President Luis Guillermo Solís, following his first full session cabinet meeting on Tuesday, assured that the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad Nacional (DIS) – the country’s spy agency – will undergo a “profound” transformation.
Although the President was light on the details, he said that DIS would cease to be a “political police”.
Solís explained that the investigations carried out by the DIS have no legal validity and the information collected is used for “intelligence” purposes and in some cases handed over to the Attorney General for the prosecution of cases.
The President also defended his choice for director of the DIS, son and brother of former presidents, Mariano Figueres. Mariano is son of former president José María Figueres Ferrer (1948-1949 (de facto), 1953-1958 y 1970-1974) and brother of former president José Marís Figueres Olsen (1994-1998)
Solís explained that Figueres has two Masters degrees in Management, graduating with Honours, from Stanford and not Princeton as he said last week.
In the end, according to Solís, legislators will have the final word on the possible rumour shut down of the DIS.