QCOSTARICA – A group of Costa Ricans in Toronto, Canada, filed an appeal before the Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court or Sala IV as it is commonly referred to, against Chancellor Arnoldo André Tinoco, for the closure of the Costa Rican consulate in the area.
In October, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that it will close the Consulate in Toronto and Chicago as of December 31, as a consequence of the fiscal rule and budget cuts, in addition to the necessary modernization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the time Tinoco expressed in writing that “it is a consequence of the mismanagement of public spending in past administrations and the high indebtedness of the State.”
In response, the Costa Rican community in Toronto expressed their disagreement and concern about the decision, for which they launched a campaign to collect signatures and send a letter to the Foreign Minister.
Josué Alvarado, who spearheaded the appeal, said that the objective is to reverse the decision, saying he considers his rights to be violated by the closure of the consulate.
In January, the only consulate available in Canada will be in Ottawa.
According to Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) – Elections Tribunal, for the first round of the 2022 elections, there were 875 Costa Ricans in Toronto.
The Sala IV confirmed that it received the appeal and it is in the process of processing.
Any person, regardless of age, immigration status, nationality, or legal status, can file an appeal (recurso de amparo in Spanish) without the need for advice, signature, or authentication from a lawyer. The filing can be informal, in fact, it can be handwritten on a napkin in plain language, only requiring the identification of the person presenting the appeal, a detail of the facts, and indicating a means to receive notifications.