A Government Blueprint from 2010 to 2014

by crv.staff
06.02.10
6:37 PM UTC

Filed in Costa Rica

Originally published in The Vibe, February, 2010
By Marcel M. Pfister

The race for Costa Rica’s presidency is going through its final stage and it appears increasingly as if Laura Chinchilla, official candidate of the Partido Liberación Nacional will be elected by the people of Costa Rica during the first electoral round on February 7, 2010. She was published a government blueprint outlining major focal areas for her government.

A cornerstone of her policies will be to preserve the achievements Costa Rica acquired during the Twentieth Century, namely the universal health coverage provided by the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS) and the national pension fund for retirees, widows, and widowers. She outlines two extreme paths which are on the fringes of any political spectrum. On the one hand, there is the path of individualism and indifference which she sees as being contrary to the values most Costa Ricans hold. On the other hand she sees a sense of nostalgia for government intervention which runs counter to the necessary free economic development and economic achievements of the past twenty years.

Costa Rica was the fastest growing economy in Latin America, after that of Chile and the only one which did not undergo any major economic crisis. Household incomes doubled during the last twenty years and exports multiplied. This generated a tremendous growth and made Costa Rica one of the most successful exporters of high technology products and services in the region. Foreign direct investments (FDI) increased significantly and so did the exports of agricultural goods.

Laura Chinchilla’s government blueprint suggests to run the middle ground between the above two extremes.

1 Security
Laura Chinchilla acknowledges deterioration in citizen’s security and a growth of violent street crimes but says it’s too easy to come up with quick and simple recipes. She advocates getting to the roots of criminal activities by means of understanding the causes of it and investing in crime prevention and education. On the other hand she promises to increase the size of the national police force and to provide them with better training and equipment. She sees the police stemming the tide of crime hand-in-hand with organized neighborhoods and alert citizens.

2 Well-being and Protection of the Most Vulnerable

She proposes three brand new national programs. The first one is a National Caretaking Program for children and adults with a focus on fostering early child development while freeing up capacity for single mothers or housewives to pursue careers outside the home, thus becoming financially independent. The Program for Solidarity, Secure and Healthy Communities focuses on 10 rural cantons and 22 urban communities in order to address health, housing, security, education, transportation, and dependent care issues. The Program of Comprehensive Attention to reduce the number of households living in extreme poverty by means of providing access to universal and select public services, providing people with jobs and assistance in job searches. The goal is to reduce the number of households living in extreme poverty by at least 20,000 during the next governing period.

She wants to continue with the Avancemos program initiated under the Arias government as well as the pensions paid out to people outside the national pension scheme, thus protecting the most vulnerable citizens and alleviating the effects of poverty wherever possible.

Activities in the fields of education, sports and recreation, arts and culture, as well as house construction and urban development complete that chapter.

3 Employment and Production

This chapter focuses on accelerated economic development and, in particular, that the fruits of development may be more broadly shared by means of fostering micro, small, and medium-size businesses, making a higher number of citizens into entrepreneurs in their own right. Her government will invest funds in the development of cooperatives in the fields of agriculture, industry, and tourism. Monetary and fiscal policies will become enabling factors to increase available credits to Costa Ricans.

4 Science, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

In this chapter, Laura Chinchilla speaks about fostering the talents, know-how and capabilities of citizens in order to transform the country into a knowledge-based society. Research and innovation will be the cornerstones of the above and Costa Ricans are increasingly encouraged to become entrepreneurs in their own rights.

5 Environment

In this chapter, Ms Chinchilla speaks about the eternal conflict between preserving and protecting the environment while at the same time fostering much needed development. She wants to make use of Costa Rica’s environmental wealth as an engine for economic growth. In this context, a National Urban Concept Plan will conceive a model to balance human activities with the environment and increase investments in water resources abundant in Costa Rica.

6 External Relations

She sees Costa Rica as a focal point to promote peace and democracy in an ever more complex world and a promoter of international law, human rights and environmental protection. This, she acknowledges, is an ambitious undertaking for a little country.

I found it particularly interesting to note that her choices of vice-presidential candidates are very much in tune with the above program. Luis Liberman Ginsburg is nothing short of Costa Rica’s most successful banker and an accomplished professor in macro-economics while Alfio Piva has first-rate credentials in the field of environmental protection and technologies.

Rating 4.33 out of 5