Moisés Fachler, one of the owners of the house in Rohrmoser where the Venezuelan Embassy was located in Costa Rica between 2009 and 2017, is charging the diplomats of the Nicolás Maduro regime for US$49,000 in damages.
Fachler, formerly a lawyer and former judge assures that the Embassy of the Maduro regime owes him US$29,000 for arrears of four months’ rent ($7,250 monthly) and US$20,000 for the repair of the property for damages found after the diplomats vacated the property.
Fachler, who with his wife own the property in the name of Leveche S.A., rented it Venezuelan government under the Maduro administration between April 1, 2009 and January 2017, used as the Embassy and Consulate General of Venezuela in Costa Rica, during which Nelson Pineda Prado, Aura Mahuampi Rodríguez de Ortiz and Jesús Javier Arias Fuenmayor served as ambassadors.
According to Fachler, when Arias Fuenmayor delivered the property to him, in January 2017, it was “torn apart”.
In addition, Fachler said they were bad payers. “They started to pay my rent very badly, very badly. They paid when they wanted, there were problems with the Foreign Ministry in Venezuela,” said the retired judge who lived off the property income.
He added that diplomats did at the beginning of 2017 pay four of the eight months of arrears, but only after he requested the intermediation of the then Chancellor of Costa Rica, Manuel González, both for the payment and for the return of the property.
According to Fachler, in late 2016, the then Ambassador Arias was summoned to the Protocol Department of the Chancellery, where he promised to deliver the property and to pay half of the rental arrears of $58,000, which finally occurred in January 2017.
“Arias says he is going to vacate the house in October 2016 and but did so in January 2017. The house is torn to pieces and they tell me they do not have the money because of the special situation that exists in Venezuela,” the former judge added.
According to the owner, the house had holes in the walls, damage to the ceiling, bathrooms, drains and floor, as well as broken glass. In addition, the air conditioners were broken and the owners had to repair them.
The former judge claims to have invested US$25,000 in repairs, of which US$5,000 came from the security deposit and the rest from his pocket.
In the end, the debt was $49,000 between the rent arrears and the repairs.
Now, it appears that Fachler will have to write it off to experience.
On February 25 of this year, Fachler once again resorted to the Costa Rica Foreign Ministry to intervene, explaining it is his only resort because the extraterritorial status of diplomatic missions, such as the case of Venezuela, prevents him from going to court.
However, this time reply from the Foreign Ministry was not positive, being told that the Foreign Ministry “can not intervene in this matter, in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has reiterated, in the case of what happened with respect to the headquarters of the Embassy of Venezuela in Costa Rica (both in Rorhmoser and Los Yoses), that it is a matter of private matter of rent between the tenant and the owner,” adds Casa Amarilla.
The Venezuelan Embassy was moved from Rohrmoser to Los Yoes at the beginning of 2017, the Embassy of Venezuela moved to Los Yoses, San José, where on February 20 of this year made the headlines when Maria Faria, the diplomatic representative of the president in charge of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, took the Embassy.
That property is also rented. Faría, recognized by the Costa Rican government as Venezuela’s ambassador, returned the building to its registered owner a day later.
Other debts
The government of Nicolas Maduro’s debts in Costa Rica do not stop in rent arreas.
According to La Nacion report, the Venezuelan Embassy under the Maduro regimes owes the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS) ¢23.3 million colones, the Fondo de Desarrollo Social y Asignaciones Familiares (Fodesaf) ¢4.5 million colones and ¢90.000 colones to the Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social (IMAS).
