Ligia Fallas, a legislator who represents the Caribbean city of Limon under the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party, is standing her ground with regard to a derogatory comment she made about Costa Rica in reaction to a port construction project. Last week, Legislator Fallas took to social network Twitter to express her dissatisfaction over the approval given to Dutch firm APM Terminals to begin construction of a container terminal in the Moin and Limon docks. Her comment, which was typed in capital letters, was “ASCO DE PAIS,” which translates into “this is a repulsive country.”

 

As expected, reaction to her comment was not pleasant. Legislator Fallas has been labeled as being unpatriotic and unkind to Costa Rica, and those are just the most measured comments. The social media backlash against her has been both prodigious and profane, but she has managed to stubbornly stand her ground and will not back down from her original comment. Fellow legislators from all political factions have urged Fallas to recant from her statement, but in a recent interview with national television network REPRETEL, she had the following to say:

 

“I would say and would do anything necessary to defend my country. The people of Costa Rica do not deserve to wake up each day in a place where their rights are being infringed upon […] I am not using this statement against my constituents or against my nation, which I defend […] This is why I defend my country; when you have a house full of cockroaches, you don’t burn the house down or leave: You clean house and exterminate the roaches […] We are here to rid our country of roaches […] I want to make clear that the roaches’ nest is very high on the political sphere, and it is nurtured by a small, elitist group; the roaches are not our working-class people who are honest and brave. I do not feel sorry about my comment.”

 

It is important to note that the APM Terminals contract that Legislator Fallas reacted to was the source of much discontent earlier this year; it prompted a dock workers’ strike that saw periods of violence and also affected tourism.