TLC Ready For December? In Your Dreams, Says Solís
The leader of the red and yellow, the Partido Acción Cuidadana (PAC), Ottón Solís, talked to the Spanish daily Al Día about his thoughts on the TLC and the of the work of president Oscar Arias during his first months in office this time around.

Talking about Arias he was very cautious, but when it came to the the Tratado Libre de Comercio (TLC) or free trade agreement with the United States, he assumed a totally different position.

"With all the respect to president Arias, no, the TLC will no be ready in December as he would like", Solís assured.

The PAC leader if confident that he will be able to extend the discussions further and convince legislators of the other parties to reach a renegotiations of the treaty or to the contrary vote against it.

Solís added that the "squandering, abuse and little signs of austerity that the government has given" are his reasons to stall the trade deal approval.

President Arias has assured the Costa Rican public that the TLC will be ready for December. Solís, however, has a different opinion, stating clearly that "NO, the TLC will not be ready in December". Solís says that discussions on the points of the agreement have to be broadened and that has not been done.

Ottón Solís says that he will convince the members of the other parties that the trade deal has to be renegotiated and if not, they should vote against it. Ottón admitted that it isn't an easy task, but one that is necessary and feels confident that he will achieve.

The PAC leader is not against the unions and trade sectors marching against the approval of the TLC. He said that while those groups take their democracy to the streets, his group will be working the parliamentary democratic process and did not discount the possibility of a national strike to make their point.

For Solís, nothing changes if Costa Rica does not join the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) pact. Solís says that Costa Rica has differentiated itself from the other Central American countries and have achieved more than they have and without the TLC.

Asked if there will be loss of jobs and massive outflow of foreign investment, the PAC leader said the focus has to be on education and the eliminating corruption so that "honest" investors will have confidence for coming to Costa Rica.

Solís said that five years ago nobody talked about the TLC.

Costa Rica is the only signatory country to have approved or ratify the free trade deal with the United States. Neighbouring Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have all ratified their respective agreements and have them in place.

Trade deal promotes trade liberalization between the United States and the Central American countries, modeled after the ten-year old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). CAFTA is widely considered to be a stepping stone to the larger Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) that would encompass 34 economies.

Originally, the agreement encompassed the United States and the Central American countries, however, in 2004, the Dominican Republic joined the negotiations.


When the subject matter to turned to President Arias, Ottón Solís, took a turn about face and was very cautious of his answers and opinions.

Asked how he would qualify Arias and his government of the last four months, Solís simply said that "it is too early to judge".

Solís was also cautious on the subject of taxation and social issues facing the Arias government, saying only that his party will not approve anything if the government does not change its policies on austerity.

Solís says that the government continues to waster and squander on things like the millions (of colones) spend on the transfer of powers and the presidents trips, etc.

Solís admitted that relations between the PAC and the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) are limited at the moment and hopes that will change soon. Solís said that he and president Arias agreed at their last meeting to meet every 15 days, but this has not happened due to the presidents tight schedule.

Solís ended the interview that he open, willing and ready to dialogue at any time and that the position has been made known to the president.