Government sends 150 police, arrests 68 to reopen Limon ports

October 23^rd, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) In what is being described as a “surprise attack,” the government sent 150 police officers and made 68 arrests in a move aimed at reopening the country’s Atlantic ports just 10 hours after the dockworkers’ union, Sintrajap, declared a strike and crippled port operations on Wednesday.

The move came after striking unionists shut down port operations at the Moin and Limon terminals around 8:30 a.m., leaving six vessels stranded and unable to load or unload cargo.

President Luis Guillermo Solis, who was coincidently in Limon at the time on a tour of a hydroelectric facility, gave the order around noon for the docks to be reopened.

“When negotiations break down, the government has to act accordingly,” Solis said in announcing the order.

About six hours later, some 150 law enforcement personnel responded, breaking the strike and reopening the terminals.  Sixty-eight arrests were made during the operation, which authorities said took less than ten minutes.

Those arrested face charges of obstruction of public roads and obstruction of public services, authorities said.

In a statement issued after the operation, Sintrajap said the dockworkers strike would continue indefinitely, while the port authority known as JAPDEVA said it would employ a team of private dockworkers to take the place of strikers, promising that it would not allow port operations to be compromised as a result of the ongoing strike.

Security Minister Celso Gamboa said that police officials would remain at the terminals indefinitely to ensure they remain open.

Disturbances following operation

Police were forced to respond to several small riots and disturbances in Limon’s Cieneguita and Barrio San Juan neighborhoods following the police action that reopened the terminals, according to reports.

Allegations of heavy-handedness

Sintrajap Secretary General, Ronaldo Blear, told Diario Extra that yesterday’s operation was heavy-handed.

“There was disrespect and abuse of authority. […] We were protesting peacefully and in the afternoon a group of security forces arrived and arrested all of our colleagues who were at the gates.  They were beaten and sent to headquarters,” Blear said.  “The abuse of authority has outraged many, which [further] complicates things.”

Background

The strike comes after Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal this month against the new Moín Container Terminal filed by the union against the concession holder for the project, APM Terminals.

Sintrajap had claimed in its appeal that a particular clause in the concession would create an “illegal monopoly” giving APM Terminals the exclusive right to load and unload containers arriving in Limon.  The appeal was the last legal alternative available to Sintrajap in its attempts to stop the project.

APM Terminals obtained the concession to build and operate the port in 2011 and was due to begin construction last year, but the project has faced several legal challenges.

The initial concession is for 33 years, with an initial investment of at least $1 billion and the creation of some 400 jobs.

The new facilities would be able to accommodate modern “Panamax” class container vessels of up to 13,500 containers, some five times larger than those that can be serviced in the country presently.