Unions Will Strike Indefinitely Against the TLC If Necessary
The protests are over for now. However, the mood of the union leaders and the members of various public sector unions hasn't changed, they want to stop the ratification of the Tratado Libre de Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States (CAFTA) and will continue to hold protests and strike indefinitely if necessary.

Fabio Chavez and Albino Vargas, the two main leaders of the public unions, say they are ready for anything to stop the approval of the TLC, and yesterday hinted at an national strike that will not end until the Legislative Assembly rejects the trade agreement.

For the time being no date has been set, it will all depend on how fast the TLC document makes it to Congress. "We came out in the thousands in spite of the myopia of the Ministro de la Presidencia who denies to see the people on the streets", said John Vega a representative of one of the university groups.

The union leaders are well aware that the government has plans to have the TLC approved and by the end of this year, even though rumours are that it is already too late for trade agreement in this legislative session, however, stay firm that they will take to the streets again quickly if things change.

The opponents to the trade deal say that they will be counting on the Partido Acción Ciudadana PAC) and the Frente Amplio y Accesibilidad Sin Exclusión (PASE) parties to block the legislative debats, using mechanisms in place to stall motions.

The parties want that the Comisión de Asuntos Internacionales - the commission dealing with the TLC before going to the legislative floor for a vote - hold broader public hearings and from civil sectors to fully understand the impact of the agreement.

While the TLC is in the hands of the legislators, a group of Costa Ricans made a request of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) to hold a referendum. The TSE denied the request and the authorization to gather signatures for a popular vote on the trade agreement.

The group says that the current laws permit a referendum so that the politicians have a sense of what the people want on the subject. The magistrates of the TSE said, in their decision to deny the request, that a referendum can only be held is the Legislative Assembly passes a law to authorized the popular opinion.

On another front, the 1980 Nobel Prize winner, Argentinian, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, sent a letter to fellow Nobel Prize winner, Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, earlier this week telling him the damage that Costa Rican will suffer if it ratifies the TLC.

Pérez Esquivel affirms that the national traditions of liberty and sovereignty are in danger under the free trade agreement with the United States. "You know as well as the legislators that the 'free trade' agreements contain absolutely nothing; as you well know the great powers will impose their prices and conditions for the life and development of the people", said Pérez Esquivel in his letter.

"Permit me Mr. President; I am sure that the majority of the Costa Rican people do not want to be a colony and lose their sovereign rights, their identity and values...", wrote Pérez Esquivel.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, born  in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize. He is noted for leading protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas and for alleging that the Argentinan police are forming children into paramilitary squads, an operation he compares to the creation of Nazi Germany's Hitler Youth.

As of 2003, he is president of the Honorary Council of Service, Latin American Peace and Justice Foundation and of the International League for Human Rights and Liberation of Peoples, based in Milan, Italy, and a member of the Permanent Popular Tribunal.