The Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Arnoldo André Tinoco, announced that his Government “consult” with the observer countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA), on possible support for the short list presented by the Nicaraguan regime to lead the General Secretariat of the regional organization. The decision comes after eight former presidents of Costa Rica rejected the possibility that his country support the Nicaraguan proposal.
Among the SICA observer countries are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, United States, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.
“We are going to assess the arguments of our former presidents with the other foreign ministries, and we will make a recommendation or proposal to the president (Rodrigo) Chaves”explained the Costa Rican foreign minister during the program Our voice.
The decision, however, must be made by the Central American leaders at a meeting that does not yet have a scheduled date.
The appointment of the Secretary General of SICA must be made every four years on a rotating basis and, in correspondence with the agreed rotation, Nicaragua was responsible for assuming the Secretary General for the period 2021-2025. But, until June 23, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo had made no progress in their four attempts to hold office.
“Nicaragua presented a second (fourth) list that included the name of Werner Vargas, whom we interviewed on the previous June 23. He was director of SICA from 2014 to 2020, he knows the system well and colleagues believe he can resolve this impasse”Andre said.
They reject Ortega’s shortlist
Eight former Costa Rican presidents –Oscar Arias, Abel Pacheco, Rafael Calderón, José María Figueres, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Laura Chinchilla, Luis Guillermo Solisand Carlos Alvarado – sent an open letter to President Chaves, advocating that Costa Rica not support Vargas’ candidacy.
The ex-presidents consider that “it would be incongruous with the values that Costa Rica defends and promotes – the promotion of peace, human rights and democracy – to endorse the election of a candidate proposed by the despotic and oppressive regime that governs Nicaragua, to occupy the main position of the Central American integration”.
The former president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, considered that “there is no justification for Costa Rica to feel obligated to hand over that Secretariat to Nicaragua”since the resolution that proposes the principle of the rotation of the General Secretariat of SICA, adopted in 2017 by the Government of Luis Guillermo Solís, is not in the constitutive agreement of SICA.
“The Government of Carlos Alvarado wisely maintained in not granting that appointment and it seems to us that we must continue to maintain it, because above that 2017 resolution is the treaty that basically emphasizes respect for the principles that have to do with democracy. , human rights”expressed the former president in the program Speaking clear Columbia radio.
Chinchilla also valued that supporting Ortega’s proposal would be sending a message of indifference to the human rights violations committed by the regime against citizens, for which the former presidents agreed that it was necessary to pronounce on the matter.
“The presidents are the ones who ultimately make the decision. An additional advantage is that it has to be by consensus, it is enough that there is a country that opposes so that it does not happen. Costa Rica is in an excellent position to say here is a reasoning…Costa Ricans are going to agree that Costa Rica does not have to graciously grant any benefit to Nicaragua, to the Daniel Ortega regime at this time”said the former president.
The regime’s candidate
On June 23, the foreign ministers of Central America reached a consensus to elect the Nicaraguan Werner Vargas as the new SICA secretary general, putting an end to the one-year impasse caused by the repeated attempts of the Ortega and Murillo regime to place political cards without regional diplomatic experience.
The consensus on Vargas’s candidacy was reached in a virtual meeting of Central American foreign ministers, in which the situation of the impasse in SICA was addressed. A statement from the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that during the virtual meeting of foreign ministers, it was agreed to support Vargas’s candidacy and that it only remained for it to be endorsed by the presidents grouped in SICA.
Vargas was executive director of the General Secretariat of SICA when its head was former Guatemalan president Vinicio Cerezo (2014-2020). The former executive director of the regional organization was the candidate with the best technical profile to assume ownership of it, for which he had the support of the Central American countries.
According to your professional profile on LinkedIn, has held positions as Secretary of Parliamentary Affairs in the Central American Parliament; director for European Union issues, and head of office at the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry between 2008 and 2010. He was also a legal collaborator of the Central American Court of Justice (ICJ) between 2010 and 2014, a position he left to occupy the executive direction of SICA .
