Presidenta
Chinchilla "The
Bad Guy" In The
Arias Plan For
2014?
By John Holtz*
In less than two
months in
office, it is a
question if
Presidenta,
Laura Chinchilla
may be losing
control and
respect by her
team as well as
her opponents?
For sure, she is
being challenged
from all sides
and the public
has openly
expressed its
concern.
Perhaps we are
so much a macho
society that
says a female
elected to the
highest office
in the country
is looked at as
a “colleague”
and not given
the deserved
respect of the
office? Or
perhaps it is
the Arias
brother´s
collective ego
who believe they
are still
running Costa
Rica.
Or, is Laura
Chinchilla the
shill she was
characterized to
be during the
campaign?
Sixty days is
too short to
know.
However, we do
know that
Rodrigo Arias,
the brother of
don Oscar, lacks
class as
reported by La
Nación, a
Spanish language
newspaper.
Apparently he
showed,
uninvited, for a
meeting at the
office of the
President of
Costa Rica and
claimed that he
was telephoned
by the
president´s
secretary for
that meeting.
The secretary
denied any such
call and there
is no record of
it in the log.
Don Rodrigo
Arias, who
without
humility, has
declared himself
the de facto
Liberación
presidential
candidate in
2014, simply
thought he would
be received by a
“colleague,” do
he said.
When I teach, I
always teach to
managers that
the informal
organization is
much stronger
than the formal
one and this is
a good case in
point. If you
are not on your
game, the
informal
organization can
destroy the
formal one in a
New York minute.
Don Rodrigo, who
holds no office
whatsoever, but
by his
relationship and
former status
just assumed
that the newly
elected
president is
equal in rank if
not inferior to
himself.
I´ve got news
for him. The
office of
“president” is
just that.
Laura Chinchilla
is the boss and
the only boss.
She is to be
treated with the
respect that
comes with that
office for the
next four years.
The Presidenta
took over at a
time when on
paper things
looked great. A
new stadium,
promise to
repair bridges,
promises to
build roads,
promises to feed
the hungry and
educate the
uneducated.
Then, aS Forest
Gump once said,
“Life is like a
box of
chocolates. You
never know what you´ll get.” No
truer word have
ever been
spoken.
What Laura
Chinchilla did
not receive from
the Arias
brothers was
money to fund
any of those
promises. In
fact, she was
elected to a
massive deficit.
The deficit for
the 1st five
months of 2010
is 97% greater
than the deficit
for the 1st five
months of 2009
and growing. And
she was in
office only one
of the five
months.
Think about it,
Doña Laura was
elected
president but
Bruno Stagno, an
Oscar man, had
the “chutzpah”
to name himself
as Ambassador to
the United
Nations while
creating a
non-existent job
for the last
ambassador. She
canned that one!
She inherited a
legislature
whose first and
only piece of
legislation was
to give itself a
60% raise in
pay. She had to
threaten to veto
that and has
come under fire
from her own
party,
Liberación for,
“…..giving in to
the will of the
people.” Is that
not what she is
supposed to do?
Liberación does
not give up
easily on
getting a pay
raise so the
concept is back
up on the table
but not until
the legislature
comes back from
its self voted
vacation earned
after two months
of work.
She has
inherited a two
plus year
traffic reform
law that is once
again being
discussed and
debated with the
input of the new
MOPT director
who announced
that passing
over a double
yellow line, a
u-turn or
passing on a
bridge will be
construed as
reckless driving
and may result
in a three year
jail sentence.
Jail? (I´ll
never drive
again but rather
sell drugs or
rob a bank and
be set free!)
The Minister of
Security issued
a mandate to the
police that they
are to cover and
secure specific
areas in the
morning to
protect workers
and school
kids…they never
showed up. Not
one!
The Highway to
Hell, the road
to Caldera was
going to remain
open despite not
one, but five
fatalities all
because former
President, Arias
really wanted to
cut the ribbon
on an unfinished
and dangerous
toll road that
took 30+ years
to build.
Chinchilla
threatened to
close it and
have it repaired
if MOPT did not.
(I only wish she
would do the
same with Route
32 to Limon
which is equally
as dangerous but
constructed by
the government
so there is some
kind inherent
exemption from
accountability.)
As to a much
needed fiscal
policy, the last
administration
left her with
that one to
figure out for
herself. That
means they left
her nothing,
zip, nada in
policy or in the
bank.
This seems to
reek of let´s
make Laura
Chinchilla the
bad guy, so to
speak, and we
take over later.
In 2014
Liberación lead
by Rodrigo Arias
will wear the
white hats
riding those big
white horses and
with smoke and
mirrors come to
save the day.
Be careful guys
because take
away those hats,
give you some
trumpets to blow
and we might
have the
Apocalypse
riding down
Avenida Central.
The assembly was
given five years
to get out of
their present
office location
not because it
is too small,
but because the
Ministry of
Health declared
the place a
dump.
“Uninhabitable”
is the word
used.
Now the
legislatures
want to censure
the Minister of
Health, Avila
for something to
do with milk
because they
cannot believe
the five years
have gone by so
fast. I
understand that
feeling very
much. But still,
that´s a crummy
excuse.
A political tit
for tat that
costs money and
time we cannot
afford.
Finally, only
12%, that means
88% of ALL
police stations
and offices are
uninhabitable
and there are no
plans and no
funds to improve
them. Do you
wonder why we
have become the
darlings of the
drug cartels?
So, this is what
our new
president
inherited and
this is what she
is up against.
She not only has
to contend with
old school
politics, but
desertion within
the ranks.
Why?
Leaving the
country highly
in debt with
lots of
promises,
assurances and
no cash is an
Oscar Arias
legacy exactly
the same as his
first term in
office. He left
behind unfunded
“expectation”.
I think to a
lesser extent
because she is a
woman and the
elite of Costa
Rica is not
prepared to
accept a female
leader is one
more unspoken
challenge she
faces. She is
being bashed
behind closed
doors and
challenged in
front of them.
She was supposed
to be a
Liberación
caretaker, a
“puppet” so to
speak. However,
so far she has
decided not to
do that and that
has rankled some
very important
feathers that
probably
deserved to be
rankled.
Old School Costa
Rica will not
quit and I
certainly hope
she does not
surrender to
them.
Presidenta,
Laura Chinchilla
has kept a
relatively low
public profile
during all this
and on major
issues except
using new media
outlets such as
You Tube.
My arguable
opinion is that
she needs to
rapidly become
more public and
tell the people
who elected her
and are
following her
presidential
leadership the
real state of
affairs that she
inherited and
her plans, not
those of the
Arias brothers,
to manage this
country.
I am pretty much
neutral on her
abilities to
govern, but she
deserves an
honest chance to
prove her worth.
*John Holtz is the Executive Director of
the Center for
the Studies of
Modern
Management
www.modernmanagement.org and can
be reached at:
[email protected].
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