The best and most bizarre quotes by former Public Security Minister José María Tijerino

1. “Let’s be realistic. If women close their eyes when they shoot, we can’t protect the public that way.”

–Tijerino at a February press conference about Costa Rica’s sexual harassment law and how it should be applied to policies at the Public Security Ministry and National Police.

2. “The worst [possible scenario] would be for the International Court to rule that Isla Calero belongs to Costa Rica and for Nicaragua to refuse to accept the ruling. It would then force us to turn to military intervention. That would be the worst. The worst would be a need to enter the area in order to shed blood. That would be the worst scenario.”    

–Response to a question about the border conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, during an interview with The Tico Times on Jan. 21.

3. “In my personal opinion, this dry law… just results in people accumulating a lot of liquor and then drinking it later… I’ve already bought my beers and plan to drink them, however not on Friday.”

–April 12, on the national prohibition of alcohol purchases on Thursday and Friday of Holy Week.

4. “I made a mistake.”

–On his decision to take a phone call from Rodrigo Arias about a criminal investigation into possible misallocation of government funds.

5. “Bandera de mi patria, Bandera idolatrada

Hoy en mi pecho, mi corazón alborozado,

Porque para cantarte soy poeta, y para defenderte soy soldado”.

(“Flag of my country, Idolized flag

Today in my chest, my heart is rejoicing,

Because to sing for you I am poet, and to fight for you, a solider.”)

–Tijerino’s answer, in the form of a poem, when asked if the conflict with Nicaragua had affected him personally during an interview with The Tico Times.

6. “I made a mistake.”

–After learning he had erroneously attributed a brutal double murder to the Sinaloa drug cartel.