The Scandals. Who's Next?
With the detention of two former presidents Rafael Angel Calderón and Miguel Angel Rodríguez, and a handful of public functionaries and businessmen, many in Costa Rica are wondering who's next.

That sentiment carries through to the entire region of Central America with accusations against Nicaraguan president, Enrique Bolaños, of illegal campaign financing and Arnoldo Alemán, former president of Nicaragua, is serving 20 years for fraud.

Guatemala is slowly gathering evidence about misspent funds under Alfonso Portillo, who fled to Mexico after leaving office in January. And, the Honduran attorney-general last week fired 10 prosecutors who protested against his decision to drop corruption charges against former president Rafael Leonardo Callejas.

By comparison, things are mild in Panama, whose bank records have produced a trail of evidence against most of the others. There, Mireya Moscoso, who left office in September, merely denied allegations that she received a US$1 Million Dollar birthday gift from the Taiwanese government.

Many Costa Ricans were surprised at the events of the past two weeks, when they saw on television on on the front pages of every newspaper, one of their own, a former president who reached the heights of being Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) be escorted off an arriving flight in handcuffs and then placed in a police wagon taken to court. Miguel Angel Rodríguez is under house arrest, which is being appealed by the Fiscalía, who want to see the former president spend the next nine months in a jail cell.

Less than a week later, another former president, Rafael Angel Calderón, was detained and this time a judge agreed with the Fiscalía's request and ordered to spend the next six months in a jail cell in La Reforma prison.

Both former presidents are being accused of corruption and illegal enrichment, Rodríuez in the ICE-ALCATEL scandal, while Calderón in the FISCHEL-CAJA scandal.

Both men were detained after witnesses, who themselves are being accused of wrongdoing in the scandals, decided to "sing" to better their situation>

José Antonio Lobo Solera, a long time Rodríguez friend and Minister of Housing under the Rodríguez administration, a former legislative deputy and member of the board of directors at the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) decided to talk after it was discovered that his wife had received us$2.4 million dollars from the French telecommunications firm Alcatel after it being awarded the "prize", a contracts worth us$149 million dollars to provide 400.000 GSM cellular telephone lines in the country.

Lobo is currently under house arrest, implicated in the scandal, along with several other ICE directors and employees. The former manager of Alcatel, Edgar Valverde, is in preventive detention.

In the Calderón case, former Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) president, Eliseo Vargas, who is in preventive detention for his role in receiving payments from a us$39 million dollar loan to the CCSS to purchase medical equipment, decided to tell the Fiscalía that it was Calderón who was at the head of the distribution of the more than us$9 million dollars that was used to pay commission to themselves and others on the loan.

The following day, the president of the Corporación Fischel, who was awarded the contract for the purchase of the equipment and who made actual distribution of the commissions, also confirmed that Calderón was the key player in the deal. Calderón was called in by prosecutors and promptly arrested.

Many political leaders have distanced themselves from referring to or speaking about the scandal and the detentions. President Abel Pacheco has made several small commentaries, the last being on Sunday at the official opening of the new Alajueal hospital, when he told the crowd that the "sinvergüenzas y los canallas" (scoundrels and swines) are few within the CCSS and other public institutions.

Apart from that comment, he has not said much more than that he is "pained" and hopes that all will resolve well for his two friends and colleagues.

Oscar Arias, former president. Nobel Peace prize winner and presidential hopeful in the next elections has said very little as well, preferring to stay quiet on the subject.

And another former president, José Maria Figueres Olsen, has been absent of commentary on all that is happening in Costa Rica. Figueres, who was president in 1994-1998, following Calderón and preceding Rodríguez, is now CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF) - one of the most influential private organizations in the world. Based in Switzerland, the WEF brings together heads of state and government and prominent business leaders from over 100 countries.

Both Arias and Figueres belong to the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) or Green party, while, Calderón, Rodríguez and Pacheco belong to the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) party.

Perhaps, the most feared man in Costa Rica by politicians and businessmen at this time is the current Fiscal General (Chief Prosecutor), Francisco Dall'Anese, who has shown that no one - not even former presidents - are above the law and is moving ahead with full force to clean up corruption in Costa Rica.