Comments on: Former president Laura Chinchilla says she is not a thief or a millionaire

By: duke ster

duke ster — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 22:09:00 +0000

Very strong points all around being discussed by intelligent people here who understand the Costa Rican court system very well. I hope all of you intelligent people posting here will keep up these interesting discussions and explain these events to us as the trial goes on. A “blow by blow” expose’ will be greatly appreciated by me and I am sure by other readers.

By: duke ster

duke ster — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 22:01:00 +0000

Good point SDPUS, to see another lawyer come out publically AGAINST the ex president who is also a lawyer, is indeed a rare event and Mr. Baldi should be commended publically as you have just done. He is an example of someone from inside the tight knit lawyer group of thieves. taking a big risk with his career and possibly his life by attempting to put a person of her stature and position on a public theater of possible shame. And the fact that he is taking not only Laura on, but actually the whole corrupt abagado system on, is a very very bold move. Especially since these higher ups are all sworn to each other not only in their invisible secret club rules but they(mostly) all belong to the Masons and if you know anything about the Masons, they are sworn to defend another Mason in ALL cases and events–regardless of the nature or severity of their crime or offense. Much like the famous cover up of the”Jack the Ripper” events so many years ago. Since Jack was a member of the elite ruling class at the time. Here we have a rare event unfolding in front of us and it could lead to a very interesting outcome. IF…IF the judge in this case acts in an honest fashion to endeavor to search for the truth. But since he probably is also a member of the Masons- it is doubtful that any further revealing information or outcome should be expected. I wonder why Laura is even at this point of public scrutiny? Perhaps she is being taken to task for some , unknown to us, an event or disobedient act or being punished or warned because of her not following orders or not doing what is expected of her in some situation which will never be revealed to us, the public. This is a rare event indeed as far as I understand, which isn’t that far ha ha. Us little people know very little of the inner workings of politics and of the machine which runs things. Like the citizens who still are so naive’ to actually believe their vote in a presidential election means anything at all. For example,President Obama knew from an early age that he would become president and even those who he told ( very early on) he would become president and didn’t believe him since they knew he wasn’t even an American citizen, went on to see it happen. After all, his name is Barry Soetoro,and he is a muslim from Indonesia. You see a son of a muslim MUST also be a muslim when you live in or are from a muslim country. There is absolutely NO leeway in these matters. Do the research. To Anyone who wants to read my posts, I will , little by little, reveal more incredible truths to you as time goes on. But please… DO THE RESEARCH so you will ( hopefully learn) but so you also will have an intelligent rebuttal of what I reveal if you don’t agree.

By: duke ster

duke ster — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 21:27:00 +0000

Well said Ken, well said.

By: SDPUS

SDPUS — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:32:00 +0000

It is hard to believe she attended Georgetown University. Apparently, she missed the concept and meaning of public service. It will be interesting to see how this battle of lawyers plays out. Everyone and at all levels of this case is an abogado. This is where the organized crime syndicate of Costa Corrupcion resides: Lawyers, Politicians, Prosecutors, Judges, OIJ Jefes, Prison Jefes–they all are lawyers. This is a very small country, and these lawyers work on a code of corrupcion, at all levels they are gaming the system. I realize this is often true in most countries, but in CR they arrogantly take it to a new level…it must be a part of the swearing in process here. I commend Mr. Baldi, as he appears to be one of the few lawyers with integrity in this country. He may lose this case in the short, but time will certainly show the truth in regards to her supposed land acquisitions in Guanacaste. I expect this verdict to eventually open up an unexpected can of worms. It is highly unusual for lawyers to “really” be opposing one another here. Typically they play the system and steal in unison…the Judiciary of Costa Rica has institutionalized corruption at all levels, top to bottom. The President of the court inquiring and possibly interferring should be of major concern. This should be the job of DIS. If Costa Rica did not have a tourist based economy, they would be little different than Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala…in fact they may be well on their way, as foreign investment is plundering. Gang raping visiting college students from abroad certainly won’t help either. Universities will not subject their students to uncontrollable crime, and will pull back just as they did in Mexico in the not too distant past. For most visitors being a victim of crime, has just become a matter of time in Costa Rica! That will not keep a prosperous tourism industry. And that is because of leadership like that of Laura Chinchilla. You know the President who was tough on crime. Unfortunately just for crimes committed by poor people who are forced into plea agreements. They may fool some of the people some of the time, but they won’t fool all of the people, all of the time. And that is a real shame, because the majority of Ticos are good caring people. Thes lawyers have no shame!!! And to me, the Colegio de Abogados is the center of the problem. It is their duty to sanction these corrupt lawyers, and obviously, that never happens. When the real estate market plummetted in 2008, many lawyers had to find new ways to swindle.

