US: We Will Continue With Costa Rica With The TLC
In a statement made following the entry into force of the CAFTA-DR for the Dominican Republic, U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab, said "We will continue our work with Costa Rica with the goal of putting the agreement into effect at the earliest possible date."

The CAFTA-DR is a trade agreement signed by the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in August 2004 and passed the U.S. Senate in June 2005 and the House of Representatives in July 2005 and was signed by the President in August 2005.

All signatory countries to the trade deal have ratified the agreement except for Costa Rica, which is still bogged down in discussion in the Legislative Assembly, following stalls by the previous government.

The trade deal is know locally as the Tratado Libre de Comercio (TLC) and though there is strong opposition by trade unions, demonstrated by their latest protest on February 26, polls show that almost 70% of Costa Ricans favour the trade deal.

While the other Central American countries implemented their trade deals during 2006, the Dominican Republic implemented the trade deal on March 1, 2007.

"We have worked closely and intensively with all six CAFTA-DR countries to ensure they meet their obligations and responsibilities under the agreement. Trade with these countries has increased significantly over the past year.

"We are pleased that the Dominican Republic is now ready to join El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in putting the agreement into force.

I greatly appreciate the diligent effort by President Fernandez and his government to adopt legislation and regulations to implement the Dominican Republic’s commitments under the CAFTA-DR. This step marks an important milestone in our relationship with the Dominican Republic, which will enable us to continue our strong economic and political partnership", said Schwab.

While Costa Rican president, Oscar Arías Sanchéz, is positive about the passing of the TLC in the Legislative Assembly, saying he is confident that he has the sufficient votes, a Constitutional Court ruling this week will mean more delays as legislators have to deal with all the appeals against the trade deal.

Union leaders, calling the march of February 26 a success, have vowed to continue to fight against the trade deal and have said will take whatever action necessary to convince the government to back down.

The daily Spanish language newspaper, La Nacíon, put the number of protestors at 23.500. Another online English language publication put the number, by their knowledge of calculations, at 80,000.

In 2006, U.S. exports to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua grew by over 18%.