RICO’s Q — In my follow-up article, “President Fernámdez owes an apology for misleading us,” I give you another example of how Rodrigo Chaves and Laura Fernández keep on deceiving some people.
The former president and now current Minister of the Presidency (Chief of Staff) and Ministro de Hacienda (Finance Minister), Rodrigo Chaves, and President Laura Fernández, put on quite a show to present the bills they claim will combat crime.
In the scripted performance, the cunning pair proposed six bills meant to finally solve the country’s crime crisis.
Two of those bills—the “Ley de Cero Ocio en las Cárceles” (Zero Leisure Time Law in Prisons) and the “Law to Combat Criminal Associations” (Law to Combat Criminal Associations)- by creating prison sentences of between 1 and 6 years for those who are part of a criminal organization, are just recycled versions of laws that ALREADY EXIST.
There’s nothing wrong with revisiting old laws, but pretending they’re new just isn’t right.
At first glance, both bills seem like a step forward in the fight against organized crime, BUT if you take the time to read the Penal Code, you’ll realize that the crime of illicit association already exists. The same for the prisoners will have to work.
In other words, they’re introducing a bill to create a crime that ALREADY EXISTS.
So, what Rodrigo Chaves and Laura Fernández did was duplicate a crime, simply giving it a different name, because it’s the same thing that’s already regulated in the Penal Code, which is already IN FORCE.
What Rodrigo Chaves and Laura are doing is a deception aimed at people who are UNFAMILIAR with Costa Rican criminal law, pulling a political stunt for the Chavista masses, most of whom are ignorant of criminal law, to make them believe that Rodrigo Chaves and Laura Fernández are fighting crime.
No one’s surprised. Right?
This article reflects only my personal opinion — nothing added, nothing left out.