Free Speech Is Not Free In Costa Rica

By: The Real Agenda News -

Free speech is an illusion. Speaking freely is not allowed if it irritates the status quo. Not even in a so-called free democratic republic can people express their thought freely.

The government of Costa Rica decided yesterday to dismiss its accredited ambassador to Venezuela because of statements he made in support of Nicolas Maduro and how he has responded to the threats made by the US President, Barack Obama.

Ambassador Federico Picado Gomez Chavez, who appears to be a supporter of the Venezuelan ideology, was fired by the government of Luis Guillermo Solís due to his “unwise” words uttered in an interview published Sunday in a local newspaper.

In his statements, Picado defended the granting of special powers to President Maduro after Obama publicly declared Venezuela a threat and ordered the freezing of assets to seven Venezuelan officials linked to violent events in 2014.

“Keeping in mind the terms of proportionality against the severity of the statement issued by Obama, Maduro must be invested with extraordinary abilities so that in the Cabinet, he can issue decrees with the rank, value and force of law, as established in Article 2013 of the Venezuelan Constitution,” said Picado.

As a result of Picado’s statements, a sector of Costa Rican politicians increased its criticism for what they consider to be a soft position by the Solís government regarding political developments in Venezuela.

The president of Costa Rica immediately distanced himself from the words of his ambassador while Foreign Minister Manuel González, ordered the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the ambassador for providing statements that compromise the official position of Costa Rica.

Solis, who advocates multilateralism in foreign policy, has merely advocated dialogue and respect for human rights in the violent conflict between the government of Caracas and dissidenting groups.

The Costa Rican president came to power in 2014 with broad support from social, political and trade union organizations, and in some cases also sympathize with the policies driven by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

This was the case of Picado. Numerous pro-Chavez statements he issued were reported on by the national media in order to make a storm out of a glass of water.

Picado was coordinator of the International Relations Committee of the PAC, the president’s Party, until he became ambassador to Caracas in Solís government. Solís himself told reporters that he has always known Picado’s position and that the problem was not that he said what he said, but that he said it publicly. This, according to Solís, breaks the rules of behavior that must be followed by diplomats.

The traditional press in Costa Rica has played an important part in Picado’s dismissal. Just as the Costa Rican government, the press in this country is nothing more than an empty vessel where foreign interests place their propaganda and agendas which is then fed to the the masses.

In the case of Picado’s statement, it directly offended Costa Rica’s Big American Brother which Costa Rica is heavily dependent on in economic, political and commercial aspects.

According to a traditional newspaper known as La Nación, Picado acted as a “spokesman for President Nicolas Maduro in Costa Rica, on such sensitive issues as repression and imprisonment of democratic opponents, including the mayor of Caracas, the special powers granted to the president, the onslaught against freedom of expression, tensions with the United States, commodity shortages and economic policy in general.”

The Costa Rican government has denied any kind of political pressure from the United States regarding the statements issued by the former ambassador to Venezuela.

Luis R. Miranda is an award-winning journalist and the founder and editor-in-chief at The Real Agenda. His career spans over 18 years and almost every form of news media. His articles include subjects such as environmentalism, Agenda 21, climate change, geopolitics, globalisation, health, vaccines, food safety, corporate control of governments, immigration and banking cartels, among others. Luis has worked as a news reporter, on-air personality for Live and Live-to-tape news programs. He has also worked as a script writer, producer and co-producer on broadcast news. Read more about Luis.