A
NEW DAY…I think!
By John Holtz*
We congratulate,
with great
pride, our new
president and
the grace in
which Laura
Chinchilla
received Costa
Rica´s coveted
red, white and
blue
presidential
sash. She is our
first female
president and
only the third
woman to be
elected to that
position in
Central America.
Let there be no
mistake about
it. She is 100%
qualified for
her job and paid
her dues… two
times over.
The Oscar Arias
farewell speech
was a
disappointment
for many who
heard or who
read it coming
from someone who
has, in fact,
accomplished so
much in life and
did not need to
pontificate
himself. We
already know.
The good-bye
speech I am
referring to was
on May 1, 2010
and was pretty
much: ¨I am Dr.
Oscar Arias,
Harvard trained,
Nobel Laureate,
two times
president of
Costa Rica and
you are not and
you should be
grateful for all
that I have done
for you in the
last four
years.¨ (A Chevy
Chase thing for
you Saturday
Night Live fans
with a long
memory.)
Days later,
standing tall,
the main photo
on the front
page of my
morning La
Nación was then
President, Arias
standing by his
plaque
inaugurating the
all new ¨Casa
Presidencial¨
which has not
yet been built,
and we do not
yet own the land
to build it on
and there is no
design and there
is no money to
complete any of
the
aforementioned,
however, ¨…it is
mine to
inaugurate.¨
Don Oscar also
clearly reminded
everyone that
the table is now
set for
President,
Chinchilla and
she only needs
to continue with
his governance
to succeed. (A
sure set up for
her to fail.)
Damn, if after
almost 8 years,
including the
Pacheco
administration,
former President
Arias did manage
to wrestle and
to pass the
CAFTA, the free
trade agreement
with the US,
right in the
middle of the
mother of all
recessions.
(Good work, bad
timing!)
The Arias
administration
did build roads,
and in truth,
using lots of
borrowings, we
pretty much
dodged the
recession bullet
here at home.
(Kudos don
Oscar! I mean
it.)
But after what
seems an
eternity, the
Great Recession
was finally
fading and just
when the US
economy started
to rebound, that
same Arias
administration
sat back and
allowed the
local currency
to jump so high
in value that
even mangos
could not be
exported at a
competitive
price?
His
administration
also focused on
the poor, unless
you ask the poor
who seem to
think otherwise.
Perhaps the most
disturbing
statement from
don Oscar was
that, ¨…for the
first time in
history we
(Costa Rica)
have the chance
to become fully
developed.¨
(Does that raise
the bar for our
new president
high enough?)
Neither then
Vice President,
Chinchilla nor
don Oscar could
get a crummy
traffic reform
law passed
except with
verbiage that
only Stephen
Hawking could
understand.
And while
traffic cops are
taking bribes,
the ombudsmen
department, who
promised to
investigate all
abuses, has one
employed person
with one phone
number but no
phone. (Maybe
when they told
us of their
fervent effort
for a ¨clean¨
implementation
of the new law,
their fingers
were crossed?
But that is not
a good sign for
country planning
to enter the
developed world
is it?)
According to
him, the China
recognition goes
down as one of
Oscar Arias´
proudest
achievements
while I see it
as a national
shame, a
terrible move
which within
five to eight
years will be as
unpopular as
¨Gringos¨ have
been and perhaps
are today.
Costa Rica is a
country who
prides itself
with a
culturally
entrenched
democracy, a
country offering
freedom of
speech, the
right to
demonstrate and
private
enterprise for
all not to
mention trying
to be
environmentally
friendly.
Although there
are 21 police
agencies, we do
not have a
military, I do
sleep at night
and certainly
there is no
capital
punishment in
Costa Rica. In
fact spending
more than 24
hours in the
slammer for
anything is
really hard to
do and that unto
itself is a
problem.
With short term
goals, check
book diplomacy
the Arias
administration,
while at the
same time
assuring Taipei,
Taiwan just days
before all those
rumors floating
around were not
true, Costa Rica
cut ties with
that country on
June 7, 2007 in
favor of its new
best friend,
China.
When pressed for
an answer, our
normally
eloquent former
president who
can speak for
long periods of
time simply
said, ¨Taiwan
was too cheap.¨
What else could
he say? We have
nothing in
common with
China except
money. (At least
he's not a
hypocrite about
this thing.)
So important was
the Chinese
check book that
the Arias
administration
cancelled the
visa of the Dali
Lama at the
¨suggestion¨ of
China. Not good
with the 6.7
billion
Buddhists around
the world and I
doubt if Richard
Gere will ever
build a house
here. (That's
like saying,
¨Pope, stay
home.¨)
And we received,
as a reward, a
then most
favorable $300
million loan.
(In today´s
market 2% over
12 years does
not sound so
good. We could
do better with
Goldman Sachs.
Just ask
Greece!)
Then 200 shinny
white police
cars showed up
along with a
couple of
Chinese
mechanics and
Chinese auto
parts which
suggests a
recall coming
(as of this
writing 20% are
out or order),
and finally the
building of an
$83 million
stadium designed
by the Chinese,
built with
Chinese products
except gravel,
sand and
concrete and
entirely
constructed with
Chinese labor
who work around
the clock. (To
hell with CR
labor law. This
is big bucks
we´re talking
here!)
Where is the
Tico in this
picture?
Permits?
Inspections? How
did these guys
get into Costa
Rica without...
Never mind, I
got it.
If the African
experience, so
well chronicled
by a series of
The New York
Times as one
source goes,
what´s in it for
Costa Rica can
be an illusion,
much like the
stadium. China
will build these
infrastructures,
China will
purchase the
needed
manufactured
goods from
itself to build
these
infrastructures,
China will
manage these
infrastructures
and Costa Rica
gets to export
primary
commodities that
it already
exports now.
I want
sustainable
economic
opportunities
for residents of
Costa Rica! Is
that asking too
much?
According to the
Times, in
Zimbabwe two
Chinese brothers
started
importing
T-shirts at 10
cents each and
within one year
put out of work
an entire local
factory and its
120 employees.
All and all, the
Arias
administration
has done good
things during
difficult times.
However, to the
contrary of his
speech, don
Oscar has left
plenty of
challenges for
our new
president
ranging from
reigniting
foreign
investment,
creating jobs,
bringing back
tourism, making
life safe again,
clean up
corruption and
most of all
finding ways to
put money into
the empty
government
coffer.
Laura Chinchilla
will have to
expand the
¨already set
table¨ and not
simply be an
Arias program
caretaker so to
speak. As our
leader and
president she
will be faced
with four
difficult years.
In the year 2014
she will be
measured by what
her
administration
accomplishes and
not by what she
inherited in
2010, real or
imagined.
*John Holtz is the Executive Director of
theCenter for
the Studies of
Modern
Management
www.modernmanagement.org and can
be reached at:
[email protected].
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