Is
Minister Del Vecchio Fibbing? Or Just Out Of
Touch?
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Is Security Minister
Del Vecchio Fibbing? Or Just Out Of Touch?
Was the ministra de Seguridad, Janina del
Vecchio, fibbing or is just out of touch
with her own ministry, when interviewed by
CNN- en Español, when she gave erroneous
figures about insecurity in Costa Rica,
during an interview by CNN en Español by
Clauda Palacios.
Asked about the promise made last year to
hire 1.000 new police officials and the
reason they are not in the streets because
of "poor pay", Del Vecchio told Palacios
that in fact the officers had been hired and
that they were currently in training at the
Escuela de Policía (police school).
Del Vecchio failed to tell her interviewer,
however, that the Autoridad Presupuestaria
(Budget Authority) did not authorize the
hiring of 1.000 officials, but in fact only
800 and that only 710 are actually at police
school training and will not be on the
streets until August or September, when they
are expected to graduate.
The minister did not tell the interviewer
either that the top salary for the new
police officials is only ¢206.300 colones
(us$368) monthly, a little higher than the
salary earner by construction or farm
labourer, whose salary is currently ¢194.000
colones monthly.
Erick Lacayo, director of the Fuerza Pública,
confirmed that the police salary increases
to ¢243.000 once they are on the streets and
are paid the police risk incentives pay.
Del Vecchio also told Palacios that
corruption has "has not permeated" the
police force, although there are hundreds of
complaints against police officials, most
for asking for some type of payoff by
victims and criminals.
Asked whether the country is ready to face
the problem of increased drug trafficking
gangs, De Vecchio said the country is fully
prepared, patrolling jointly with the United
States and wtih a police force and political
power that is incorruptible.
Of course, the minister neglected to mention
a very important point, that currenty there
are 600 open files on police officials
accused of corruption.
Last week alone, only two weeks after the
CNN interview, two members of the Fuerza
Pública in San José were accused of taking "mordidas"
(bribes) from criminals. The two police
officers are now facing a number of charges,
all for corruption.
Minister Del Vecchio also strongly defended
her boss, Costa Rican president, Oscar
Arias, telling Palacios that her boss is
seen as strong in facing the problem of
insecurity in the country.
However, the polls tell a different story,
as the perception of insecurity grows among
the population.
In the latest poll conducted by Unimer for
the dialy La Nación in Februaru, 27% of the
population cited insecurity as the main
problem. In August last year, the index was
only 16%.
Click here to see the CNN interview video.
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