Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Costa Rican president from 1998 to 2002, resigned from the OAS on Oct. 8 after investigators in his home country said they were looking into allegations he had shared in commissions on government contracts granted to a French company. He had served as OAS president for only two weeks.

Rodriguez left the Western Hemisphere's top diplomatic body after becoming engulfed in a scandal over a contract between French telecommunications company Alcatel and local electricity institute ICE.

A former associate accused Rodriguez of receiving a $550,000 bribe in relation to the contract. The former president said he received a $140,000 loan to help with his campaign to become head of the OAS.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 23, 2004
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