Costa Rica president under new investigation, now for influence peddling

Prosecutors in Costa Rica on Tuesday confirmed the opening of a case against President Rodrigo Chaves for alleged influence peddling. The investigation follows another probe into allegations of abuse of power that authorities opened in July after Mr. Chaves made a controversial trip to Lithuania, the home country of First Lady Signe Zeikate.

This time, however, the case involves allegations made by Costa Rican businessman Leonel Baruch, who is also a shareholder in newspaper CR Hoy, an outlet that has been repeatedly attacked by the president. According to Mr. Baruch, the government exerted undue pressure in his child custody proceedings following his divorce from his ex-wife, Yafit Ohana. 

In addition to the head of state, Ms. Ohana and other cabinet members, such as Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez, are also named in the investigation. The businessman accuses these individuals of interfering in the case by asking Costa Rica’s Children and Adolescents Ministry to act on his ex-wife’s behalf. According to Mr. Baruch, the case is “seriously affecting” their children. 

At the center of the controversy is Ms. Ohana, who has been serving as a “government collaborator” and recently posted a TikTok video linking her husband to a massive tax evasion case. Mr. Baruch denies all accusations, saying that the government’s influence in the divorce is a “payment” for his ex-wife’s services. 

He also accuses the whole case of being part of Mr. Chaves’s personal retaliation against him because of the leader’s bad relationship with the press. Meanwhile, Ms. Ohana fails to answer how she arranged six different meetings at the presidential palace last year. 

As of this Thursday, both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the president’s official spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment, as the case is still in a preliminary and private stage.

A business-oriented leader, Rodrigo Chaves has been embroiled in controversy for breaking with the tradition in Costa Rica of stable, crisis-proof politics. In addition to his many battles with the press and opponents, he has also come under fire for doing an about-face and completely ignoring his country’s environmental protagonism.

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