COSTA RICA NEWS – Legislative members Partido Acción Cuidadana (PAC) and of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) strongly criticized the far left Frente Amplio party for allowing five of its lawmakers and its general secretary to travel to Managua, Nicaragua to attend the 35th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.
The trip is being paid for by Nicaragua’s Sandinista party.
The critics cited the tense relations with Nicaragua and the Sandinista government in Managua over the San Juan River area since 2010. For PAC it was an uncomfortable situation since the Frente Amplio is part of a coalition giving the PAC a majority in the legislature, thus making life easier for the Administration.
The celebration harkens back to the revolution that overthrew the Somoza family’s 40-year reign over that country. At that time, this country hailed the forcing dictator Anastasio Somoza to flee the country with U.S. help in July, 1979, and the installation of a new regime.
But gradually the majority of Ticos found their rejoicing turning into dismay at the dictatorial policies of the Sandinistas. Most Costa Ricans who were not far left viewed with relief the results of an election that finally turned out the Sandinistas and ushered in a new era.
But President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party were voted in to power years later and cool relations turned frigid between the two countries in 2010 and have remained so since. With suit and counter-suit before the International Court of Justice, many Ticos are wary of sending the wrong message to Managua.
Frente Amplio legislator Gerardo Vargas defended the trip north by pointing out that the ruling party in Nicaragua had invited them and that they were paying airfare and housing for four days out of their own pockets. From the party’s 2004 founding, Vargas noted, members have attended the observance.
Article by iNews.co.cr, with editing by the Q.