by Rod Hughes

Speaking before the Legislative Assembly yesterday, President Oscar Arias reassured the nation that he realizes tha citizen’s concerns for their safety in the face of growing crime is “real” and that his administration will treat the threat seriously. Public unrest about crime and the helplessness of the country’s inadequate laws have grown to a mighty chorus this year.

As the daily newspaper La Nacion pointed out, “the President’s tone is much different from that of his new Minister of Public Security Janina del Vecchio” who told a press conference two weeks ago that she found violent crime “not as bad as (she) had expected.” (Both Chief Proscutor Francisco Dall’Anese and Judical Investigation chief Jorge Rojas had rushed to counter the statement, realizing that it endangered the quick passage of a comprehensive crime bill in the Legislative Assembly.)

Recently the English-language weekly The Tico Times took the lawmakers to task in a blistering editorial for their lackadaisical attitude about the bill while crime swirls out of control. Indeed, public concern runs so high that a campaign has been mounted by Arnoldo Garnier, advertising entrepreneur here, and former Security Minister Juan Diego Castro to urge the administration and the courts to push the legislators into action on the bill.

The occasion for the President’s declarations was the traditional May Day “State of the Nation” address to the Assembly, postponed this year until May 2. Usually, a president will review the accomplishments of the past 12 months, but Arias used his 37-minute speech to urge the lawmakers to take their responsibilities seriously and laid out what needs to be done.

Arias also made a priority of the rising cost of living while acknowledging that most of its causes were factors abroad beyond this country’s control: rising petrolum prices, the use of foodstuffs like corn as alternate fuel, international expenditures for arms, the U.S. slide toward recession and the decline of economic aid. He limited himself in “pointing with pride” chiefly the 3.5% reduction in poverty figures, increased tax revenues, used in social programs including aid to impoverished students and, above all, the restoration of confidence in the government.

Without a doubt, the message on crime created the greatest resonance with a public that has placed the subject in first place in polls. Toward this concern, an informal movement, Recuperemos la Paz, (We will recover the peace) has turned its attention. As The Tico Times pointed out in a recent article, this movement contains two different facets which reporter Nick Wilkinson took as a “fracturing” of the movement.

But the result may not be a diffusion of effort so much as a classic carrot-and-stick approach to move a lethargic government into action. Founder Arnoldo Garnier, reflecting his advertising background, favors a persuasive approach and got President Arias, Legislative Assembly president Francisco Pacheco, Supreme Court Chief Justice Luis Paulino Mora and Alajuela Bishop Angel San Casimiro to sign an informal pact containing intent to pass the crime bill within six months.

But hard-liner Juan Diego Castro favors an aggressive approach, not only toward crime but in pushing a vote. He distrusts the lawmakers to act and is gathering forces to offer a referendum. Garnier, two weeks before the State of the Nation address, admitted that it might come to that, but favors the softer approach first as more effective. That appears to be the case with Arias.

But certainly reporter Wilkinson had it right when he wrote that Castro has issues with Vice President Laura Chinchilla, who is one of the authors of the crime bill. Castro was Chinchilla’s boss when she was Deputy Minister of Security and then took over the job. Castro considers the bill weak on protecting the crime victim. He feels that the bill, moreover, reflects Chinchilla’s political ambitions more than concerns for crime.

Chinchilla, in presenting the bill, acknowledged that it needed changes that the lawmakers could make in debate but said it was offered as a starting point of deliberations. It would be a pity if one or both of these public figures allowed policy or personal frictions to interfere with the average citizen getting the improved law enforcement protection he so dearly desires.