Tránsito Will Not Permit Road Blocks in Tomorrow's Protest, Transportes Minister Assures
The informal taxi drivers - Porteadores - have chosen tomorrow to protest, again, their situation.

Like two weeks ago, the Porteadores plan to disrupt traffic and block a number of major arteries in and around San José to pressure the government into action, giving them the legal right to operate.

However, the Karla González, minister of Transportes, said today that her ministry will not be as tolerant as the last protest and will not permit roads to be blocked and unlike in the last protest will instruct Tránsito (traffic) officials to sanction anyone who violates the traffic laws.

Organizers of the Porteadores movement assure that the protest will be a peaceful and are not looking for any confrontation, with the Tránsito or formal taxi, who are opposed to the governments plan to issue Porteadores taxi plates.

At the core is a long standing problem that neither allows nor disallows the "porteo". The transit laws don't specify the operation of the informal taxis, who rely on the "Codigo de comercio" - commercial law - to make their service legal.

The Porteadores want the government to legalize, once and for all, their situation. Ministet González said last week that taxi plates would be made available to Porteadores as long as they met all the requirements. However, the Porteadores don't want the plates, they just want to continue their right to work informally.

Formal taxis are upset at any government decision that would allow the Porteadores to continue and are also against the issuance of additional taxi plates. They argue that many "piratas" - illegal taxis - mask themselves as porteadores and are taking business from them and moreso, placing the public at risk since they don't comply with any regulation, including the physical condition of the taxi and insurance coverage.

The Porteadores announced a meeting point from several locations,mainly Parque de la Paz, Pavas, León XIII, Cartago, Alajuela, Naranjo, Sarchí, Jaco, Liberia, Quepos, Palmares and Nicoya, where they will the move towards the Asamblea Legislative in downtown San José.

Some 8.000 or more are expected to take part in the protest, including several hundred children, who will be in front of the legislative building waiting on legislators to tell them why they want to take away their parents way of making a living.