Amusing Presidential Inauguration Ceremony

Last Tuesday, May 8th, Costa Rica was a witness of the transfer of power between the outgoing government of the Solis-Rivera administration and the new government, commanded by the new president elected over a month ago, Carlos Alvarado. He is part of the same party as the former government, and becomes president of this beautiful country only at age 38, being the youngest president in the history of the nation.

The event consisted of a total of 106 delegations from different countries, including 6 presidents such as Panama, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as well as President Evo Morales of Bolivia. The venue designated for such a prestigious and important ceremony was the Plaza de la Democracia (Democracy Plaza), created in 1989 during the first government of former President Oscar Arias Sanchez. The importance of this place for Costa Ricans is absolute, place of the Bella Vista Barracks where the army was abolished on December 1st, 1948.

One of the biggest features that the country experienced on Tuesday was the humility and transparency with which the new president of the country arrived. As much as his wife and first lady, Claudia Dobles, they both decided to use only nationally designed clothes and accessories, thus promoting the hard work of thousands of Costa Rican designers, which highlights their strong national identity and feeling.

However, the center of attention was their arrival in a private bus which his entire cabinet, giving a great example of how carpool and public transportation reduces the environmental impact. Don Carlos made his first appearance as president in a carbon neutral bus created and developed by former Costa Rican astronaut and physicist Franklin Chang Diaz, once again showing his pride for his country and people. The name of the bus is “N’YU’TI”, which means star in Chorotega, the language of ancient indigenous populations that inhabit the country. This electric bus that runs on hydrogen fuel will take Alvarado’s cabinet on a 3.3km route, leaving from the Costa Rican Art Museum to the Plaza de la Democracia.

The transfer of powers is a ceremony with feelings and national identity, in which everyone feels proud of the democracy that exists in the country, regardless of the electoral party supported. More than 3,000 attendees and people who felt it in through homes, jobs, hospitals, “sodas”, were satisfied by how the event went and hoped the best luck to the new president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado.