Costa Rica News – The price of gas in Costa Rica is through the roof and something needs to be done. Recope’s monopoly needs to be broken at some point in time, but the question remains; what the solution will be?
President Luis Guillermo Solis was requested by the Frente Amplio party to join Petrocaribe. Recope, the Costa Rican Oil Refinery created a report outlining the possible advantages and disadvantages of such a drastic move.
The original report from Frente Amplio was more enthusiastic than this one by Recope. The discrepancy is alarming because there are differences in figures. The calculations must become finalized still to see if it will really contain or lower the cost of fuel.
President Luis Guillermo Solis pointed out some of his doubts and objections to joining Petrocaribe. They include the actual economic benefit we would see, the environmental sustainability, and the current state of Venezuela.
Aside from financial considerations, there are environmental ones. Should we go for cheap fuel that could damage the environment in a country that is trying to become carbon neutral by 2021? Would we be saturating our streets with garbage just to save a few dollars?
Solis also explained that Venezuela has gone through a crisis and is not the same government it was when Petrocaribe started. The foreign policy is not the same either.
These doubts will be considered at length in discussions scheduled to happen from September through December. Hopefully there will be a responsible decision made that will help Solis keep his promise to lower rates. So far, he has increased them by 15 percent.