President Arias is Facing the Lowest Approval Ratings in the History of His Presidency.

President Óscar Arias, who first held office from 1986-1990, was so popular a president that the law was changed to allow for his reelection in 2006. As a Nobel Peace Prize winner, recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, and world peace activist, President Arias headed into his second administration with confidence and the support of many. Unfortunately, due to international circumstances and national decisions, the Arias administration is on track to fail in several important, stated goals.

Costa Rica’s National Development Plan forecast exports of approximately $18 billion in goods during 2010, but current estimates show that the figure could be off by as much as $3 billion. Contributing factors to this reduction include several external forces like rising gas prices, the state of the U.S. economy and the increase in international food prices.

Reacting to the news, the Ministry of National Planning and Costa Rica president Óscar Arias must soon begin to reevaluate previous plans and set more reasonable goals for the administration’s remaining 21 months. According to Roberto Gallardo, Minister of Planning, the next few days will bring several modifications to the current plan. “[We will respond to] the pressure from several sectors that don’t think it will be possible to fulfill our planned goals,” Gallardo said.

In addition to the stated exportation problems, President Arias’s plan to increase Costa Rica Real Estate tax has been partially set aside. The President had hoped that the proposed tax would generate enough income to finance a program to help families in extreme poverty. Under said plan, the Costa Rica government would have financed the improvement of the country’s poorest homes. Bureaucratic problems have stalled the plan.

Costa Rica’s farming industry had been expecting a much-needed census this year, hoping to determine the number of productive units in the country. Despite governmental approval, two previous censuses were not conducted and it appears that the upcoming census won’t find funds, either. It is unclear if there will even been enough resources to fund a 2010 census, which has been qualified as “urgent” by Javier Flores, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock.

Among other goals that won’t be met: the reduction of national poverty, increase to the education budget, reduction of crime and improved roads. Poverty was reduced by 3.5 percent in the last year, just short of its 4 percent goal, but 2008’s inflation and rising costs are expected to shoot the poverty rates back up. The education budget has only increased by 6 percent, a far cry from its 8 percent goal. Regarding crime, the Arias administration planned to increase the current 10,000-strong police force by 40 percent, or 4,000 additional police. Today, with less than two years remaining, the police force still stands at 10,000. Finally, though the goal was to have 30 percent of the country’s roads in good shape by 2010, many municipalities cite a lack of funds to complete this goal.

Unmet goals have affected the country and its citizens: President Arias once basked in a 65 percent national approval rating, but a recent study shows that his approval rating has fallen from 50 percent in March 2008 to a paltry 29 percent in September 2008. It seems Arias’s respectable dedication to transparency and well-defined goals have backfired, leaving all of the administration’s failures out in the open, inspiring public contempt rather than support.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on September 22nd, 2008