Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese gave President Abel Pacheco a Christmas Eve surprise this year: on Dec. 24, the Prosecutor's Office announced it has reopened its investigation of foreign donations to Pacheco's 2002 presidential campaign.

This news means every Costa Rican President since 1990 is now being scrutinized for the alleged acceptance of illegal or unethical payments.

Rafael Ángel Calderón Jr. (1990-1994), José María Figueres (1994-1998) and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) are all being questioned regarding payments allegedly made to their private accounts by foreign companies with public contracts in Costa Rica . Pacheco's case is the only one related to questionable campaign funding.

Despite the new developments and a Supreme Court ruling that promises to facilitate the investigation, Pacheco, fresh from a vacation in Spain and the Caribbean, appeared calm and confident this week, saying he will cooperate with authorities and give up his diplomatic immunity if such a measure is requested.

He also continued to reiterate the stance he has maintained since the controversy began in late 2002: he said he was aware of the donations but not of their size or how they were spent, and that the foreign companies did not receive any special treatment as a result of their support.

"I don't say more (than that) because I don't know more," he said Tuesday after his weekly Cabinet meeting.

The controversy regarding Pacheco's campaign funds spilled into the news in 2002. National media reported his campaign had received donations from foreign businesses, including $500,000 from Taiwanese firms, which is illegal under the Electoral Code.

The Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation, but then-Chief Prosecutor Fernando Arias brought it to a halt when he filed an appeal before the Penal Branch of the Supreme Court (Sala III), arguing there were insufficient grounds for the investigation, according to wire service EFE.

An investigation by a special committee of the Legislative Assembly continued, however. The committee called Rodríguez to testify regarding allegations he had pocketed public campaign funds (TT, June 18, 2004), just months before the recently elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) stepped down from the post to deal with corruption allegations against him (TT, Oct. 22, 2004).

After the government corruption scandals broke late last year, Vice-President Luis Fishman revealed that Pacheco's campaign had accepted $100,000 from Paris-based telecommunications firm Alcatel, the same company accused of making illegal payments to former officials of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) in connection with a multimillion-dollar contract it obtained in 2001 (TT, Oct. 1, 2004).

Rodríguez and Figueres are among the other alleged recipients of Alcatel payments.

On Nov. 26, 2004, the Sala III rejected Arias' 2002 appeal, saying his conclusion about the case was premature. The new ruling allowed current prosecutor Dall'Anese to reopen the investigation.

On Monday, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) announced its ruling that the brokerage house Valores Cuscatlán, a subsidiary of Banco Cuscatlán, must provide information about an account belonging to Pacheco's political party, the Social Christian Unity Party.

In the ruling, justices warned Juan Carlos Schimarelli, manager of the brokerage house, that failure to comply with the order could result in three months to two years in prison or a fine equal to 20-60 days' worth of his salary.

On Tuesday, Pacheco told the press he is willing to give up his immunity if asked.

"Why not, if it were to happen? But it requires a process," he said, adding that the assembly would need to make a formal request that he renounce the diplomatic privilege before he would take that step.

The announcement was not the first Pacheco has made regarding his immunity. Shortly after the campaign-finance allegations were first made in 2002, he said he had renounced the privilege, a move some analysts said helped his popularity exceed 80% in polls later that year.

When consulted by The Tico Times last year, however, Casa Presidencial spokeswoman Ivannia Arias said Pacheco had never officially given up his immunity, but had opened his personal bank accounts to prosecutors (TT, Oct. 22, 2004).

Political analyst Rodolfo Cerdas said in 2002 that the issue of Pacheco's immunity is irrelevant, since the Electoral Code allows only parties, not candidates, to be held accountable for accepting illegal donations, meaning that the President could not be prosecuted (TT, Sept. 27, 2002).

Two of Pacheco's predecessors and fellow investigation subjects, ex-Presidents Calderón and Rodríguez, are serving preventive detention orders in the penitentiary La Reforma outside of San José . The fourth ex-President under scrutiny, Figueres, remains in Switzerland after refusing to heed the assembly's demands that he return to explain his payments from Alcatel (TT, Dec. 3, 2004).

Calderón's order, extended by six months on Dec. 21, 2004, was reduced on New Year's Eve by three months, making March 22 his new potential release date.

Both former heads of state, who are in separate but identical individual cells, now have Web sites to publicize their cause