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Miguel Angel Rodríguez
Behind Bars
Following his arrival on Costa
Rican soil, former president
Miguel Angel Rodríguez has been
in the hands of judicial
officials, who transferred the
man to the jail cells at the
Second Circuit Court of San
José, located in
Goicochea.
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The former president was
escorted off the TACA flight as
he arrived in Costa Rica and
immediately transferred to the
judicial court house in downtown
San José, in one of the two
police wagons, amid tight
security.
Rodríguez coming
off the TACA flight from
Washington in handcuffs as he is
led to a waiting police
wagon.
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Rodríguez was
transferred directly from the
airport as he was handcuffed
when he stepped off a TACA
flight coming from Washington
D.C., arriving at the Juan
Santamaria airport at 2:25pm.
Rodríguez was sped in a police
wagon, locally called "la
perrera" as any other Costa
Rican citizen would, given no
special privileges, even though
he is still officially the
Secretary General of the
Organization of American States
(OAS), until tonight, when his
resignation takes effect.
Rodríguez spent the rest of the
afternoon in the company of
Judicial officials and
prosecutors. He was transferred
to the
Goicochea
court house jail cells waiting a
judge's decision on preventive
measures to be applied against
the former president, which may
come as late as Monday.
Security was tight in making the
transfer of the former president
from the downtown court house to
the court house in
Goicochea.
Members of the Unidad
Intervencion Policial (UIP) of
the Fuerza Publica were called
in to avoid any further
disturbances as was the case
earlier in the day in front of
the courthouse.
Sentiments among Costa Ricans
are strong, as many believe that
the man is where he belongs and
this is a one time opportunity
for Judicial officials prove
that they mean business in
cleaning up corruption in the
country.
"Now he will eat rice and
beans", was one comment
overheard and "carcel" was one
of the shouts at the van
carrying the former president
into the courthouse underground
parking lot.
Rodríguez was
president of Costa Rica for the
period 1998-2002, leaving the
seat to the current president
Abel Pacheco, who belong to the
same political party, the
Partido Unidad Social Cristiana
(PUSC).
Rodríguez took office at
the OAS last September 15, but
lasted less than one month at
the post, since he was forced to
resign after his alleged
involvement in accepting bribes
from the French
telecommunications firm Alcatel
and the government of Taiwan.
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