President Obama and Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla
at anevent with young
people in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Compared to
Obama, Costa Rican Politicians are Sorely Lacking (El Financiero,
Costa Rica)
"You
can be for or against the vision, actions and projects of Barack Obama, but you
cannot deny that he is far more than a mere politician: he is an influential
politician with the 'power, good manners, authority, grace and inspiration'
needed to intervene to obtain benefits and advantages for others. ... I repeat
my question: Do Costa Ricans today have truly influential politicians -or just politicians?"
In Costa Rica and around the world, there is an extensive
menu of politicians. There are all kinds on the table: Intelligent,
opportunistic, hard workers, populists, visionaries, demagogues, flexible ones,
petty ones, generous ones, jealous ones, those that are honest, corrupt,
mature, exhibitionist, serious, cynical, scholarly, alienated, courageous,
ignorant, thoughtful, self-seeking, idea generating, under the radar,
consequential, available to the highest bidder, realistic, sassy, optimistic,
naive, intellectual, intellectual posers, dreamers, predictable, playing by
their own rules, sycophantic, exemplary, chatty, educated, puppets, good
speakers elegant, irresponsible, prudent, witty, good negotiators, honest, questioning,
with a sense of humor, impulsive, creative, vain, humble, bitter, transparent,
strong, poisonous, sorted, abusive, caring, vulgar, persevering, obsessed with
power, witty, liars, self-sacrificers, calculating, with
integrity, those that take bribes, those open to various positions, dinosaurs, and
really interested in the country ...
But I wonder if Costa Ricans also have, among this group
of savory and bitter dishes, any politicians with real influence.
Summarizing the definitions provided by the Dictionary
of the Royal Spanish Academy, a person of influence is someone with
"power, good manners, authority, grace and inspiration" in relation
to other people, allowing them to intervene to obtain benefits and
advantage.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The April 29 to May 6 edition of Time Magazine led me to
reflect on this issue, because it published a special report on, according to the
U.S. magazine, the 100 Most Influential People
in the World. Among others is mentioned Pope Francis, Steven Spielberg, the
feminist Sheryl Sandberg, basketball player Lebron
James, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Obama and U.S. President Barack Obama, who
is about to visit Costa Rica.
You can be for or against the vision, actions and projects
of Barack Obama, but you cannot deny that he is far more than a mere
politician: he is an influential politician with the "power, good manners,
authority, grace and inspiration" needed to intervene to obtain benefits
and advantages for others.
I repeat my question: Do Costa Ricans today have truly
influential politicians -or just politicians?
