single word to the media about its environmental impact or about improving the living conditions of the trans-border areas’ residents. Some criticized Solís’ trip, seeing it as an effort to divert attention from the teachers’ strike.

The five main challenges

The PAC’s government plan, called the “Rescue, Work, Progress and Happiness Plan,” highlights three major areas: economic growth, the struggle against corruption and the war on poverty and inequality. Given the magnitude of the citizenry’s demand to see changes actually happen, at least some challenges will have to be prioritized to demonstrate that real actions are being implemented in contrast to the traditional discredited way of doing politics that Costa Ricans repudiated with their votes. Failing in these campaign promises would be a terrible error, bitter evidence that nothing changed.

The PAC will have to dedicate itself intensively to five areas of work if it wants to respond to the high expectations of a majority of the population. If clear advances can be shown in these areas it will be possible to speak of a significant shift in the country’s course.

The road infrastructure: The first major challenge is to fix the nation’s deteriorated road infrastructure, which has become the clearest example of the state institutions’ neglect and abandonment. According to the University of Costa Rica’s National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models, the problems affecting the road network include the deterioration of more than 75% of the paved highways; multiple collapsed roads: abundant potholes in streets all over the country; and an important deficit of highway signs, painting of lines, etc., that are the result of more than 30 years of neglected repairs and maintenance.

It’s thus no surprise that the very day of his inauguration, after he was sworn in and all his Cabinet members signed an ethical commitment, Preident Solís reported on his first executive decree, which declares attention to 12 bridges and 9 drainage systems that are about to collapse to be of public interest. In the decree he requested that the new minister of public works and transport adopt immediate actions to halt the deterioration of the road infrastructure in various parts of the country.

Extreme poverty: The second challenge is the elimination of extreme poverty. This was one of the PAC campaign’s first promises. Will it be possible in only four years? The new government authorities have said that the starting point will be to identify the families in that situation. Over 300,000 people are estimated to be living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica, around 7% of the total population. “There has to be a very strict combination of Costa Rica’s universal policies with targeted policies, such as the conditioned subsidy to ensure that all children are in school,” declared Vice President Ana Helena Chacón to the weekly El Financiero, adding that “if we need to provide additional assistance, we’ll provide it.”

Corruption: The third challenge is transparent public administration and the struggle against corruption. Solís has promised to push through a law on transparency and access to public information “that will systematically and coherently develop the right to access information of public interest and define the limits and scope of secrets of State.” His government plan also proposes to reform the anti-corruption laws and he insists on the need to “depoliticize” the mechanisms for recruiting officials in state institutions.

Many were pleased that on his first day of work in the presidential offices, Solís ordered the cutting back of all bushes that impede the visibility of those buildings. The dense vegetation had been planted a few years ago after a demonstration that made the government of the time “uncomfortable.” Moreover, in his first week of government, Solís and some of his close collaborators left their offices to talk to people in the shops and homes of the neighborhoods surrounding the presidential building as a sign of openness and good neighborliness.

Fiscal reform: The fourth challenge is tax reform and the generation of quality jobs, identified as urgent priorities of the new administration. Economist Vargas has explained that an economic policy strategy needs to be designed that will permit the generation of a good number of quality jobs within a year. He rejected any simplistic fiscal austerity policy in favor of a strategy of increased spending balanced by a similar increase in income. Reactivation of the economy and the creation of more jobs would eventually reduce the fiscal deficit, at the same time lessening the relative weight of the debt.

The agricultural sector: The fifth challenge is to bring about an agricultural recovery. When a journalist asked President Solís what he would say to the country’s farmers, he responded: “I have to ask for their forgiveness.” Perhaps a good indicator that the repentance is sincere has been the naming of Luis Felipe Arauz as agricultural minister. Arauz was previously dean of the University of Costa Rica’s Agro-food Sciences Department and is considered a very sensible person with an excellent background and expertise in this field.

On various occasions, the new government has indicated that it proposes to promote agriculture for the local market, without neglecting the export sectors. It has insisted that the challenge is huge and assures that it will guarantee production for domestic consumption because supporting crops and sales inside the country will generate value added, employment and the desired rural reactivation.

It’s still too soon to know

President Solís told one international medium: “I’ll know I’m doing something well when some call me communist and others neoliberal.” In many ways that statement portrays the PAC’s sustained tendency to try to look like a centrist party that prioritizes consensus above all else.

Despite that conciliatory—or complacent—tone, it must be recognized that both the priorities described here and many others that form part of his government plan, will require courageous decisions that could generate a lot of new enemies for him and unrelenting confrontations that could undermine the promises of change and hinder the legislative work.

All remains to be seen. If the government is prepared to fulfill its promises, it will have to take a clear and consistent stand on sensitive issues. Some believe the PAC will do “what they let it do” and don’t think four years are enough to lay the groundwork for a transformative process, much less for such a process to bear fruit. They believe the contradictions and disappointments will emerge sooner rather than later.

It’s too soon for either fierce criticism or sustained applause. New and old challenges will arise and the way they are dealt with will allow the public to see what this young government is really made of.

Karina Fonseca Vindas is a social communicator and director of Costa Rica’s Jesuit Service for Migrants.

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