After his weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday President Luis Guillermo Solís confirmed Sylvie Durán Salvatierra as the new culture and youth minister and appointed current Film Center Director Max Valverde Soto as the new vice minister.
Durán has been filling in as temporary minister since May 12 following the scandal involving the failed edition of this year’s International Arts Festival (FIA 2015), which cost ex-minister Elizabeth Fonseca and vice ministers Alfredo Chavarría and Luis Carlos Amador their posts.
Durán said that in addition to carrying out immediate tasks related to FIA 2015, her team already is planning on how to prepare for the 2016 and 2017 festivals.
“We are committed to emerge stronger from this year’s experience, and there is much we can learn from it,” she said.
Vice Minister Valverde said he will continue as chairman of the Film Center’s board in order to finish the projects he started during his 11 months in office. A new center director will be announced in coming days, he said.
The problems that led to the cancellation of a large number of this year’s festival events are currently under investigation by the Comptroller General’s Office, and Durán opened an office to assist artists and others affected by cancellations and rescheduling of FIA events.
Last weekend she confirmed the definitive cancellation of all concerts suspended during the festival, most notably international performances by Chilean band La Ley and Argentine stars Miguel Mateos and León Gieco, originally scheduled to take place from April 23 to May 3 and rescheduled for June 20-22 during a private event that was to take place at the Antigua Aduana facilities in San José.
Recommended: How Costa Rica’s 2015 International Arts Festival flopped
