Former President Calderón Formally Charged With Corruption
Earlier this week, former president Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier, during a birthday party given for him, announced that he would be running for election in the 2010 presidential elections. Yesterday, the Ministerio Público presented formal charges against the former president and seven others, for their role in the CCSS-Fischel corruption case.

Calderón, who governed between 1990-1994, who feels he will be vindicated and absolved, will finally have his day in court.

Along with Calderón, charged are also Eliseo Vargas García, Walter Reiche Fischel, Gerardo Bolaños Alpízar, Juan Carlos Sánchez Arguedas, Olman Humberto Valverde Rojas and Marvin Barrantes Vargas.

The eight are charged with "peculado" and "corrupción agravada". Reiche and Randall Vargas are also being charged with the destruction of documents.

The formal charges come following a lengthy investigation when it was discovered that some us$9 million dollars of a us$29 million dollar loan from the government of Finland for the purchase of equipment by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) or Caja as it better known, went into the pockets of the accused.

The courts will now have to decide if the case goes to trial or not.

Calderón refused to comment on the filing of the charges, saying he was "too busy" and that any questions should be directed to his lawyer, Juan Marcos Rivero, who said that he could not comment because he was not privy to the details of the charges filed.

"At least we have achieved in ending the first phase of the process which has been torturous, difficult and complicated and now were open to get to a public trial", said Rivero.

The CCSS-Fischel case began in 2004 when an investigation by the daily Spanish language newspaper La Nación revealed that Eliseo Vargas, former president of the CCSS lived in a luxurious home in Valle de Sol, Santa Ana, which was owned by the Corporación Fischel, who also operates the largest chain of pharmacies in the country.

The La Nación investigation also revealed that while Vargas was a legislative deputy, he pushed and got approval in only three days, a law that would permit the loan for the CCSS. The original loan by the Finland was us$32 million and then expanded by us$7 million.

The CCSS purchased equipment from Medko Medical, represented in Costa Rica by the Corporación Fischel.

The equipment purchased by the CCSS were not based on based on requirements by the directors of clinics and hospitals but rather by offers made by the vendor, which some of the equipment never worker properly.