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Does anyone know of this guy? here is one of his articles. I have to say that reading some of his perspectives have to be one of the most truthful viewpoints i have read without any underlying motive to sell you something.
Our corruption, crime and government mistakes are based on a unique scandal system and not the rule of law. Don´t get me wrong. We go through the judicial motions, but that´s where it ends.
“Scandal” trumps the legal system for both the famous and infamous.
We have the three day (not serious) scandal, the seven day (getting serious) scandal, and finally the two week scandal and that is the big one and after that let´s move on.
Once the scandals reach their term and fizzle out like a Roman candle on New Year´s Eve another is fired up replacing the last because we live with “scandal”.
When the scandal is over, everything goes back to normal and the thief, murderer, druggie, politician etc. can run for office and just might win. After all, in the last election eleven mayors did!
It is the length of scandal that counts, not the scandal itself.
Judging by the number and strength of the comments published by the leading Spanish language newspaper, La Nación, Costa Rica after one and one-half weeks, readers are even losing interest in WikiLeaks.
The Rodrigo Arias misappropriation of funds scandal has also gone on for two weeks now but is moving down the front page in La Nación from lead story to the third page.
“It´ll be over soon don Rodrigo and by 2014, all will be forgotten and you probably will be our next president.” Just keep saying, “I don´t remember” because if you say anything else, the scandal machine might crank up again.
I predict our next scandal will be the grand opening of the all new National (Chinese) Stadium. Remember, no parking lot so you can imagine the mess sure to evolve but I give that three days of “Oh my God!” at most.
Autopistas del Sol and the recent indictments seem to be interesting news. But not two weeks of scandal. One week at best and former Minister of MOPT, Karla González, et al will be off the hook and all will be hugging and kissing again.
In Costa Rica, rumors are what morph into scandals such as the more recent one regarding the Minister to the President, Marco Vargas who it seems like, but not certain, wants to resign and he will be replaced by the now Minister of Foreign Relations, Rene Castro who despite the HOOOOORAY’s, a closer look suggests that he did not do all that well as it relates to the Isla Calero presentation at The Hague.
As might have been expected, we talked our way out of a more favorable decision.
Another scandal being resurrected from the tomb is that of former president Jose Maria Figueres Olsen (1994 – 1998) who is rumored to make a return and run again as president of Costa Rica.
Figueres had two, two week scandals. A record, almost!
First he was accused of murdering an alleged drug dealer named Jose Joaquin Orozco aka “Chemise”, and in 2004 he apparently received some $900,000 from the French telephone company Alcatel to hustle along their approval process. This is the same Alcatel that ex-president Rodriguez is on trial for receiving a similar bribe. But Figueres was not in office at the time while Rodriguez was.
Even with hate in the liver, we remain civilized to one another. However, the back stabbing is just as lethal and having hypocrisy down to an art form, you don´t see it coming. And so the recent declaration that Figueres will not be charged with any crime goes straight into the back of the Arias brothers.
The scandal period about influence peddling has past and it is welcome home from his self-imposed exile in Switzerland. And, maybe, just maybe Figueres might become the next president in 2014?
All scandals need a beginning and ours start with the media which is both judge and jury.
To survive in Costa Rica, the trick is to stay well below the radar.
Anyone who has a show of wealth or power, no matter how those riches came to be is assured of being accused of drug trafficking, laundering money or on the government take.
Imagine, you work 15 hours a day, be good at what you do, make some decent money, buy a big home and before even moving into that house you are tagged as a narco.
In many ways we are a country much like the famous Mexican soap operas using the same cast of characters over and over again. We call that recycling.
And that´s how it works in paradise!
John Holtz contributes opinion pieces to Inside Costa Rica on a frequent basis. Sometimes he makes good points; other times, not so much.
What’s sad is that neither he nor the editors of Inside Costa Rica are forthright enough to label his contributions for what they are — editorials. They’re welcome to express their opinions, of course, but legitimate journalists would have the integrity to distinguish editorial content from news.
Mr. Holtz’ writing are opinion, not news.
paul
thanks.. seems like the line with editorials and opinions seems to blend on a consistent basis. at least this is what I am seeing lately.I agree with Davids assesment of J Holtz. I do belive the last article he wrote was his best to date.
[quote=”smekuly”]paul
thanks.. seems like the line with editorials and opinions seems to blend on a consistent basis. at least this is what I am seeing lately.[/quote]In fairness, there is always some overlap between news and editorializing. The selection of what news stories to print, where to print them, and what to emphasize are all truly “editorial” decisions.
A liberal source, for instance, will play up the pros of (say) health care reform and place the story prominently. A conservative source will cover that same issue in a much less favorable light and maybe bury it on a back page, down low where it’s inconspicuous. Or consider, for example, the coverage of four (I think) federal judges’ conflicting rulings on the health care reform legislation. Where and how did the stories run in the New York Times? And where and how in the Wall Street Journal?
None of this is to criticize media of either orientation, but I think it’s important to recognize the inherent biases.
That said, purely opinion pieces should be labeled as such.
integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
now thats a word that seems foreign in the news generally.
by the way insidecostarica is not an editorial site.. all it is is a site that translates various Spanish pieces together with a once in a while opinion piece by its owner and contributors.. with its sole purposes of generating adsense revenue. this site is more editorial than insidecostarica 😀
[quote=”smekuly”]integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
now thats a word that seems foreign in the news generally.[/quote]
just watched the movie “ïnside Job” truly amazing what kind of society we live..
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