By: Kimo McGowan

Kimo McGowan — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:21:00 +0000

Sorry, i’ll type slower next time.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 02:57:00 +0000

Whats your point?

By: expatin paradise

expatin paradise — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:30:00 +0000

Your clarification of Costa Rican law confirms my belief that the ex-president didn’t have to testify as to her finances, that it is the defendant who has to prove his allegations. If Sra Chinchilla’s financial situation is other than she testified to, not only may she lose her lawsuit, but she may also be found guilty of perjury. She is either being truthful or taking a very big chance that the defendant won’t be able to sustain an affirmative defense.

Many years ago, I had a friend whose father filed a defamation suit against Time Magazine for calling him a “Mafia mouthpiece.” Time’s discovery not only supported an affirmative defense, but also provided the Feds with enough material to prove tax evasion and perjury. I don’t know if my friend’s father ever was readmitted to the Bar Association after serving his time in prison.

By the way, Hillary’s claims of poverty didn’t play well with the media, but the Clintons were pretty heavily in debt on leaving the White House – I would have been pretty worried if I was in that deep and had a kid who needed to finish school. They dug out pretty quickly when the former president started pulling in hefty speaking fees, and they were never living in real poverty by any stretch of the imagination, but they did feel some financial insecurity, which was probably Hillary’s point.

By: Ken Morris

Ken Morris — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:29:00 +0000

This all reminds me of Richard Nixon, and is as pathetic.

Whenever a politician has to say, “I am not a crook,” they’ve already lost in the court of public opinion, and as others note, this seems the real court Chinchilla is playing to. The case itself turns on the specific allegations, and it wouldn’t matter if Chinchilla were a billionaire whether or not those allegations are true. The poor woman is even dumb in her own defense.

And BTW, her 1999 car is a Mercedes (I have no idea what brand her new car is), a $145,000 annual pension for a family of three is hardly lean, and her house more than qualifies as a luxury house under the tax code. You have to wonder what planet she’s living on to imagine that a defense based upon her own humble circumstances will fly.

It’s a sad sputtering end to a disappointing political career–although she may win the actual case and end up more than doubling her humble income this year.

By: Kimo McGowan

Kimo McGowan — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:50:00 +0000

the average costa rica has never been president of costa rica…

By: mhogan

mhogan — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:34:00 +0000

In English Common Law, if you can back up (prove) what you say is true, you get off scott free (pretty much). In Napoleonic Code as applied in Costa Rica, even if the facts are true you still can’t throw them in someone’s face to say “nasty” things about them. What the Lady is doing is pre-empting Baldi by putting forth an official, sworn statement of her assets and attempting to show she is a “common” person trying hard to come up with money to finance her son’s education. Remember Hillary Clinton claiming to be “broke” and struggling to pay Chelsea’s education costs? In the Court of Public Opinion, it did not work for Hillary; but then she isn’t in Costa Rica. Costa Rican judges tend to show compassion for the downtrodden lot (even if that person is a former politician). And if being called a “thief” has damaged in any way her potential to augment her pension to pay a mortgage, educate her child, and buy something better than a 1999 vehicle (hazing over “another vehicle I purchased recently”), well those are damages she will claim in a civil case after first winning the criminal one. Doubtful Baldi can use the defense of sophistication of hiding finances of the uber rich and Lady Laura knows this, I suspect.