The president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, dismissed the Minister of Culture and Youth, Nayuribe Guadamuz, and the Commissioner for Social Inclusion, Ricardo Sosa, on Saturday for supporting the LGBT march scheduled for Sunday in the capital San José.
“The decision was made because they processed a declaration of cultural interest for an LGBTI pride march without the President’s authorization,” the Costa Rican government said in a statement.
According to the note, Chaves “had no knowledge of this declaration,” so their dismissal is due to the officials not informing him of their decision. “The declaration of cultural interest for the activity has been annulled by the government this same afternoon (Saturday),” the statement adds.
A march in defense of LGBT rights is scheduled for Sunday in San José, starting from La Sabana park towards Plaza de la Democracia, in front of the Congress of Deputies.
According to the Costa Rican presidency’s statement, the march does not have the authorities’ permits, which has been denied by the event organizers. “The march continues, what the President is doing is an illegal act, the procedures were done as with any activity,” said Geovanny Delgado, spokesperson for the Diversity March.
Chaves’ decision “is simply a populist act, like the one (El Salvador’s president) Nayib Bukele did these days, we regret that it lends itself to a show,” Delgado added.
Bukele fired more than 300 employees from the Ministry of Culture on Thursday for promoting “agendas” incompatible with his government’s vision. Bukele did not mention which “agendas” or “vision” he was referring to, but last week he appointed former teacher Raúl Castillo as Minister of Culture to safeguard the “values” of the Salvadoran family.
Bukele’s announcement came ten days after the Ministry of Culture announced that it canceled the presentation of a theater play because on its first and only day of staging it showed “content not suitable for Salvadoran families.”
On Friday, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court rejected a ban on the Pride march scheduled for Saturday by the LGBT community but ordered the government to ensure the “protection” of “values” and “morals.”
The high court issued this order while granting a provisional injunction to a conservative lawyer who sought to prevent the parade, which took place in the streets of downtown Guatemala City, the capital.
