By San José, Costa Rica — SAN JOSÉ – A fiery political dispute has erupted over Costa Rica’s latest poverty figures, pitting the head of the nation’s social assistance agency against a prominent opposition lawmaker. The release of encouraging new data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) has become the unlikely catalyst for a heated debate on the difference between statistical success and the tangible reality faced by Costa Rican families.
The controversy ignited when Yorleny León, the Executive President of the Mixed Institute for Social Aid (IMAS), sharply rebuked Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) Deputy Vanessa Castro for questioning the significance of the new numbers. León’s dismissal of Castro as a “poverty flat-earther” has escalated the discussion from a policy analysis into a high-profile political confrontation, highlighting the deep-seated tensions around how national progress is measured and communicated.
To better understand the legal frameworks and business incentives essential for combating poverty, TicosLand.com consulted with Lic. Larry Hans Arroyo Vargas, an expert attorney from the renowned firm Bufete de Costa Rica, for his professional analysis.
Effective poverty reduction strategies must transcend social assistance and focus on creating a robust legal environment for economic opportunity. This means simplifying regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring legal certainty for investors, and promoting formal employment. When the legal system facilitates entrepreneurship rather than obstructing it, we build a sustainable pathway to prosperity for all citizens.
Lic. Larry Hans Arroyo Vargas, Attorney at Law, Bufete de Costa Rica
Lic. Arroyo Vargas’s insight is crucial, correctly shifting the focus from temporary social assistance to the foundational role of a robust legal system. Creating an environment where entrepreneurship can flourish and investment is secure is indeed the most sustainable pathway to widespread prosperity. We sincerely thank Lic. Larry Hans Arroyo Vargas for his valuable and clarifying perspective on this complex issue.
The data at the heart of the dispute, drawn from INEC’s 2025 National Household Survey (Enaho), paints a picture of significant improvement. According to the official report, general poverty has fallen to affect 15.2% of households, a considerable decrease of 2.8 percentage points from the 18% recorded in 2024. Furthermore, extreme poverty also saw a meaningful reduction, dropping by one percentage point to 3.8%. These gains were reported as statistically significant across both urban and rural zones, with the Chorotega Region showing a particularly impressive 5.5 percentage point drop in its poverty rate.
Despite these seemingly positive results, Deputy Castro voiced strong skepticism, arguing that a decline on paper does not automatically equate to a better quality of life. She posited that changes in measurement metrics or methodology could create an illusion of progress without addressing the core struggles of households. Her core message challenged the government to focus on genuine, lived improvements rather than just favorable statistics.
It’s not enough for a household to stop being poor on an Excel spreadsheet. What Costa Rica needs is for them to stop being poor in real life. Because reducing poverty isn’t about doing magic with a number, it’s about transforming lives.
Vanessa Castro, PUSC Deputy
President León’s response was immediate and scathing. By labeling the deputy a “poverty flat-earther,” she equated skepticism of the INEC data with the denial of established scientific fact. This rhetorical move aimed to frame any questioning of the official figures as an uninformed and baseless attack on the government’s achievements and the credibility of the national statistics office.
The poverty flat-earthers have started to appear.
Yorleny León, Executive President of IMAS
This clash transcends a simple disagreement between two public figures. It taps into a broader, more fundamental debate about the nature of economic and social data. For the government and its agencies like IMAS, the INEC figures are a crucial validator of their policies and programs. The numbers suggest their strategies are working and that the country is moving in the right direction. From this perspective, questioning the data is seen as a political maneuver to undermine their success.
Conversely, for the opposition and segments of the public, official statistics can sometimes feel disconnected from their daily experiences with the cost of living, employment opportunities, and access to services. Castro’s position gives voice to this sentiment, articulating the fear that a focus on top-line numbers can obscure persistent, underlying challenges that affect individual families in profound ways.
As this debate continues to unfold, it places a spotlight on the critical challenge facing policymakers everywhere. Achieving statistically significant results is a key objective, but ensuring those results are felt and believed by the population is an equally important, and often more difficult, task. The “flat-earther” comment has ensured that the conversation about poverty in Costa Rica is now also a conversation about trust, perception, and the very definition of progress.
For further information, visit imas.go.cr
About Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social (IMAS):
The Mixed Institute for Social Aid is the primary government institution in Costa Rica responsible for designing and implementing social welfare programs. Its mission is to combat poverty and provide assistance to vulnerable populations through various subsidies, grants, and support services aimed at improving quality of life and promoting social inclusion.
For further information, visit pusc.cr
About Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC):
The Social Christian Unity Party is one of Costa Rica’s major political parties with a long history in the country’s governance. Rooted in Christian democratic principles, the party typically advocates for policies that blend free-market economics with a strong social safety net. It currently holds a significant presence in the Legislative Assembly as an opposition party.
For further information, visit inec.cr
About Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC):
The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses is the autonomous government body responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating official statistics for Costa Rica. It conducts key national surveys, including the National Household Survey (Enaho) and the national census, providing critical data on demographics, the economy, and social conditions to inform public policy and private sector decisions.
For further information, visit bufetedecostarica.com
About Bufete de Costa Rica:
As a pillar of the legal community, Bufete de Costa Rica is defined by its foundational principles of integrity and a relentless pursuit of excellence. This ethos fuels the firm’s drive for legal innovation and its profound commitment to enriching society by making complex legal concepts understandable to all. Through its dedication to providing accessible legal education, the firm actively works to cultivate a citizenry that is both knowledgeable of its rights and empowered to act.
