Q COSTA RICA (OP-ED) Raúl Alexander Camacho Alfaro, in an opinion piece for Delfino.cr, tackles the question: Who Will Save Costa Rica? He argues that the answer isn’t about a single hero. Instead, Costa Rica’s salvation lies in its strength to stop anyone from thinking they alone can save it.
Camacho Alfaro writes:
“For a long time, we have considered—and perhaps the idea still lingers as one of those cherished family memories—that one of the most valuable features of Costa Rican tradition lies in its relatively strong institutions, its competitive elections, the alternation of power, and, above all, the existence of limits on those who wield it.
“Despite mood swings, collective anxieties, power struggles, and other vicissitudes of our political landscape, Costa Rica remains a democracy. An imperfect democracy, certainly, and one currently subject to tensions that it would be irresponsible to downplay. We face escalating violence associated with drug trafficking, low levels of political trust, and more than evident institutional strains.
“But perhaps the greatest danger lies not only in these problems themselves, but in the way we are beginning to react to them.
“Democracies begin to go astray when a segment of the citizenry becomes convinced that institutions are obstacles, procedures are impediments, checks and balances prevent effective governance, and that, faced with an exceptional situation, an exceptional person is needed to do what ordinary rules forbid.
“It is then that the figure of the savior appears.
“This figure doesn’t necessarily arrive announcing the end of democracy. On the contrary, they often present themselves as the one who has come to rescue it. They promise to return power to the people, end privileges, defeat enemies, restore order where others have created chaos, and quickly accomplish what the institutions, with their exasperating slowness, have failed to do.
“The problem begins when, to save the country, it becomes necessary to weaken precisely what made it possible for the country never to depend on a savior.
“I believe that, as responsible Costa Ricans, we must not lose sight of the fact that our democracy was not built on the hope of periodically finding the right person. It was built on a much wiser suspicion: that no person, however righteous, popular, or well-intentioned they may seem, should wield too much power.
“Hence the checks and balances, the judges, the press, the opposition, electoral bodies, oversight, and even that uncomfortable institutional slowness that so often drives us to despair. Everyone can make mistakes. Everyone can and should be criticized. But their ultimate function is precisely to prevent the will of one from becoming the will of all.
“That is why it is paradoxical to hear, every so often, the question of who can save us.
“Perhaps we are still framing the question incorrectly. And perhaps Costa Rica doesn’t need to find someone supernaturally strong to save it. It needs to maintain institutions strong enough so that no ruler has to do so.
“And if any lesson deserves to be learned from that old family memory, it is precisely this: republics do not survive thanks to providential figures. They survive when their citizens understand that even the ruler they trust most must have limits.
“Because in the end, the answer remains far less spectacular than any strongman, but considerably more democratic:
“Who saves Costa Rica? Costa Rica.
“As long as it has the wisdom to distrust anyone who claims to save it.”
This article represents the opinion of its author. Published opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this publication. Read the original article, in Spanish, at Delfino.cr