QCOSTARICA – President Rodrigo Chaves arrived this Monday at the Casa Presidencial (Presidential House) in Zapote, for the first time since his investiture as President on Sunday
The president was received by the operational and administrative staff of Casa Presidencial, in addition to the vice presidents, Stephan Brunner and Mary Munive, and the ministers of the Presidency and Communication, Natalia Díaz and Patricia Navarro, respectively.
Chaves is no stranger to Casa Presidencial, he visited often during the previous administration while he was the Ministro de Hacienda (Minister of Finance), between October 30, 2019 (assuming his duties on November 26, 2019) to May 29, 2020.
Within the framework of Monday’s activity, the Ministra de la Presidencia (Chief of Staff), Natalia Díaz, announced that the decrees signed by the President on Sunday will be published this Tuesday and denied that there is a ‘secrecy’.
Díaz emphasized that the decrees on the elimination of the mask and vaccination against Covid-19 did not require consultation.
This Monday at noon, almost 24 hours after the first Chaves decrees were issued – the elimination of the compulsory nature of the covid-19 vaccine and the use of masks, changes in the rice market and in the registration of agrochemicals and medicines, and declaration of emergency in the face of the Conti cyber attack – had not been fully disclosed either in the official newspaper La Gaceta or through the Press Office of Casa Presidencial.
“I am going to explain to you a little what has happened. There are several decrees that do not require a consultation, according to what we have been told. One has to do with the national state of emergency with cyber-attacks and with the issue of masks and vaccination (…),” said the Minister.
Díaz’s comments on the matter came after strong criticism from the medical sector and legal doubts about the legitimacy of the repeal of the masks and vaccination without technical and scientific criteria from the National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission, in accordance with the National Vaccination Law.
There is no secrecy. Diaz insisted that there is a problem of accommodation.
“We have entered an administration situation that we have to resolve right now, with some appointments. We are in a process of accommodation. I apologize for the case, but obviously, it has been a matter of accommodation on the first day of government here and, then, we are in that process and, starting tomorrow, we are sharing all the information on these decrees, aimed at the issue of emergency and also to the issue of vaccination and masks.
“Tomorrow we will also have a meeting with the National Emergency Commission (CNE), for your peace of mind, with the executive director of said Commission, to define the issues to follow.
“For an administrative issue, we are organizing ourselves here internally, in Casa Presidencial, I ask for your time; there is no secrecy, I want to make that very clear, please. It has been a matter of organization, but we will in the best position to deliver all the information tomorrow, without fail and with the statements of the respective heads of organizations”, continued Natalia Díaz.
