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RODRIGUEZ RESIGNS AT ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, EMBARRASSED COSTA RICA PRESSES PROSECUTION.

Article Excerpt
Miguel Angel Rodriguez has resigned as secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS). Simultaneously with his resignation, the attorney general of Costa Rica issued an arrest warrant for the former president, effective upon Rodriguez's loss of ex officio immunity on Oct. 15.

The warrant will probably not be necessary. Rodriguez said in his letter of resignation that he would return to Costa Rica to face the corruption charges that led to his stepping down after only two weeks at the OAS helm. He will return, said the letter, "to dedicate myself exclusively to my defense and to clearing up the facts before the Costa Rican judicial authorities."

Rodriguez faces the possibility of a ten-year or more sentence if convicted of having received illegal payoffs from the French company Alcatel, which has lucrative contracts with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the state electricity and telecommunications monopoly (see NotiCen, 2004-10-04).

Central America could lose its turn

Candidates for the newly vacated post began to emerge almost immediately after the Oct. 8 resignation. Rodriguez was elected partly because he was a Central American, and there was agreement among the 34 member states that, since Central America had not produced a secretary-general in the last 50 years, it was their turn. There is no certainty now that the agreement applies, as some feel that Central America has had its turn, even if it only lasted two weeks.

Central America does not see it that way. The region unified around Rodriguez's candidacy prior to...

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