Programa Nuestra Voz: Miércoles 4 de febrero 2026

·1 hr 6 min·5 clips

China controls almost 80% of global rare earth extraction—the minerals powering chips, EV batteries, wind turbines, and AI systems—making them the new oil of geopolitical power.

1. 'Nuestra Voz' on Radio Monumental airs on February 4, 2026—three days after Costa Rica's first-round presidential election—to assess the electoral process and discuss global economic shifts. 2. The electoral panel features André Cambronero from the Supreme Electoral Court, political analysts Carlos Torres and Mario Quiroz, and is moderated by host Amelia. 3. The core thesis of the electoral segment is that Costa Rica's party financing system is structurally corrupt by design, benefiting established parties and blocking meaningful reform. 4. Cambronero reports that parties placed 71 billion colons in State-backed electoral bonds when the total State contribution to political parties was only 39,292 million colons—nearly double the legal entitlement. 5. The Supreme Electoral Court formally challenged its own bond instruments before the Constitutional Chamber in 2013; the court labeled them 'perverse financing mechanisms' and has advocated their replacement for over two decades. 6. Quiroz introduces the concept of 'political pymes'—micro-parties formed not to govern but to secure one deputy seat and collect State financing for four years—arguing the system incentivizes fragmentation without democratic value. 7. He proposes a transparency law that would require polling firms to deposit their raw databases with the Supreme Electoral Court for technical auditing, which he says is now technically feasible. 8. Analyst Carlos Torres argues there is no political will for reform because the current system functions as a 'casino economy' benefiting parties and, in some cases, opaque outside actors who profit without holding office. 9. Cambronero confirms the court will continue inspecting political party financing documentation from this electoral cycle and will refer suspected illegality to the Public Ministry. 10. The program then shifts to economist Daniel Ortiz of CEPSA, who presents five global trends from an article he co-authored: the economy ceasing to be neutral, fragmented globalization, rare earth geopolitics, accelerating global migration, and jobless economic growth. 11. Ortiz argues the most fundamental shift is the end of neutral trade: the US, EU, and China are all aligning economic decisions with geopolitical strategy, making 'ally or enemy' the new commercial framework. 12. He reports that global military spending has risen from under 2% of global GDP to 2.5-3%, with the US at 3.5% and Russia at 7%, marking a structural shift in how states use economic resources. 13. On globalization fragmentation, Ortiz explains that world trade is now growing slower than world production, and foreign direct investment is being placed defensively by bloc rather than for efficiency. 14. On rare earths, he identifies China's control of approximately 80% of global extraction of lithium, gallium, and germanium as a strategic vulnerability for any country dependent on chips, EV batteries, or AI hardware. 15. On migration, he observes that economically motivated migration is accelerating globally, including within Europe where young people in Spain, Italy, and Germany are also seeking to leave due to lack of opportunity. 16. On jobless growth, Ortiz cites Amazon's AI-driven workforce reduction as evidence that productivity gains from automation are not generating proportional employment, and argues this dynamic is accelerating. 17. For Costa Rica specifically, Ortiz identifies the employment growth problem as the most urgent, and recommends the country reorient its long-term planning toward a 10-year horizon given the pace of global change. 18. The episode closes with deputies Gilber Jiménez Siles and Manuel Morales presenting a constitutional reform to limit Supreme Electoral Court magistrates to a maximum 12-year total tenure, replacing indefinite automatic re-election. 19. The format combines a post-election expert panel with an economics interview and a legislative segment, reflecting the program's current-affairs breadth. 20. Listeners engaged in Costa Rican civic affairs, global economics, or electoral reform will find the episode substantive; those seeking entertainment or non-Spanish-language content will not.

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