OPINION: Presidential silence aids predators

Protected areas are public domain property legally reserved to meet the objectives of conservation and research of natural resources, and the Ministry of Environment is the entity that regulates them. However, its limited effectiveness in the face of conflicts, such as those of Donoso, Isla de Cañas, Mata Oscura and Camino de Cruces, worries more every day organized civil society and even the  Administration Attorney General’s Office. It would be unfortunate if this institution stops fulfilling its functions of planning, evaluating and controling the use and management of natural resources, and that as a consequence of such failure there is irreversible damage to the maintenance of the ecological balance, the protection of the environment and the welfare of the population. The President of the Republic has a constitutional obligation to coordinate the work of the administration and cannot ignore the fulfilment of that attribution. His immediate action and that of his subordinates cannot wait anymore. Their silence would put them be on the side of the predators of our heritage. La Prensa, Nov. 13