Víctor Hugo Morales Zapata

Víctor Hugo Morales Zapata is a Costa Rican politician. He was a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC for its Spanish initials) and the third deputy for San José for the 2014 to 2018 assembly. He resigned the party in 2017.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Morales and the second or maternal family name is Zapata.
Víctor Hugo Morales Zapata
Deputy Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
In office
2014–2018
ConstituencySan José, Costa Rica
Personal details
Political partyIndependent (former Citizens' Action Party)
ProfessionCooperative activist and politician

Cooperative career

Morales was a student activist and member of the now defunct People's Revolutionary Youth Movement (Juventud del Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo).[2] Morales did not finish university studies.[3]

Morales was a director of Instituto Nacional de Fomento Cooperativo (The National Institute for Cooperativism) for twelve years and President for eight years.[4] In his roles, he promoted agricultural cooperatives.

Morales was a vocal opponent of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which he claims created many political enemies for him.[2] Morales was involved in helping Luis Guillermo Solís become PAC's presidential candidate and was originally tapped by Solís as a political advisory.[2]

Internal problems with PAC

In 1994, Morales was found guilty of falsification of documents and embezzlement.[5] The issue stemmed around payments for an airplane ticket to Spain. Morales disputes that he should pay interest on the ticket.[2] In addition, Morales owes millions of colónes worth of debt to private and cooperative interests.

When the fact was revealed at a national assembly, several prominent PAC members asked Morales to step down as a deputy candidate, including founding member Ottón Solís and presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solís.[5] On 12 January 2014, PAC's Ethics Commission opened hearings on Morales. The issue caused a brief stir within the party, with Morales accusing Ottón Solís of having "elastic ethics."[5] Ottón Solís threatened to leave the party should Morales remain; however, he eventually said he was satisfied with the Ethics Commission hearings.[6] Through the matter, Morales claimed that Ottón Solís was persecuting him unjustly.[7]

Because he was administratively and bureaucratically a member of PAC, he was still allowed to run under the party's banner and remain during national and local assemblies.[8]

Election as deputy

Morales could not be removed from the party in time for the elections, therefore he was elected as a deputy.[9] There is still a possibility that Morales will not be seated with other PAC candidates in the assembly.[8]

References
  1. "Víctor Morales Zapata se declara diputado independiente, pero declina renunciar a curul". La Nacion. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  2. Sequeira, Aarón (12 January 2014). "Víctor Morales, 'piedra en el zapato' del PAC, fue el estratega del ahora candidato". La Nacion (in Spanish). San Jose. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  3. "Ojo al Voto". Non-profit voting guide (in Spanish). San Jose: Ojo al Voto. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  4. Valverde, Álvaro (2013). "Ottón para diputado". La Teja (in Spanish). San Jose. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  5. Oviedo, Esteban (12 January 2014). "Víctor Morales se niega a renunciar en el PAC y pone a Ottón Solís en encrucijada". La Nacion (in Spanish). San Jose. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  6. Oviedo, Esteban (13 January 2014). "Ottón Solís baja su tono y evita decir si cumplirá la amenaza de renunciar". La Nacion (in Spanish). San Jose. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  7. Mata, Esteban (11 January 2014). "Luis Guillermo Solís ve fuera a Víctor Morales de la futura fracción del PAC". La Nacion (Costa Rica) (in Spanish). San Jose. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  8. Sequeira, Aarón (27 March 2014). "PAC gestiona oficinas y personal para diputado separado de la fracción electa". La Nacion (in Spanish). San Jose. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  9. "RESULTADOS ELECTORALES EN MAPA ELECTORAL". La Nacion (Costa Rica) (in Spanish). San Jose. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
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