The Constitutional Chamber, Costa Rica’s highest court, recently issued a ruling in favor of two environmental activists who had been labeled “personae non grata” by the Municipality of Talamanca, located in the Southern Caribbean coast. The high court, which is colloquially known as Sala IV, issued a very strong opinion against the Municipal Council of Talamanca, whose members arbitrarily issued the damning “non grata” declaration.

The activists in question are expatriate residents of Puerto Viejo (in Limon, not to be confused with the one in Sarapiqui). Carol Meeds is from the United States and Phillippe Vangoidsenhoven is from the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Over the last few years, Ms. Meeds and Mr. Vangoidsenhoven have been involved in exposing various acts they consider to be damaging to the pristine ecosystem of the Southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, particularly the Jairo Mora Sandoval/Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge.

In the course of their activism, Ms. Meeds and Mr. Vangoidsenhoven may have ruffled some feathers around Puerto Viejo, thus getting the attention of municipal officials in Talamanca. It is not unusual for environmentalists in Costa Rica to clash against residents, business interests or officials as they perform their conservation activism; this is particularly the case in a rough town such as Talamanca, which is where the terrible murder of Jairo Mora took place.

The commotion caused by the work of these two environmentalists did not please the Municipal Council of Talamanca, whose members took it upon themselves to enact the non grata declaration without a formal hearing or any semblance of due process. Needless to say, the Sala IV magistrates were not amused by this, and thus the municipal resolution was annulled. Furthermore, the high court was not pleased with the Municipality’s use of public funds and resources to further shame the environmentalists with seditious social media updates.

Former presidential candidate José María Villalta of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party filed the petition on behalf of the activists, who are now planning to file a lawsuit against the Municipality of Talamanca for damages and defamation; such filing will have to be processed before the Contentious Tribunal, a legal venue of Kafkaesque complexity.

The Costa Rica Star is in possession of a copy of a letter from Edgar Gutierrez, Minister of  Environment, addressed to Ms. Meeds, which reads:

Dear Carol,

Thank you very much for your letter and concerns. I recognize your legitimate worries and share them. I am asking the Viceministra de Ambiente, the Contraloría Ambiental and SINAC to follow your complaints and inform me ASAP.

Please, keep on taking care of our resources in the Caribe Sur and letting us know your views. Costa Rica becomes greater and nicer with people like you and Philippe!

As can be gleaned from the letter above, there is a certain manner of conducting business in Costa Rica, and it involves civility, which is something that the Municipal Council of Talamanca should consider adopting into their work process.