Minor Calvo

Minor de Jesús Calvo Aguilar (b. Cartago, January 9, 1964) is a chef, Catholic priest and radio personality born in Cartago, convicted of fraud in 2007.

His work

Father Minor came to the public eye for being accused of fraud and the intellectual author of the murder of Parmenio Medina. He was able to gather many people to the Paso Ancho church that he was in charge of.

Then he had a television microprogram in his country, which lasted about 3 minutes, and in which he read a biblical passage and analyzed it, applying it to daily life. This program brought popularity to his father, who soon moved to radio.

She founded Radio María de Guadalupe with the help of numerous businessmen, but also with monetary contributions collected in donation campaigns organized by her station, through different events, from the social, to even people who came to the radio. to deposit your donations.

At its peak, its Radio María de Guadalupe station collected approximately ¢1,000,000 (about $2,500 at that time) daily, which is a record figure on Costa Rican radio, only surpassed by programs (television, since no one on radio has achieved those figures) created specifically to raise money, such as Teletón or Cadena Mayor.

For its part, the World Family of Radio María published several paid spaces in newspapers clarifying the usurpation of the name "Radio María" (as a registered trademark) (La Nación, Sunday, March 19, 2000). The name "Radio María" It is protected by Costa Rican law #7978 of February 1, 2000 and was registered in Costa Rica on August 29, 1995 with registration #92596, volume 301, folio 63.

Controversy

However, criticism coming from a humorous-satirical radio program, called La Patada and hosted by Colombian Parmenio Medina (murdered in 2001), created friction between the father and the media, since La Patada denounced embezzlement of funds from "Radio María de Guadalupe". La Patada was characterized by his sarcastic humor, and the butt of his jokes used to be corruption, football, politics, and now, 'Radio María de Guadalupe'.

This version was supported even by some former employees of the radio station, but was denied by the father, despite the evidence against him:

• several members of his family and friends made constant trips to the United States in the company of the father, financed with unclarified money

• no receipts for payment to donors. This prevented clear accounting

The situation worsened when the priest was intercepted in his car by an officer of the Fuerza Pública de Costa Rica (Costa Rican police) driving at night in the La Sabana Metropolitan Park (which is not a zone of road crossing, and which for the most part does not have night lighting) in the company of a minor. However, the father was not caught committing an offense.

Closing of Radio María de Guadalupe

Due to the extremely controversial situation, Monsignor Román Arrieta Villalobos (who would die 2 years later), the highest Catholic authority in Costa Rica, decided to end the radio's operations. Various groups demonstrated against the closure, such as certain groups of taxi drivers and other radio fans. But the decision was made, and it was carried out.

Today, the frequency is used by the station "La Paz del Dial" and it is still religious, but it does not maintain any link with Calvo or his way of acting.

The murder of Parmenio

On July 7, 2001, Parmenio Medina was shot to death in the entrance of his home. Such a crime was perpetrated by a gang of hitmen, who fled the crime scene quickly, according to the police, in a gray Hyundai.

The trial of Parmenio Medina

On October 18, 2005, the trial for the murder of communicator Parmenio Medina began in the San José courts. The trial falls within the courts of Heredia, but for reasons of space and security, it was decided to move it to the Costa Rican capital, about 10 km from Heredia.

Minor de Jesús Calvo and Omar Chaves appear in the case as intellectual authors of the trial, in which there are also 7 other defendants, for integrating, at different times and functions, the criminal mechanism that led to the murder of the driver of The Kick.

Some figures from the trial

• 9 tomos of court records (one for each indiciate)
• 91 cassettes, product of telephone interventions (part of which has already been ventilated by means such as Extra diary)
• 145 witnesses (some of whom had attempted coercion - tried by one or more individuals, to modify a testimony that otherwise would be incriminating to such individuals -)
• 803 documents of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office (State Defender) arguing the criminal case against the defendants

On December 18, 2007, after 2 years, Father Minor was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud in relation to the Catholic station Radio María de Guadalupe, although he was acquitted of participating in the murder of Parmenio Medina. On the other hand, Omar Chávez was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of Medina and 12 for fraud in relation to Radio María de Guadalupe, while another of the defendants was sentenced to 30 years for the murder. In total, of the 9 accused, 6 were acquitted and 3 were convicted, which has generated great controversy in the country.

Return to the radio

At the end of August 2008, Calvo returned to the radio with a program which he intended to broadcast from prison, however, due to similar circumstances for which he was imprisoned, this has been prohibited.

Currently

Minor de Jesús Calvo does not currently serve as a priest. In El Carmen de Cartago, on the road to the Irazú Volcano, he works in a family business. A restaurant that for many years called "La Casona de Cartago" and whose specialty was meats, today it belongs to a Grupo Plaza restaurant chain, which is called “La Casona Mexicana”, where dishes from the aforementioned culture are served.