Thursday night saw a historical event: for the first time there was a debate of presidential candidates. Seven candidates answered questions in the Integral Attention Unit (UAI) Reinaldo Villalobos Zúñiga, new center located in La Reforma Prison.
The Center for Research and Political Studies (CIEP) of the University of Costa Rica, which organized the meeting, reiterated the importance of including a marginalized population: prisoners. The institution organized debates in the provinces, as part of the “Let’s talk about elections” project.
For this night they obtained more than 200 questions, after a cycle of workshops with the prison population. Felipe Alpízar, director of CIEP, mentioned that they include topics such as education, environment, economy and, of course, the reality of prisons, such as overcrowding and judicial files.
Alpizar mentioned that inmates are citizens with human rights. But beyond that, the prisons and the justice strategy must be changed so that they do not relapse into crimes.
The candidates that participated are John Vega of the Workers’ Party; Óscar López of Accessibility Without Exclusion; Carlos Alvarado of Acción Ciudadana; Fabricio Alvarado of National Restoration; Rodolfo Hernández of the Republican Social Christian; Sergio Mena of New Generation and Antonio Álvarez Desanti of National Liberation.