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President Arias Pledges Free
Trade Progress To Bush
Costa
Rican president, Oscar Arias
Sanchez, was in Washington
yesterday to meet with U.S.
president, Geroge W. Bush, a
meeting held at the Oval Office,
a room that Arias has visited on
a number of occasions in the
past, while Reagan and Bush Sr.
were in the White House.
Arias Sanchez
told Bush his government was
"determined" to get the Costa
Rican congress to ratify the
Central American Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) - Tratado
Libre de Comercio or TLC as it
is known locally - "as soon as
possible."
In the next breath, he announced
that Costa Rica was also
"initiating negotiations" with
the European Union about a
free-trade agreement.
"We produce what we do not
consume, and we consume what we
do not produce," Arias said.
"This is why trade is important
to us."
CAFTA is to include Costa Rica,
the US, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Honduras and, added
more recently, the Dominican
Republic.
Costa Rica is the only
country that has not yet
ratified the deal.
Washington has pursued regional
agreements like CAFTA and a
separate free-trade agreement
with Chile as an alternative to
its frustrated goal of a Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA),
blocked by Latin American
economic giants like Brazil,
Argentina and Venezuela.
In remarks to reporters by the
two leaders, Bush said CAFTA was
"an important initiative" for
his administration.
Arias, who noted his previous
visits to the Oval Office to
discuss Nicaragua's conflict
with then-president Ronald
Reagan 20 years ago, said
education was now his priority
at home. He asked Bush if his
programme, "No Child Left Behind",
could be implemented in Latin
American countries.
Bush said he would "investigate
ways to determine whether or not
the United States can help ...
on matters of education."
Arias noted that the average
schooling in Latin American
countries was only 6.5 years.
"That explains the social
inequality and the poverty of
our people," he said.
The two men also discussed
"different leaders and how best"
to work together for "peace and
stability," Bush said, thanking
Arias for his "advice ... on the
neighbourhood in which we live."
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