“La Trocha” to see 10 new bridges for $6 million over next 90 days

I actually don’t know for sure she’s moving to Canada, and were I a journalist rather than just posting a comment I would have to verify this.

One of my Tico barroom buddies, who so far has been a reliable source of information, told me a couple weeks ago that her husband and son are already resettled in Canada (where her husband at least is a naturalized citizen) waiting for her to join them when her term expires. A check with someone else who should know resulted in the story that she’s looking for an academic appointment in Canada, which puts a nicer spin on what amounts to the same thing.

More speculatively, I’ve concluded that were in her shoes I’d consider getting out of the country too, at least for the sake of her son. I doubt that she’s actively hated by many Ticos, but she’s not liked by the majority. Watching her lately, it also seemed to me that she was looking abroad for jobs, like the one she got as head of the group of Latin American countries. Not least, let’s face it, having been president of a country is a pretty good line on a resume, at least if she gets out of CR. Here she probably couldn’t be hired as night clerk in a convenience store, but abroad she could probably land a cushy job as distinguished professor of Latin American politics. It just makes sense to me that she would leave, at least for awhile.

Yes, I’m pretty sure she believes that she has done a good job as president, and maybe in ways has. She’s thrown a lot of money at the cops, and crime seems to have come down a little. This was her main campaign pledge and she made good on it. I think her greatest accomplishment may be the daycare centers she started. Odds are there are other triumphs that I can’t think of now.

With regard to her failures, I would imagine that she blames others. Her most glaring failure was tax reform, but I’m sure she can fault others for blocking that (and Solís will have to tackle it now). So far I have seen no credible evidence that she has been personally corrupt, so I would imagine that she blames those under her who were for this tarnishing of her reputation. With respect to Nicaragua, I’m sure she still blames Ortega (along with corrupt Tico underlings).

And who knows who is right here? Arias was so disgusted after his second term that he called for an overhaul of the constitution. Maybe being president of CR is a thankless job.

However, I am concerned when presidents leave the country. It seems to me that if they were genuine patriots they would remain. When they leave, they send a strong signal to the rest of the country that even political leaders view the country as a career stepping stone to something better. If the presidents themselves view CR this way, why would anyone expect ordinary Ticos to commit to the country by paying their taxes, volunteering for public service, and all the rest that make for a strong society?

Chinchilla is probably personally better off leaving. The country though is better off if she stays. I predict she’s outta here.

Well, I said it, based upon what I have heard, as described below.

Interesting. I know she blew a wad (unnecessary imo) on the uproar against Nicaragua and another big wad on cops. This latter hasn’t been reported well, imo, but she not only hired new cops and bought them a fleet of fancy SUVs but also bought 14,000 new 9 mm pistols (so no desk cop has to have a lousy old revolver) while ceremonially destroying thousands of guns in a pacifist sidewhow rather than selling them. It was a great time to be in the public security business. Probably though the payment that tipped the scales was the $32 million to get out of the road deal with the Brazil company (while the settlement with the Canadian mining company awaits).

My guess is that she faults the failure of tax reform for all this. In her mind, the expenditures were probably all justified, and the failure was the legislature’s for not giving her the money.