Editor’s Note
This article outlines key proposals from a Costa Rican presidential candidate’s platform, including a gendered poverty-alleviation measure. We present it for informational purposes as part of our coverage of the electoral landscape.
Ariel Robles, the presidential candidate of the Frente Amplio (FA), has presented his government plan titled “Justice, Solidarity, and Development: A Country for Its People.” Among various initiatives proposed to the electorate are the payment of a minimum income to women in poverty, nominating Costa Rica as the host for the Gay Games, regulating cannabis use, and ensuring the Executive branch provides genuine accountability to Congress and citizens.
Robles advocates for the payment of a “feminized minimum income,” targeted at women in poverty who perform unpaid domestic and care work. According to the initiative, the program aims to recognize and financially compensate the work women perform in their homes, such as cleaning, washing, ironing, and caring for minors, the elderly, or dependent family members.
The identification of potential beneficiaries would be carried out through the State’s Single Information and Beneficiary Registry System (Sinirube), to focus support on women in socioeconomically vulnerable situations. The Frente Amplio emphasizes that this income should not be understood as a subsidy, but as a monetized recognition of the wealth production generated by these women through domestic and care work.
The current Frente Amplio deputy includes the proposal to nominate Costa Rica as the host of the Gay Games for 2030. Among the highlights, the plan proposes organizing the “Costa Rica Diverse Games” and developing a public policy to promote the country as a destination open to LGBTIQ+ athletes.
Furthermore, Robles seeks to declare February 19 as “Diverse Sports Day” and encourage the creation of groups with a focus on sexual diversity at all levels of Costa Rican sports. The initiative proposes that institutions such as ICODER, the National Olympic Committee, Cantonal Sports Committees, sports federations, universities, and the private sector promote specific sports spaces and activities for the LGBTIQ+ population. Additionally, it contemplates managing public-private agreements and accessing international funds to finance projects and events related to diverse sports.
The party also proposes regulating adult cannabis use and creating the Institute for Cannabis Regulation and Control, which will be responsible for activities related to the import, export, planting, cultivation, harvesting, production, acquisition, storage under any title, marketing, and distribution of cannabis and its derivatives. According to the government plan, this institute will be attached to the Ministry of Health as a maximum deconcentration body and will have instrumental legal personality.
Robles includes in his roadmap that motions of censure approved by Congress should have a binding character and lead to the immediate dismissal of a minister by the incumbent government. The proposal aims to strengthen legislative oversight of the Executive Branch through two specific provisions:
Additionally, Robles proposes in the area of security a gradual improvement of police salaries and conditions; strengthening border points; allocating at least 50% of the resources generated by the Corporate Tax Law and the Casino Tax Law to finance preventive security programs, among others.