Costa Rica News – In just the first year of President Luis Guillermo Solis’ presidency, 620 public officials left the country.
A total of 7,330 calendar days were recorded as spent outside of the country. That’s equal to about 20 years.
75% of these trips were financed by external bodies. The country spent ¢201 million to fund visits to 53 countries. This analysis does not include the president’s 12 trips or those of officials from the Foreign Ministry and Foreign Trade Ministry, since it is in the nature of their jobs to travel abroad.
The reasons for travel abroad are various and many. They include police training for security, attendance at international organization and health forums, and cultural exchanges.
The person who left the most was Alexander Mora, the chief of Foreign Trade. He left 101 times to fulfil his duties. The Culture Minister had the second highest number of exits from the country, at 99. Key destinations included the United States, Puerto Rico and China.
