Erick Rodríguez Steller

Steller's parliamentary photo.

Erick Rodríguez Steller (San Ramón, April 11, 1969) is a Costa Rican politician, deputy in Costa Rica in the 2018-2022 period. He was elected by the National Integration Party during Juan Diego Castro Fernández candidacy, but then declared himself an independent deputy, a month before taking office soon after Castro did the same.[1] Later, he would announce his incorporation into the New Generation Party.[2][3][4] Steller was one of the only seven deputies who refused to acknowledge the triumph of the US candidate Joe Biden, claiming "that there was suspicion of fraud".[5]

Controversies

In October 2020, he became known for mocking Costa Rica's health minister, Daniel Salas, upon learning that his father was hospitalized in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deputy declared: "The superman Salas did not give on his feet, even his father got sick" which generated outrage in the population and some deputies. Days after these comments, Minister Salas's father died.[6][7][8][9][10]

He also received a lawsuit for sexual and workplace harassment from a female aid in his office. Among the accusations, the aid attributed some insults to the deputy such as: "stupid", "mother Teresa", "that the math teacher died on you" and "you are like this because no one fucks with you." She also affirmed that Steller made comments to ridicule her in front of the entire office, emphasizing: "You don't not drink, you have no partner, you don't go out, you have no friends, you don't smoke, why are you alive?". The aid also denounced the existence of a WhatsApp chat called "DEATH TO LGBTI AND NICAS" (in reference to Nicaraguans, Costa Rica's main immigrant population) which was originally the chat for the deputy's campaign. For these actions, the ideas of the deputy have been compared with those of the dictator Adolf Hitler,[11] due to the homophobia, misogyny and xenophobia with which he has been linked on various occasions.[12][13]

In 2020, the Public Ministry reported that it is investigating Steller for the crimes of illicit enrichment and illegal recognition of labor benefits. This is because the legislator charges his office aids for the gasoline assigned to him by the Legislative Assembly.[14]

A year earlier, in June 2019, the deputy was photographed buying beers, while the plenary was discussing the re-election of Justice Paul Rueda. Faced with these photographs, he justified himself by saying that “his vote was not going to be of any importance.”[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "Renuncia a su fracción el primer diputado a la próxima Asamblea Legislativa | Crhoy.com". CRHoy.com | Periodico Digital | Costa Rica Noticias 24/7.
  2. ^ servicios, Yeryis Salas Periodista de Actualidad Bachiller en Periodismo de la Escuela de Ciencias de la Comunicación Colectiva de la Universidad de Costa Rica Cubre; Judiciales, Transportes Y. "Diputado Erick Rodríguez se afilia al Partido Nueva Generación". La Nación, Grupo Nación.
  3. ^ Ruiz, Paula (September 7, 2020). "Diputado independiente Erick Rodríguez se une a las filas del Partido Nueva Generación".
  4. ^ Abarca, Fiorella (September 7, 2020). "Erick Rodríguez se une al Partido Nueva Generación".
  5. ^ Meléndez, Alejandro. "Congreso costarricense felicita a Joe Biden y Kamala Harris por ganar elecciones de Estados Unidos". CRC89. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. ^ Aparte, Michelle Campos Periodista en la sección de Política Graduada como bachiller en periodismo en la Universidad Latina de Costa Rica Estudiante de licenciatura en Mercadeo Ganadora de la Clase 8 del proyecto de periodismo colaborativo Punto y. "(Video) Diputado Erick Rodríguez sobre Daniel Salas: 'No dio pie en bola, hasta el papá se le enfermó'". La Nación, Grupo Nación.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Villalta critica mofa de diputado por estado de salud del padre del ministro Salas". 31 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Fallece padre del ministro de Salud Daniel Salas • Semanario Universidad". Semanario Universidad. September 16, 2020.
  9. ^ "María Luisa Avila sobre comentario de Erick Rodríguez: ¡Que asco de diputado!". August 28, 2020.
  10. ^ "Colegio de Médicos reprocha a diputado Erick Rodríguez su alusión al padre del ministro Daniel Salas. | GDA – Grupo de Diarios América".
  11. ^ Perez, Wendy (2020-09-10). "Luis Salazar compara a diputado Rodríguez Steller con Hitler". El Mundo CR (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  12. ^ Rica, Aarón Sequeira Periodista encargado de la cobertura legislativa en la sección de Política Bachiller en Filología Clásica de la Universidad de Costa. "Asesora aporta detalles sobre chat 'Muerte LGBTI y nicas': 'Diputado me enviaba mensajes sexistas y degradantes'". La Nación, Grupo Nación.
  13. ^ Chong, Tatiana Gutiérrez Wa (September 29, 2020). "Licor, abusos sexuales e insultos: escandalosa denuncia penal contra despacho de Erick Rodríguez".
  14. ^ "Denuncian a diputado por vender gasolina de Asamblea Legislativa a sus asesores | Teletica". www.teletica.com.
  15. ^ Chinchilla, Aarón (25 June 2019). "Diputado afirma que comprar cervezas "no fue error" y que periodista "pro-PAC" lo siguió" | El Periódicocr.com" (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  16. ^ Ruiz, Paula (2019-06-25). "Diputado Rodríguez defiende su fuero para irse del plenario antes del cierre de sesión, comprar cerveza y ver partido de la Sele: 'Tengo mi derecho'". El Observador CR (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-08.