After being away from the Legislative Assembly for almost two months due to a dangerous health condition, the vice president of the Congress, Gloria Navas Montero, returned to the plenary microphone this Thursday to launch a strong criticism of the President of the Republic, Rodrigo Chaves, because of insecurity that the country is going through.
In a 15-minute intervention, the lawmaker said that a recent statement by the president “shows a profound ignorance of what violence means in Costa Rica.”
He mentioned what the president said during the session of the extended Council of Government in the province of Limón, on August 31.
Chaves assured that someone from Limón told him not to worry too much about the murders, because “as long as one does not go to bad ways, there is no reason to worry, because they are killing each other .”
The president added: “You know what? Yes, it’s true, but we are worried, not only about those who kill, but also about those they leave behind, not only about people who have become bad ways, to to ensure that there are real options.
On September 6, Chaves also predicted more violence in response to the authorities’ actions to break up criminal gangs and groups of hitmen.
That day, he said that, as in politics, in organized crime there are no empty seats and, when a criminal organization disappears or weakens, another will appear in its place and accounts will be settled.
Gloria Navas described what was said as unacceptable
Gloria Navas, representative of the New Republic (PNR), criticized the words of the president of Limón and considered his point of view unacceptable.
He stressed that these confrontations are kidnapping communities, “they steal peace from honest people and promote fear, which is terrorism.”
“What we have is terrorism, when fear is imposed on citizens, because they are frequent actions and in many groups. “This is no longer an isolated case,” he said.
Fiscal rule, ‘straitjacket’ for the police
The deputy, who heads the Commission on Security and Drug Trafficking in the Legislative Assembly, assures that in San José and Limón there is a mini-cartel war, disputing the territories for the sale of drugs.
He pointed out that the hitmans are a solution that many young people see in the face of the lack of opportunities, in addition to the estimate of the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) that the country will close in 2023 with more than 900 murders.
“That is intolerable, it is not acceptable. Security is not a cost, it is an investment. Democracy is in security and, without security, we have no development, no good education, nor can we guarantee citizens, no peace without security,” he stated.
Gloria Navas also called for the removal of the financial rule for the police forces, because the country needs enough money to fight this scourge of insecurity.
“The director of OIJ, Randall Zúñiga, says that the State needs at least 600 policemen. Let’s remember young Calzada, the mothers who were interviewed, collateral deaths like the child Samuel,” he said.
The president of the Security Forum called to stop the normalization of violence and daily killings in Costa Rica, because people are starting to get used to two or three people being killed, and they act as if nothing’ y happened.
“Criminal gangs impose their law. “What we have is terrorism,” Navas said.
