The Costa Rican Prosecutor’s Office investigates whether there is a crime in the trip of President Chaves to Latvia; the Presidency says it is a legitimate trip

( Spanish) — The Costa Rican Public Ministry confirmed this Tuesday to that it opened an ex officio investigation of President Rodrigo Chaves for the alleged crime of influencing the Public Treasury in relation to the president’s trip to Latvia, the country of origin of First Lady Signe Zeikate. , scheduled for this Thursday and Friday.

Chaves participated this Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium, in the Summit between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). According to the Presidency, the trip to Latvia is scheduled after that appointment.

Without giving further details, the prosecutor’s office sent the link to the law that in its article 57 contemplates the crime of Influence against the Public Treasury, which says that “they will be punished with prison from two to eight years, the public official and the other equal subjects who, by intervening by reason of their position, influence, direct or condition, in any way, so that a certain result is produced, harmful to the patrimonial interests of the Public Treasury or to the public interest, or is used any maneuver or artifice tending to that end”.

The Presidency of Costa Rica defends the visit

The Minister of Communication of Costa Rica, Jorge Rodríguez, said this Tuesday after knowing the announcement of the Prosecutor’s Office that it is an official trip of the president in which “he will hold meetings with the president of Latvia, with the president of the parliament of that Republic and will visit Riga University next Friday.”

In a video released by the President’s Press Office, Rodríguez rejected statements by analysts who, according to him, said that Latvia is not an important country. “Unfortunately – he added – the analysts who say this forget that Latvia is part of the European Union, it is an OECD country and that foreign policy decisions are the responsibility of the President of the Republic and the Chancellor”.

In a conference held on Wednesday of last week, Chaves referred to the controversy as follows: “There are people saying: what he is going to do is go see the in-laws. No gentlemen. If I’m going to see them, why am I going to lie to them? I imagine that you have to go and say hello, it would be rude”. And at the same time, he assured that he was not going for a walk. “It turns out that the president of Latvia is new, and they know that in diplomacy you have to look at people closely, and it happens to happen that it is in Latvia. And yes, you have to take one more little trip. And do you know what Ticos? It’s for the good of the country, I’m not going for a walk,” the president insisted.

The press release that announced the president’s tour at the time indicated that the visits reinforce “Costa Rica’s interest in strengthening its political, cooperation and trade ties with the European Union, as well as reaffirming the interest to build joint actions on issues of good governance, democracy, human rights and the fight against drug trafficking, among others”.