Costa Rica in Crisis
"Big" Monday Was a Bust
Union leaders and truckers on
strike since last Monday had
taken the weekend off to
re-group and had promised
something "big" for Monday.
However, their plans failed to
materialize to their full
expectations as most of the
marchers stayed away from taking
to the streets, possible the
threat of rain, while others
taking part in the march on
Avenida Segunda in downtown San
José wanted to get the thing
over as soon as possible, so
that they could have the rest o
fthe day off.
Joining the protests
yesterday on downtown San José
were municipal workers. Garbage
that was normally picked on
Mondays piled up.
Only a handful of Instituto
Costarricense de Electrcidad
(ICE) workers could be found in
the small crowd, though all ICE
offices were closed.
Most of the students who have
been active in the marches of
last week were also absent.
The only real movement that
upset the daily life of
Josefinos, were the blocking of
the rotunda at La Fuente de la
Hispanidad, in front of San
Pedro Mall.
Protestors, mainly university
students, weathered the light
rain that lasted all afternoon,
blocked the rotunda well into
the early hours of the evening.
Traffic was lighter than normal
for a "payday" Monday, as many
kept their cars at home and used
buses and taxis to get to and
from work, expecting massive
roadblocks.
The march along Avenida Segunda
was short, about 3 blocks, and
blocked vehicular traffic for
less than a 1/2 hour at any
intersection.
Reports came in of road blocks
in San Carlos, Grecia, San
Ramón, Alajuela, Parrita, and
Quepos.
Unlike the roadblocks of last
week staged by truckers and
where a police operation was
needed to clear the streets,
yesterday's roadblocks were held
mainly by students and farmers
and was peaceful.
The chanting by marchers on
Avenida Segunda was made clear
that the demonstration was to be
peaceful, a calling to wave a
white flag to demonstrate their
peaceful intentions was asked of
all those participating
In all, it appears that the
protestations are dying down.
A taxi driver we talked to, who
had been part of last week's
protests and very strong about
his feelings toward the
movement, told the reason for
small turnout was that everyone
is waiting the outcome of the
talks between the government and
union leaders.
Meanwhile, the government and
union leaders were reached an
impasse in the talks last night.
The first point of discussion
and perhaps the hardest of all
points is the Riteve issue,
Government and union were locked
in discussions since 2:30pm
yesterday when they finally
announced in the early evening
that their discussions were
stalled.
The unions still maintain that
the Riteve monopoly should be
eliminated, the government says
it cannot break the contract.
José Manuel Echandi, el defensor
de los Habitantes (Ombudsman)
raised the possibility of
setting a panel of judges to
study the validity of the
contract.
A representative for the
truckers rejected the proposal,
saying it is typical to
establish commissions and
panels, etc., and nothing ever
gets done.
The government has offered to
modify the Riteve requirements
of vehicle inspections, but
truckers say it's not enough.
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