Juan Diego Castro Fernández (born 9 June 1955 in

Cartago, Costa Rica Cartago () is the head city of Cartago canton of the Cartago Province, and is composed of the Oriental and Occidental districts as stated in the administrative divisions of Costa Rica. It was the capital of Costa Rica from 1574 to 1824. History ...

) is a Costa Rican lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, former Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Costa Rica. Castro is a

Defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

who studied Law and Criminal science at the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro M ...

and has a Doctorate degree in Mediation from

Universidad La Salle Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. Castro was Minister of Public Safety between 1994 and 1997 during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

José María Figueres José María Figueres Olsen (born 24 December 1954 in San José, Costa Rica) is a Costa Rican businessman and politician, who served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. He also ran for president in the 2022 presidential election bu ...

( PLN). He became the first cabinet member to receive a

Motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

by the Legislative Assembly when he summoned police forces to fence off Parliament as a means to press for the reform of the Penal Code. Subsequently, Castro resigned as Minister of Safety and was named Minister of Justice. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency as the nominee of the conservative-leaning National Integration Party in the 2018 Costa Rican general election. Castro has been compared unfavorably to

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

and other right-wing

antiestablishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

and

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...

figures.

Costa Rican general election, 2018

Castro launched his unexpected presidential campaign presenting himself as a political outsider and with a strong

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

and

anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...

speech. Promising to "rule by decree" and with a very loud " hard hand" rhetoric (uncommon in Costa Rican politics as the country is famous for its political centrism), Castro has been compared with figures like

, Marine LePen and Rodrigo Duterte, and accused of right-wing populism and far-right positions, albeit he rejects the comparisons. Despite his unexpected lead in the polls throughout most of the campaign, his support plummeted in the final days. Castro came in fifth place, garnering only 9.56% of the votes in the February 4th Presidential Election. His poor performance did not qualify him for the runoff election scheduled for April 1, 2018. After an unfriendly separation from the National Integration Party, Castro tried unsuccessfully to create a new political party, but he abandoned the process due to "logistical difficulties".

Controversies

Antisemitism

In the July 30, 2019 editorial of the newspaper ''La Nación'', Castro was accused of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

for comments made in one of his official videos against the owner of the media CRHoy Leonel Baruch who is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, making allusions and jokes about the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

and also calling him an "evil banker." Castro's words were condemned by the Costa Rican Jewish community with an official statement from the Zionist Israelite Center. Castro's statements were also condemned by Israel's ambassador to Costa Rica Amir Ofek, who described them as "miserable expressions". The heads of most of the benches in the Legislative Assembly, including

National Liberation Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...

, Citizen Action, Social Christian Unity, Broad Front and Castro's former party National Integration repudiated the expressions, the two

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

parties' benches New Republic and National Restoration refused to comment, whilst the independent deputy Erick Rodríguez Steller, who is close to Castro, defended him arguing that his comments were taken out of context.

Homophobic statement

Castro described the government of

President of Costa Rica The president of the Republic of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The president is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two vice presidents are ...

Carlos Alvarado (who is a known supporter of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

) as '' maricón'', a derogative Spanish term for

homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

, after Alvarado's participation in that year's Gay Parade.

Conflict with reporters and the media

On November 24, journalist Arlene Raventós, who works in the

Repretel Representaciones Televisivas (Televised Representations) S.A., commonly known as Repretel or Grupo Repretel is a Costa Rican media company, founded by Remigio Gonzalez, that came into competition with Teletica and Canal9. Repretel owns Costa Rica ...

network, showed that Castro's accusations against her that she was behind an alleged campaign to discredit him, were false. "It is unfortunate to have to go out to clarify false information without real content, published in the heat of a political campaign, which should be devoted to raising ideas about the real solution to the country's problems; but when it comes to muddying a name under and without foundation, the need to clarify with the truth prevails and that is what I request". On December 1, 2017, journalist David Delgado, who worked at ''La Nación'' and the Ministry of Justice and Peace, publicly denounced him for "persecution, mockery and harassment" in relation to coverage of a drug trafficking case. On December 11, 2017, he announced that he would sue the

because a Facebook program of several young students reported the assault on his mother, his past as a politician and criticized what qualified his "

" tendencies.

Panama Papers

Castro was mentioned as part of the Panama Papers case by the news reports ''Amelia Rueda'' and ''Semanario Universidad'' for being lawyer for a Mossack Fonseca law firm related company, which led him to attack Rueda and her son Antonio Jiménez, as well as the media ''Semanario''.

Trial

In 2020 Castro went to trial against University of Costa Rica student Claudia Campos as anchorwoman of the web program "Suave un Toque" (Costa Rican slang for "Wait a Minute") on accusations of slander. During trial, Castro yelled to Campos "I do not shoot you because I believe in God" causing the Judge to warn Castro for his behavior. The case was dismissed by the Judges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro Fernandez, Juan Diego 1955 births Government ministers of Costa Rica Living people National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians People from Cartago Province Costa Rican Freemasons Right-wing populism in North America 20th-century Costa Rican politicians