Viewing cable 06SANJOSE591, FIRST VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT LAURA CHINCHILLA

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UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR PINS PGOV CS
SUBJECT: FIRST VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT LAURA CHINCHILLA 
 
REF: SAN JOSE 444 
 
¶1. Summary: Laura Chinchilla was chosen by Oscar Arias to be 
his first vice presidential running mate in the 2006 
election. Along with Kevin Casas as second vice president, 
Arias and Chinchilla will take office on May 8. Chinchilla, 
currently a member of the Legislative Assembly and formerly 
minister of public security, has a solid reputation as a 
smart and serious public servant. She has been a good 
contact of the Embassy and a strong supporter of U.S.-Costa 
Rican narcotics interdiction cooperation and of CAFTA-DR. 
However, her leeriness of anything that smacks of military 
caused her to reject U.S. plans for an International Law 
Enforcement Academy in Costa Rica. Chinchilla will be a key 
member of the Arias administration on national security 
policy. End Summary 
 
¶2. Laura Chinchilla Miranda, born in San Jose in 1950, has 
served as a deputy in the Legislative Assembly since 2002, 
chairing the Judicial Affairs Committee and secretary of the 
International Affairs and Foreign Trade committee. She is a 
stalwart of the National Liberation Party (PLN). She has 
been a strong proponent of judicial and public security 
reforms, political institutional reform, and childhood and 
adolescence issues. She supports CAFTA-DR. Though 
Chinchilla has been cast as being too "pro-American" due to 
her support of joint counternarcotics operations, she has 
also stood her ground in opposing U.S. policies that she 
believed were counter to Costa Rican interests. Most 
notably, Chinchilla was the key legislator responsible for 
derailing Embassy efforts to establish the International Law 
Enforcement Academy in San Jose in early 2004. Chinchilla 
was concerned about the possibility of military personnel 
attending the academy, which she felt was counter to Costa 
Rica's long-standing tradition of eschewing any involvement 
with the military. 
 
¶3. Before being elected legislator, Chinchilla served as 
Minister of Public Security (1996-1998), Vice Minister of 
Public Security (1994-1996), President of the 
Counternarcotics Intelligence Center, and President of the 
National Migration Council. As Minister of Public Security, 
she initiated the process of professionalization of the 
public security forces, which enhanced public confidence in 
local law enforcement. She initiated reforms to 
"demilitarize" the police, giving them an unambiguously 
civilian character and promoting respect for the rule of law. 
 She also advocated decentralization of the police function 
to promote community participation in maintaining security at 
the local level. 
 
¶4. Chinchilla's other previous positions include adviser on 
the modernization of public security systems in Latin 
American and African countries and consultant in areas 
related to state and judicial reform in Latin America for 
international organizations such as the U.S. Agency for 
International Development (USAID), United Nations Development 
Program (UNDP), and the Inter-American Development Bank 
(IDB). Similarly, Chinchilla was consultant for the 
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Central 
American Dialogue for Security and Demilitarization of the 
Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, and the 
Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUNPADEM) on projects 
concerning civil society and public security. 
 
¶5. Chinchilla hails from a family with a tradition of public 
service. Her father, Rafael Angel Chinchilla, served as 
Comptroller General of the Republic. Her brother, Adrian 
Chinchilla, served as Mayor of Escazu, a suburb in the San 
Jose Province. Chinchilla takes pride in noting that she is 
a true child of Costa Rica, having been born in a public 
hospital and attended a public elementary school. After her 
graduation from Colegio LaSalle, a private high school, 
Chinchilla attended the University of Costa Rica where she 
obtained a degree in Political Science. She also holds a 
master's degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University. 
 
¶6. In 1993, while studying at the International University 
of Florida, Chinchilla met Jose Maria Rico, a former 
criminology professor from Spain, whom she later married. 
Given their shared interest and expertise in public policy 
and crime deterrence, the two collaborated on a 1997 article 
entitled, "Community Prevention of Crime: Latin American 
Perspectives," in which they advocated the regional 
implementation of a European-style "social preventive" model 
of crime prevention. 
 
¶7. While Chinchilla is accustomed to political celebrity, 
she tries to maintain a "normal" existence, and jealously 
guards her family and private time. While Minister of Public 
Security, her daily routine included time away from the 
office to nurse her infant son, Jose Maria, who was born in 
¶1996. Her leisure activities have included biking, jogging, 
golf, dance, and music. At public functions, Chinchilla is 
usually reserved and serious, a trait she shares in common 
with Arias. 
 
¶8. In a recent press interview Chinchilla stated that she is 
not interested in becoming "a decorative figure" in the new 
administration. When Arias announced her nomination as 
candidate for the first vice presidency, he said that 
Chinchilla is "a woman who has always shown balance between 
firmness and tolerance, a woman who has faced the challenge 
of being a professional, a mother, and a wife in a still 
chauvinist world." 
 
¶9. Comment: In Costa Rican politics, the president has the 
prerogative to assign his two vice presidents whatever 
portfolios he wishes. Chinchilla is likely to be tasked with 
security and corruption issues, while Second Vice President 
Kevin Casas (septel) will be in charge of social reforms and 
infrastructure rehabilitation. We expect that Chinchilla, 
new Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias, and the next 
minister of public security, not yet named, will be the 
officials primarily responsible for national security policy. 
LANGDALE