Costa Rica President Survives Vote on Stripping Immunity

Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves survived a congressional vote on Monday that sought to strip him of his immunity, which would have allowed him to face trial for corruption charges.

The motion received 34 votes in favour and 21 against, falling four votes short of the 38 required for approval in the country’s 57-seat unicameral legislature.

Chaves, 64, faces accusations of abusing his power to benefit another person, a crime carrying a potential prison sentence of up to eight years.

• On 1 July, Costa Rica’s Supreme Court upheld a request from state prosecutors to lift his immunity, marking a first for a sitting leader in the Central American nation.
• Prosecutors allege Chaves forced a communications agency hired by the presidency to transfer $32,000 to his friend and former image adviser, Federico Cruz.
• Investigators state that the presidency bypassed proper procedures by using funds from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to pay the communications company.

Culture Minister Jorge Rodriguez also faces a request to strip his immunity on similar charges.

Chaves, who is barred by law from seeking a second consecutive term, described the proceedings as an “attempted judicial coup d’état” by the opposition.

He refused to attend Monday’s congressional debate, stating he did not want to give the session a “veneer of legitimacy.”

Political analyst Felipe Alpizar, a professor of political science at the University of Costa Rica, told AFP: “While the vote closes this chapter of the story, Chaves could still face trial once his term ends.”

The vote has temporarily shielded President Chaves from prosecution, but the corruption case remains unresolved and could proceed once he leaves office, keeping political tensions high in Costa Rica, a country often seen as a model of democracy in the region.