Former President
Figueres Globetrotting,
Still Refusing To Return
To Costa Rica
While Costa Ricans
patiently wait that
former president, José
María Figueres Olsen
(1994-1998), returns to
Costa Rica to explain
his role in the Alcatel
- ICE scandal, Figueres
is globetrotting
promoting his
environmental project.
Figueres was featured
over the weekend on the
CNBC international
network, explaining his
recycling plant that is
environmentally friendly
that will be installed
by his private company
in Dubai.
At no time did the CNBC
interview touch on the
subject of his problems
in Costa Rica.
Lets remember, Figueres
refused to return to
Costa Rica to answer
questions of a
legislative committee
into receiving
us$900.000 from funds
originating from the
French
telecommunications firm,
Alcatel.
Alcatel was the winning
bidder in installing the
first 400.000 cellular
lines of the GSM
network, a contract that
involved payoffs to
former president Miguel
Angel Rodriguez
(1998-2002) and other
top ranking Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE)
officials.
Figueres says his
consulting fee was paid
after he left the
presidency in 2002 and
was not involved in any
payoffs. Figueres - the
son of former president
José María Figueres
Figueres or Don Pepe,
known as the father of
Costa Rica - and Karen
Olsen, a Swiss national.
Figueres now lives in
Switzerland.
|
|
