Vice President Resigns in Wake of Scandal
by Rod Hughes
(See post 1336) Second Vice President Kevin Casas resigned Saturday from both his elected post and from his appointed one as Minister of Planning. The daily newspaper Al Dia headlined the story, “Casas Sinks in Political Storm” and pundits opined that his shipwreck might mean the end of a promising political career.
Casas was regarded as one of the bright and shining political stars of the National Liberation Party when he was placed on the ticket of Oscar Arias for the 2006 election. And so it seemed until he and congressamn Fernando Sanchez co-authored a memo to President Arias suggesting ways to circumvent the Supreme Election Tribunal’s regulations governing the Oct. 7 referendum on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He also suggested that the pro-CAFTA campaign “instill fear” in the voters about what would happen to the country’s economy if the treaty were voted down.
Perhaps most damaging passage in the memo, which was leaked to the press, was the suggestion that the government withhold funds from municipalities whose mayors did not deliver a majority of votes for CAFTA in the referendum. Even the English-language weekly, The Tico Times, normally editorially mild, called for Casas’s resignation in a blistering editorial.
Casas, with his clean-cut features, appears to be a casting director’s pick for the role of a young executive or congressman. Well educated and personable, he appeared the perfect foil for the aging Arias in getting out the youth vote, an important element in this demographically young country.
Although Arias attempted to put a good face on the incident, saying that he did not expect it to have any effect on the vote, the timing so close to the referendum could hardly have been worse. According to Arias, Casas called the President in Puntarenas during a ceremonial event in the port city to tell him that he was going to resign. Arias expressed the usual regrets, as politicians do on such occasions.
Predictably, CAFTA opponents kept up a din for Sanchez step down from the Leglslative Assembly. He cautiously replied that he did not want to make a decision in the heat of the moment.
The President has been hobbling around on a pair of aluminum crutches all month, due to an inflamed Achilles tendon that has severely cut into his agenda. He was also on them in Puntarenas when he received notice of Casa’s intentions.
But some wonder if Casas himself does not represent something of an Achilles heel to the President.