“He had no office, no functions, no programs. But he did have a salary.”
–First Vice-President Lineth Saborío
on her former colleague, Second Vice-President Luis Fishman, following Fishman’s resignation in January after three years with no official functions because of a 2002 disagreement with President Abel Pacheco.
“The legislators and the great ones eat meat, and we can’t even buy it. We can’t even buy rice… The fathers of the country… are leeches, feeding off the blood of the people, and they expect us to be grateful. That’s Costa Rica: a democracy with a broken ass.”
–Benjamin Vindas, a carpenter, 77,
speaking with The Tico Times on Ave.
Central in downtown San José on the
rising cost of living in April.
“The business of literature is a cheap swindle. What I would recommend to young people is that they seek something more useful to do with their time, like making shoes or singing. Singing is very nice.”
–José León Sánchez,
author of “The Lonely Men’s Island” and
former inmate at San Lucas
Penitentiary, a prison that operated on
Isla San Lucas in the Gulf of Nicoya
from 1873-1989, when asked what tips
he would give aspiring writers.
“If we say yes to CAFTA, that isn’t the solution either – we won’t have Disneyland here the next day.”
–Trade Minister Manuel González
in January, on the Central American
Free-TradeAgreement with the United States.
“We live in an ungovernable country, where democracy has evolved into a quasi-anarchy… This country cannot bear more of this.”
–Former President and National
Liberation Party candidate
Oscar Arias
in September.
“How do we explain to the Marriott or the Four Seasons… that the rules of play can be changed on a whim?”
–Agustín Monge of the Costa Rican
Hotel Chamber (CCH),
complaining in February about the
Comptroller General’s tendency to make
far-reaching decisions that change conditions
for investors.
“I have complete faith in the Prosecutor’s Office, but let me tell you this, Mr. Chief Prosecutor. The political judgment has been made. Only the judicial judgment remains.”
–Ricardo Toledo, legislator from
the Social Christian Unity Party
(PUSC), to Chief Prosecutor
Francisco Dall’Anese,
who was visiting the Legislative
Assembly to discuss the case of former
President José María Figueres,
under suspicion of corruption.
“Justice isn’t a matter of the majority. We can’t put someone in jail to satisfy the observer.”
–Dall’Anese,
responding to legislators’ comments.
