-Published: Thursday, October 24, 2019-


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
 

The now-former minister of Finance, Rocío Aguilar, presented her official resignation Wednesday.

Aguilar's resignation is due to the General Comptroller's recommendation to suspend her from her duties for the next 30 days. The comptroller gave that recommendation based on the mismanagement of finances and the deficit in the budget that had remained since the previous government of former president Luis Guillermo Solis.

According to Aguilar, her decision was taken to prevent President Carlos Alvarado from having to execute the comptroller's order and suspend her for 30 days.

"I am not going to put the president in a situation where he had to choose whether I should be suspended and then come back, so I anticipate that and present my irrevocable resignation," said the former minister at a press conference. "I couldn't leave the president in that dilemma."

The former minister said she does not agree with the comptroller's decision because that institution also did not alert the government in time about spending money that was not budgeted and approved by lawmakers.

"She has served the country with distinction. Her hard work was key to stabilize and clean up public finances," said Alvarado at Aguilar's resignation. "I do not agree with the comptroller's resolution, Ms. Rocío has always worked to protect the best interests of the country."

Among the main goals of Aguilar as Finance minister was the approval of the fiscal reform, the implementation of the value added tax, and the cuts to the government budget.

The sanctions issued by the comptroller were also applied to four more officials, as follow:

The former Finance minister, Helio Fallas.

The current director of the Bank of Costa Rica, Julio Espinoza,

The director of the National Treasury, Marta Cubillo.

-The director of Public Credit, Melvin Jiménez.

The budget shortfall came during the previous government of former president Solis. In April the deputies of the Special Permanent Commission of Income and Public Expenditure approved a report on the investigation of the government’s budget shortfall and said the unbudgeted expenditures were about  900 billion colones (about $1.5 billion).

As A.M. Costa Rica reported, deputies asked in their resolution that former president Luis Guillermo Solís and Helio Fallas, the former minister of Finance, be banned from holding any public position for four years.

The deputies requested that the report be delivered to the Prosecutor's Office to establish the civil and criminal responsibilities of the seven persons who were investigated.

Jonathan Prendas, a deputy and president of the commission said there is enough evidence to be able to show the possible illegal acts of both a civil and criminal nature of seven people as follows:

- Former president Solís.

- Former minister of Finance Helio Fallas.

- Now former minister of Finance Aguilar.

Four additional high authorities from the Ministry of Finance, Cubillo, Marjorie Morera, Espinoza, and Melvin Quirós.

In September 2018, former president Solís appeared before the commission of deputies where he said that he was unaware of the shortfall in the budget.

According to former president Solis, "the possibility of raising an extraordinary budget was never raised" by the government advisors.

Former president Solis said his technical financial team worked since February 2017 in the process to prepare an eventual extraordinary budget. However, this process was finished by July 2017, when the new government of president Alvarado was already in place.

Solís was the president of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the center-left Citizens' Action Party, known as PAC.


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Could the resignation of Rocio Aguilar cause a negative image of Costa Rican top finance authorities ?   We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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