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Mauricio Herrera Ulloa

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Herrera and the second or maternal family name is Ulloa.
Mauricio Herrera Ulloa
Herrera being designated as the new Minister of Communication, 2015
Costa Rican Ambassador to Honduras
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 2018
PresidentCarlos Alvarado Quesada
Preceded byEugenio Trejos Benavides [es]
Minister of Communication
In office
April 2015 – March 2018
PresidentLuis Guillermo Solís
Preceded byCarlos Roverssi
Succeeded byJuan Carlos Mendoza
Personal details
Born
Mauricio Herrera Ulloa

(1970-01-30) 30 January 1970 (age 54)
SpouseLaura González Picado (m. 1995)
EducationUniversidad de Costa Rica

Universitat de Barcelona

Harvard University
OccupationJournalist
AwardsOrtega y Gasset Award (2005) Henry Dunant Journalism Award (1999)

Mauricio Herrera Ulloa is a Costa Rican journalist and the current Costa Rican ambassador to Honduras.[1] Herrera was previously the Minister of Communication under the presidency of Luis Guillermo Solís,[2] the chief editor of the University of Costa Rica's newspaper Semanario Universidad,[3] the Director of Communications at the Center for Justice and International Law,[4] and the defendant of the landmark case Herrera Ulloa vs. Costa Rica [es] before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Education

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Herrera graduated with a bachelor's degree in collective communications from the University of Costa Rica in 1992 and a Master's degree in Political Sciences at the same university in 2006. He also earned a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Barcelona in 2001 and was a Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in 2007. [5][6]

Herrera Ulloa vs. Costa Rica

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In 1995, Herrera published a series of articles that addressed a corruption scandal surrounding Félix Przedborski, Costa Rica’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Originally published by the Financieel-Economische Tijd, the articles published in La Nación reported on Przedborski's alleged involvement in political corruption schemes and other criminal activities. In response to the articles, Przedborski filed two criminal complaints and a civil lawsuit for defamation of a public official against Herrera and La Nación.[7]

After being found innocent in May 1998, in 1999 the Supreme Court of Costa Rica reinstated the criminal defamation charges and ordered a re-trial; Herrera was later found guilty on four counts of criminal defamation. He was ordered to publish a section of the Court’s opinion in La Nación and to remove the links to the four articles in which Przedborski was mentioned by name. Herrera’s name was added to the Judiciary’s Record of Convicted Felons and he and La Nación were ordered to pay the plaintiff’s legal fees and US$200,000.00 in civil monetary damages to Przedborski. In 2001, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the applicants.[8]

In March 2001, after a complaint was submitted to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, the Commission issued a report in October 2002 requesting Costa Rica to nullify the convictions against Herrera and La Nación. After the government of Costa Rica failed to comply with the measures within the given time-frame, the Commission submitted the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.[9][10]

In support of Herrera, an amicus curiae was submitted by the Open Society Justice Initiative.[11]

Due to the violations to Herrera’s right to freedom of expression committed by the government of Costa Rica, the Inter-American Court ordered the following:

The court unanimously declares:

1. That the State violated the right to freedom of thought and expression protected under Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights (...) to the detriment of Mr. Mauricio Herrera Ulloa

2. That the State violated the right to judicial guarantees (...) to the detriment of Mr. Mauricio Herrera Ulloa

3. That this Judgment constitutes per se a form of reparation

And unanimously decides that:

4. The State must nullify the November 12, 1999 judgment of the Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San José and all the measures it orders

5. Within a reasonable period of time, the State must adjust its domestic legal system to conform to the provisions of Article 8(2)(h) of the American Convention on Human Rights

6. The State must pay non-pecuniary damages to Mr. Mauricio Herrera Ulloa in the amount of US$ 20,000.00

7. The State must pay Mr. Mauricio Herrera Ulloa the sum of US$ 10,000.00, to defray the expenses of his legal defense in litigating his case before the inter-American system for the protection of human rights [12]

Project Finland and the Alcatel case

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"El proyecto Finlandia" and "El caso Alcatel" were a series of reports published by Herrera, Giannina Segnini and Ernesto Rivera on illegal payments given by the Finnish medical company Instrumentarium Medko Medical[13][14] and the French telecommunications company Alcatel to the former President of Costa Rica and former OAS Secretary-General Rafael Ángel Calderón, the former President of Costa Rica Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, and the former President of Costa Rica and former Managing Director and CEO of the World Economic Forum José María Figueres,[15] among others.

