RICO’s Q — Former President and Minister of Finance and the Presidency, Rodrigo Chaves, had a confrontation with several protesters on Monday night in Cartago during official events marking the 205th anniversary of Costa Rica’s independence.
The incident occurred after protesters confronted Chaves and the government for requiring them to show their cedula (national ID cards) to enter the area where the Government Council — cabinet — meeting was taking place.
The former president’s mockery made international headlines, while memes portraying Cháves in an unpresidential manner spread across social media, along with negative comments, including an analysis by a psychologist.
This is not the first time Chaves has behaved this way toward protesters. On February 1st—the day of the national elections—he also made faces at several people protesting against his administration’s policies.
Among the comments were: “RonRigo’s actions in Cartago last night were worthy of a drunken barfly; his face bore the look of any heavy drinker whose addiction prevents him from coordinating his speech or behavior. An ode to vulgarity. How embarrassing!”
“Deplorable and shameful,” stated legislator and former First Lady, Claudia Dobles. The legislator added that, at times, Chaves appeared to be in an “intoxicated” state and called on President Laura Fernández to take action.
On Tuesday, on social media, opposition leaders explicitly called out Chaves’ aggressive behavior, with legislator Claudia Dobles reminding Fernández that “a minister of state can be fired”
Dr. María Ester Flores, a family psychologist and education expert, who spoke with the daily La Teja, offered a profound reflection.
“If a high school student at any public or private school in our country were to give that kind of response—word for word—they would most likely face disciplinary action, receive a formal reprimand, and require correction,” the expert explained.
“Young people will say: ‘If a former president does it, I can do it too. If he isn’t punished, I can’t be punished either.’ So, from a psychosocial standpoint, it is undermining the healthy adaptive relationships within our social environment,” Flores warned.
This is not the first time Chaves has behaved this way toward protesters. There is nothing new about seeing Chaves denigrate or besmirch a person. Nor is there anything new in seeing him use foul and vulgar language.
What did catch many people’s attention, however, was seeing Rodrigo Chaves’s face and body language. It seemed as though Chaves was beside himself. He appeared to be in a state of ecstasy, almost delirious.
His grimaces and gestures were unusual—even by Rodrigo Chaves’s standards.
On Tuesday, during the official Independence Day civic ceremonies near the Parque Nacional and the Legislative Assembly, President Laura Fernández looked tired, with a distant look in her eyes on several occasions.
Is she growing weary of the role she was forced into? Or is she embarrassed or angry about the spectacle her boss (Chaves) made of himself the night before?
Or perhaps, as one social media site speculates, “Laura Virginia is merely a puppet who, when Chaves isn’t around, doesn’t know what to do or say; she lacks a personality of her own and lives according to a script and a role already written for her. A president without backbone.”
Chaves, to no one’s surprise, didn’t show up at the Parque Nacional event. “The hangover must have been a real killer,” commented one poster on social media.
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