Electoral Politics

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National and Local Elections:

Local Elections Now Require Gender Parity

Costa Rica’s constitutional court, known as Sala IV, ruled in Feb. 2023 that half of all the candidates running for local offices in the 2024 municipal elections must be women.

The Electorate’s Eroding Choices

There are 144 political parties registered with the Elections Supreme Tribunal (TSE in Spanish) whose candidates are eligible to run in Feb. 2024. TSE magistrate and president Eugenia Zamora explained, as quoted by Semanario Universidad, that the partisan fragmentation is a result of eroding identification that the citizenry feels toward their representatives in all governing branches. Definitely a must-explore issue at the municipal level.

Geopolitical Divisions

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Municipality:

San Rafael (405) is politically organized to serve five districts: Santiago, San Josecito, San Rafael, Los Angeles and Concepcion.

  1. Central District (San Rafael)
  2. San Josecito
  3. Santiago
  4. Ángeles
  5. Concepción

A note about people: There are government and political figures involved in just about everything in this part of the study. Their names are generally linked to information on the electoral politics section. After all, it is the electoral system that supplies the individuals who carry out the administrative duties at this level.

Communities Overview

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This section delves into grassroots initiatives past, present and future. The focus is on how ideas become actions, and from there laws, ordinances or regulations. The effects of activism, either local or regional, can be felt in the smallest of neighborhoods, making this form of citizen participation an important aspect of democratic governance.

Activists:

Activists in this case are the leaders, decision makers, and in general, the people who plan and execute campaigns, protests, boycotts, etc. They usually represent special interest groups. In this section, expect profiles and interviews of these community leaders.

  • In a several part article about the politics of water, there is one environmental lawyer that stands out: José Francisco Alfaro Carvajal. He publishes articles, produces videos, conducts workshop and much more. As the long environmental story of just this one area of Costa Rica deepens, it is evident that Mr. Alfaro plays a leading role.

Associations:

Here, we explore community organizing and development groups at a micro level: neighborhoods, vicinities, gated communities or even a group of property stakeholders within a district who together take on improvements projects.

Private Sector:

Trade associations, small business groups and all other organizations who operate for-profit entities within a district collectively express concerns regarding their condition as employers, tax payers and active members of their community.

How It Works

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As San Rafael's new municipal government approaches its first year in office, I begin to explore how it all works.

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ow that local government officials in San Rafael de Heredia have begun tackling more complex community issues, my aim to chronicle their progress comes more into focus. That is, describing and documenting the processes they apply to develop, propose and carry out community solutions while simultaneously abiding by norms, regulations and the laws of Costa Rica.

As different community groups navigate towards specific objectives in an often unsteady political climate, the analyses in this particular study aim at the solutions resulting from the planning, execution and outcomes of community-government interactions. In this case, the canton of San Rafael de Heredia will serve to illustrate such interactions.

The Officials:
Because of his role as mayor, much more attention is given to Jorge Arias Santamaria. The next in line by order of political relevance is municipal council president Minor Robles Vargas. Both officials respectively are in charge of the municipality and the local parliamentary body.

The Others:
The Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) lists all the local government officials in a downloadable document called Nuestros gobernantes (Our Leaders) available from the Election Results section of the TSE’s website. They’re listed by province, canton and/or district. The elected officials are as follows:

  • One mayor and two vice mayors
  • Seven council members and their respective alternates
  • Five district council members for each district and respective alternates

Each of the five districts selects one council member to represent them before the general municipal council. These representatives are known as a síndicos or síndicas.

The Politics of Water

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everal neighbors of Residencial Del Monte in San Rafael de Heredia own or live on properties that were built partly or entirely on land protected by Law No. 65 of 1888, and as a result of the constitutional court’s recent ruling that orders the MINAE (ministry of the environment and energy) to recover all properties that legally belong to the state, the neighbors came together on July 29 to discuss options and strategize on a way forward.

Courtesy of Conceverde

Law No. 65 is a 135-year-old law that protects a two-kilometer strip of land bordering Braulio Carrillo National Park in the mountains north of Heredia, stretching from the Barva Volcano to Mount Zurquí. Originally and currently, much of the greater metropolitan area has relied on the water resources in these mountains.

The neighbors at Residencial Del Monte are not the only ones affected by the court’s decision, and, this is not the first time the court rules on a Law 65 case. In fact, to comply with the court’s order 15 years ago, the ministry set up boundary markers to identify where the area begins. But according to available documents, that’s where they left off.

[ More to come … ]

Cultural Magazine

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San Rafael is published by Rodolfo Camacho Ramirez. The magazine covers historical events, characters, personalities and sites of a bygone era in the canton. In his introduction of the publication, Mr. Camacho begins by saying, “A community that does not know its past cannot understand its present; therefore, it can’t set a path to the future.”

According to Camacho, the publication focuses on the past while covering a wide range of topics and activities from education and religion to sports, recreation and business. By virtue of its traits, San Rafael is a collectible to be used as a learning platform for generations to come.

illustrates magazine cover

In the next update, find out how well the magazine did since 2016, and if the pandemic took a toll on their circulation or not.