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Arias Intends To Tell Bush No To
the Border Wall With Mexico
Costa Rican president, Oscar
Arias, said yesterday that at
his meeting on 6 December with
United States president, George
W. Bush, he will express his
opinion of his opposition to a
border wall between the U.S. and
Mexico and that he will attend
the swearing-in ceremony of
Felipe Calderòn next Friday.
Aria said that at his scheduled
meeting with Bush at the White
House he will talk about the
wall because poverty doesn't
need a passport to travel. "I
have been saying that for the
last 40 years", said Arias
during a local radio station
interview.
The president said "it is not
with walls but with helping the
poor in Latin America,
generating riches and creating a
just society, is how they will
avoid the poor from crossing the
border".
Arias said that he will solicit
the help of the U.S. president
for an initiative of rich
countries and financial
organizations to forgive the
debt of poor countries so that
they can invest in education,
health and other social works,
rather than waste in arms and
armies.
Another point of discussion
between the two leaders will be
a reactivation of co-operations
between Costa Rica and the U.S.
Arias said that it has been a
number of years that Costa Rica
has not benefited from
Washington programs.
And without saying, Arias will
be telling Bush that Costa Rica
has the will to approve the
Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC)
- free trade agreement with the
United States (Cafta).
Though Costa Rica has yet to
ratify the TLC, Arias is
confident that he has sufficient
votes in the Legislative
Assembly and that the trade deal
will be ratified before the end
of this year.
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