Arias Assures U.S. Businessmen TLC Will Be Approved By December
In New York speaking to a group of American businessmen, Costa Rican president Oscar Arias assure his audience that the Tratado de Libre Comercio (free trade agreement with the Unite States) has enough votes in the Legislature to get approval before December.

The president said that the delay in getting the approval has been because those legislators who oppose the trade deal have delayed the vote.

"The only thing going on in the Asamblea Legislative is delaying tactics by those who are not in favour of the trade deal, the gentlemen of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) and José Merino de Frente Amplio. This is something that I have criticized, they believe they are doing good for the country, however, we thing they are doing a great harm", assured Arias during a lunch offered by the Coalición de Iniciativas para el Desarrollo (Cinde), before a group of 50 potential investors to Costa Rica.

The luncheon was held at the Metropolitan Club. President Arias presented the businessmen with a list of advantages for investing in Costa Rica over other Latin American and Asian nations.

"It is very difficult for you, here in America, to believe that we will have the TLC soon so that you can come and invest in our country, unnecessarily those opponents make my work harder. If they don't have the votes to defeat the TLC, why won't they allow us to hold the vote, why postpone it until next year?" the president asked rhetorically as part of his tour in search of more foreign investment for Costa Rica.

President Arias was emphatic that his government has the sufficient votes to pass the trade deal and insisted that the vote will take place soon and that the free trade agreement will be ratified by December.

With respect to the trade unions and public sector opposing the trade deal, president Arias asked for maturity.

"Costa Rica is a mature democracy and if there are going to be protests I expect nothing less than peaceful demonstrations. Up to now there has been a verbal war against me personally. I won't lose sleep over hearing of filibusters, because if that is all they (the opponents) are going to do, I will be very happy", said president Arias in his closing remarks.

Costa Rica is the only signatory country who has yet to ratify the trade deal. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua have all ratified the trade deal and have adopted it already.

The proposed U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) or TLC as it is known locally, promotes trade liberalization between the United States and five Central American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The Dominican Republic joined the trade deal later, renaming it to the CAFTA-DR.

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.

The U.S. Congress approved the CAFTA-DR in July 2005 and the President signed it into law on August 2, 2005. The export zone created will be the United States' second largest free trade zone in Latin America after Mexico.