I am writing this column from Costa Rica, a country that welcomed me with political asylum and where I lived twenty years of exile imposed by political hatred and legal barbarism in Ecuador.

I follow the events in this country where some of my children and grandchildren and many dear friends live.

Four years ago, Costa Rica’s fiscal situation was truly dire. The governing party was the PAC, Partido Acción Ciudadana, which was formed as an alternative to the old National Liberation and Christian Social Unity parties, both traditional political rivals.

The then President Carlos Alvarado, without a majority in the Assembly and with very little leadership and political capacity, was in the middle of a very deep economic crisis, the main trigger of which was the fiscal crisis.

From the Assembly, the opposition parties to the PAC, Liberación Nacional and Unidad Social Cristiana, on their initiative and not on the Government’s initiative, generated a consensus to implement reforms that were later approved, which gave sustainability to the Costa Rican economy.

It is precisely this capacity for dialogue that has enabled this country, which is called the Switzerland of Central America, to once again emerge from a serious crisis. Costa Rica is a society that understands consensus, understands what the country’s plan is and what is achieved through political conversation.

Costa Rica is a society that understands consensus, understands what the country’s goal is…

In the process of changes, which included an increase in VAT and the abolition of almost all exemptions from this tax, taxation of excessive pensions of certain trade unions, an increase in social security contributions to 24.34% and other unpopular measures, the People’s Liberation Party of Social-Christian Unity did not think about the next election rather than about the country.

What a difference in the way the benches work in the National Assembly of Ecuador, and political parties in general!

In Ecuador, we are facing much more serious problems than those faced by Costa Rica four years ago. In this country, fuel and gas are not only unsubsidized, but taxed, as they should be, there is no politically controlled interest structure, and its obese public sector is being violently cut.

But this process is realized because society achieves national agreements through responsible political practice.

On the political horizon of Ecuador, in the face of the fiscal megacrisis, the candidates do not and will not talk about Ecuador’s enormous problems and their possible solutions. Neither will the parties. There will be a transitional government that will surely seek re-election in order to have time to do something important in the full four-year term. Then there won’t be much change. And the only thing we will do is “kick the ball”. We may again be tempted to attack the Central Bank (ECB) as the Government of the Republic of Croatia did, and after the ECB’s reserves are exhausted, we will face a big problem. We are heading towards a fiscal mega-crisis, we hope that this will be understood and resolved. (OR)