Thursday 18 September
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Interlinéa Buses
Stalled Again
Hotel Tax May Go, $15 To
Be Added To All Airfares
To Costa Rica
24 Immigration
Officials Charged For False Passport
Stamps
Costa Rica President's
Popularity Falls On
Scandals
Potential Cure for
Malaria Discovered in
Rainforests of Costa
Rica
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Costa Rica President's
Popularity Falls On
Scandals
The popularity of Costa
Rica's president, Oscar
Arias Sanchéz, has
plummeted amid a series
of financial scandals
and revelations that the
government secretly sold
bonds to China, a poll
showed on Tuesday.
President Arias'
approval rating slid to
29% from 50% in March,
according a poll
published in the leading
Spanish language daily
La Nación newspaper,
while negative opinions
of the president jumped.
Arias has faced
criticism in recent
months after revelations
that his government
secretly sold us$300
million in bonds to the
Chinese government.
La Nación successfully
sued the government to
force Arias to give
details about the sale
and found they were part
of an agreement to break
long-held ties with
Taiwan last year in
favor of China.
Beijing regards Taiwan
as a renegade province
and the two governments
offer aid and
development projects to
try to win small
countries to their side
of the diplomatic
struggle.
Arias has defended the
secrecy around the bond
deal, saying the Chinese
demanded
confidentiality.
The latest scandal came
after Costa Rica's
housing minister
Fernando Zumbado
resigned last month
after he was accused of
spending low-income
housing aid from Taiwan
to pay consultants'
salaries.
In July, La Nación said
the government
mishandled a us$2
million donation from a
regional development
bank by spending it on
consultant fees and
skirting proper
government channels.
The poll, conducted by
the firm Unimer Research
International, surveyed
1,239 Costa Ricans
between Aug. 28 and
Sept. 4 with a margin
for error of 2.8
percentage points. |
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