Municipal Center of Carrillo.

The Mayor of Carrillo and other municipal officials in this canton of Guanacaste are well-traveled public servants. According to a report published in recent days by online news site Primero en Noticias, official records show that Argentina, China, Mexico, Spain, and the United States are the destinations where Carrillo officials have or will travel to in 2014. These trips, which are financed by revenue collected from residents of the canton, are being called into question by members of the community.

Primero en Noticias explained that information about the trips was gathered from the minutes of the cantonal meeting number 01-2014, which are part of the public record in Costa Rica. The minutes show that three women who serve as assistant council members traveled to Buenos Aires from January 19^th to the 25^th. The next trip abroad recorded on the hearing minutes was taken by Council Member Robert Miranda Amador, who traveled to Miami from March 3^rd to March 9^th.

Three other municipal officials from Carrillo are scheduled to travel to Barcelona from May 25^th to the 31^st. The biggest trip in terms of travel expenses is scheduled to take place in late August, when Mayor of Carrillo Carlos Cantillo Alvarez along with the Property Appraiser and a Council Member will spend one week in the People’s Republic of China. Yet another trip will take place in October 2014, this time to Guanajuato in Mexico.

Primero en Noticias called Council President Ana Quintero Vargas to inquire about the trips. Sounding unhappy, she fired back:

“All trips taken by our municipal officials are vetted by the General Comptroller of the Republic of Costa Rica.”

Neighbors in this canton of Guanacaste interviewed by Primero en Noticias on this issue were even less happy than the Council President. One man stated:

“That money spent by officials on their trips should be invested into public works across the districts. [The trips] are not going to do anything good for the canton.”

Some of the districts that make up Carrillo produce quite a bit of revenue for the municipality. The Sardinal district, for example, is home to Tamarindo Beach and Playas del Coco, two beach communities visited by thousands of tourists each year.