Caribbean & Central America - April 2015 (ISSN 1741-4458)

Despite his attendance at the 10-11 April Summit of the Americas in Panama, Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solís found time to fire his science and technology minister in an attempt to shore up his country’s reputation for press freedom. In a statement released by the Casa Presidencial on the morning of 10 April, Gisella Kopper, the minister for Science, Technology & Telecommunications, as well as her vice-minister, Allan Ruíz, were asked to resign for “drafting a bill that contradicted Costa Rica’s principles of respect for freedom of expression”.

Since its proposal, the bill has been greeted with outrage by local media organisations like the Instituto de Prensa y Libertad de Expresión (Iplex) and the Cámara Nacional de Radio y Televisión de Costa Rica (Canartel), plus international associations like the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA). Costa Rica has one of the best press freedom rankings in Latin America. The most recent (February 2015) Press Freedom Index by the international NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Costa Rica 16th of 180 countries surveyed, second only to Jamaica (9th) in the region.

The proposed bill’s critics were especially outraged by provisions that they said could result in the closure of a radio or television station if it broadcast two “lies” or offended “moral standards” twice in a given year. National daily La Nación reported that many of the draft legislation’s most controversial articles were copied from media laws in Venezuela and Ecuador, nations criticized by RSF in its World Press Freedom Index for fomenting self-censorship and taking an aggressive stance toward the press.

To head off some of the criticism, Solís had ordered the minister of the presidency, Melvin Jiménez, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the drafting of the bill. However, the president decided not to wait for the outcome of Jiménez’s report. In a statement to the press in Panama on 9 April, Solís said “Today and always, we are going to defend freedom of expression and press freedom because they are fundamental principles of a democracy that is an example to Latin America and the world. We are not going to permit anyone to tarnish these principles.”

Kopper is now the third minister to resign this year, following the departure of María Elena López, from the health ministry, and Celso Gamboa, from the security ministry, in February. The president is also under pressure to fire Jiménez, a Lutheran bishop, who the opposition argues should be prohibited from holding public office according to the country’s constitution.

When asked about Jimenéz’s future on 13 April, the president was, for the first time, lukewarm in his support for someone who had been considered his right-hand man. While refusing to be drawn on speculation that a wider cabinet reshuffle is likely in early May, to coincide with the president’s first year in office, Solís said that “no minister is chained to his post and no-one’s name is written in stone”.

OECD invites Costa Rica to join

On 9 April the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) formally invited Costa Rica to apply for membership, five years after the Central American country first began its attempt to join the club of 34 developed economies. Though Costa Rica’s economy is far smaller than most OECD nations, and still relies on partners like the US for security and development assistance, its strong record on education and healthcare puts it on a par with many OECD countries in terms of social indicators. As the OECD was extending its invitation, however, President Solís said he would lobby President Barack Obama for part of the US$1bn aid package proposed for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The challenge for Solís’ government will be to present itself as both developed and deserving of aid simultaneously.

• FDI down

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Costa Rica fell 21% year-on-year in 2014 to US$2bn. The main reason for the drop was the lack of foreign capital flowing into the Costa Rican real estate market, which had received a major boost in investment in 2013. On average every year between 2008-2014, FDI accounts for around 5.1% of Costa Rica’s GDP.