Anyone who doubts Costa Rica’s loyalty to government bureaucracy should take into consideration this fact: Costa Rica has two Vice Presidents. Our country of 5 million plus is one of only eight countries that includes the appendage of an additional veep, joining Guyana, Honduras, Laos, Libya, Peru, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe in this dubious group.
This duplication of duties began after the 1948 Civil War, and was made official in the new Costa Rica Constitution ratified in late 1949. So what exactly are the duties of the Second Vice President? Is the second veep constantly on call for the first veep, like a relief pitcher in the late innings of a baseball game?
Well, sort of. The official description says that “There will be two Vice Presidents of the republic, who in the ‘absolute absence’ of the President, will serve as a replacement, in order of the nomination.” And in the temporary absence, the President may choose either of the two Vice Presidents to stand in. So if the second Vice President has scored enough brownie points with the President, there is always a chance that he/she could jump the chain of command and be appointed President for a few days.
Besides being ready to take over for the President or First Vice President, it is not clear what the responsibilities are of VP numero dos. Essentially they serve at the whim of the top dog. The current 2nd Vice President also serves as the Minister of Health. Her Instagram page shows her in various conferences and municipal meetings in her duties as the chief Health Department official, but I saw nothing showing her in 2nd VP duties.
In 2022, a bill was presented to eliminate the position of 2nd Vice President, but it was tabled without resolution– likely by many in Congress who hoped to someday fill this cozy post, which by the way, comes with a salary of 3.3 million colones per month (About $6,500 USD).
The evidence certainly seems to point to the lack of necessity of this post; if the duties of the position are so light that you can simultaneously run an important national department, of what need is there to have two vice presidents?
To me, the two vice presidents also reflect an abundance of caution often seen in Costa Rican culture. Here is an example of this overly cautious attitude– back in 1996 there was a disaster at a stadium in Guatemala, before a World Cup qualifying football match against Costa Rica. Over eighty people died in a stampede that was due to oversale of tickets, and the design of the stadium, which had narrow descending entranceways. Thousands of people pushed into the steep cramped entrances, and the result was catastrophic. But it was all due to stadium design and ten thousand more tickets sold than there were seats.
Costa Rica responded by immediately allowing only 15,000 tickets to be sold for their future qualifying matches, despite the facts that Saprissa Stadium, where the games were to be held, seats over 25,000, and is designed completely differently, with no possibility of such a logjam of people. A financially costly decision that erred on the side of caution.
Having a Vice President to back up a Vice President to back up a President is erring on the side of caution. It also creates an extra high-paying position for the rotating clique of overpaid office holders in San Jose; No need to mention names here, it is a high ranking government officials club, and you and me, and every Tico I know, ain’t in it.
This cronyism, mixed with an admiration for bureaucracy and an instinct toward caution, all go a long way to explaining the existence of the office of the Second Vice President in Costa Rica.