As a result of both investigations, several high-profile individuals were fined and imprisoned[16][17] and Alcatel was forced to pay $137 million in criminal fines in the U.S. and an added $10 million to the Costa Rican government as part settlement.[18][19] [20] Instrumentarium Medko Medical has since been acquired by General Electric Healthcare[21]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Consejo de Gobierno nombra Embajadora en OEA y Embajadores en Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador y Bélgica" (Press release) (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  2. ^ "Mauricio Herrera designado como nuevo Ministro de Comunicación" (Press release) (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica. 2015-04-30. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  3. ^ Corrales, Gloriana (2012-09-24). "Mauricio Herrera asumirá las riendas del Semanario Universidad". La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  4. ^ "Mauricio Herrera designado como nuevo Ministro de Comunicación" (Press release) (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica. 2015-04-30. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  5. ^ Class of 2007, Nieman Foundation, retrieved 2020-01-28
  6. ^ "Ministro de Comunicación Mauricio Herrera Ulloa" (Press release) (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  7. ^ Herrera Ulloa y La Nación S.A. v. Félix Przedborski (TRIBUNAL PENAL DEL PRIMER CIRCUITO JUDICIAL DE SAN JOSE 1999-11-12), Text.
  8. ^ "Inter-American Court of Human Rights overturns defamation sentence against Costa Rican journalist". IFEX. 2004-08-06. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  9. ^ "Herrera-Ulloa v. Costa Rica". Columbia University. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  10. ^ "Herrera Ulloa v. Costa Rica". Open Society Justice Initiative. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  11. ^ "BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVE IN SUPPORT OF THE APPLICATION BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS" (PDF). Open Society Justice Initiative. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  12. ^ Herrera-Ulloa v. Costa Rica, p. 91 (Inter-American Court of Human Rights 2004-07-02), Text.
  13. ^ "Calderón Case". Anti-Corruption Authorities. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  14. ^ "Informe ubica a firma Medko Medical en origen de Proyecto Finlandés". La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  15. ^ "José María Figueres". OFFSHORE LEAKS DATABASE. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  16. ^ "Condenan ex presidente de Costa Rica por casos de corrupción". Wikinews (in Spanish). 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  17. ^ "Calderón Case". Anti-Corruption Authorities. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  18. ^ Chirgwin, Richard (2015-08-06). "Alcatel-Lucent pays $10 million to Costa Rica's ICE over old bribery scandal". The Register. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  19. ^ Laughlin, Kirk (2010-02-19). "Alcatel-Lucent Pays Out $137 Million to Settle Costa Rica Bribes Case". Nearshore Americas. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  20. ^ "Alcatel-Lucent S.A. and Three Subsidiaries Agree to Pay $92 Million to Resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation". Office of Public Affairs. Department of Justice. 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  21. ^ "Instrumentarium Corporation". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  22. ^ "Y eran dos..." La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación. 1995-07-06. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  23. ^ "Estímulo a los mejores del año". La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación. 1995-12-24. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  24. ^ "Nomina de ganadores - Premios Henry Dunant - 1999-2000". International Committee of the Red Cross (in Spanish). 2000-04-01. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  25. ^ Bravo, Vanessa (2000-04-06). "Premio se queda en casa". La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  26. ^ García, Rocío; G. Gómez, Rosario (2005-05-11). "Corrupción en Costa Rica, del rumor a la realidad". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  27. ^ "Tres periodistas de 'La Nación' ganan Premio Ortega y Gasset". La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación. 2005-04-23. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  28. ^ "Premios Ortega y Gasset 2005". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  29. ^ Morán Breña, Carmen (2005-04-23). "En esta investigación no hay mitos, sólo datos comprobados". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  30. ^ Selvood, Inés (2005-05-10). "BEST INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM REPORT ON CORRUPTION IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN AWARD GOES TO COSTA RICAN JOURNALIST". Transparency International. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  31. ^ "MAURICIO HERRERA RECIBE LOS PREMIOS MOORS CABOT (UNIVERSIDAD DE COLUMBIA) Y ORTEGA Y GASSET (EL PAÍS)". Universidad de Barcelona (in Spanish). 2005-04-22. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  32. ^ "Past Maria Moors Cabot Prizes Winners" (PDF). University of Columbia. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  33. ^ "Semanario Universidad recibió premio a la libertad de expresión" (in Spanish). Universidad de Costa Rica. 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
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