Referendum To Be Held On October 7th, TSE Announces Change
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) - elections tribunal - has decided to move hold the referendum on the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States - on October 7th instead of September 23rd as had been previously announced.

Antonio Sobrado, president of the Tribunal, made the announcement yesterday afternoon following a meeting of the magistrates, who decided for the extention to allow more time for the Sala Constitucional (Constitutional Court) to process the number of appeals it has on hand.

According to Sobrado, if the Sala Constitucional finds errors in the legislative process with respect to the TLC, the referendum will then be cancelled and the future of the trade agreement will again fall in the hands of the legislators.

Last Friday the Sala Constitucional accepted an appeal of unconstitutionality presented on May 24 by a group of legislators, in addition to an appeal by the Defensoría de los Habitantes on April 27.

The magistrates of the Sala Constitucional have 30 days to resolve the issue before them, the issue of where the TLC violates the country's Constitución Política (Political Constitution).

Costa Rica is the only signatory country to the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to ratify and enact it. Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have all ratified and enacted their respective agreements. The Dominican Republic came late to the trade deal, which was renamed CAFTA-DR and ratified it was well.

The U.S. Congress approved the CAFTA in July 2005 and President George W. Bush 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.

The referendum is a popular vote that will made history in Costa Rica because it will be the first time Costa Rica will hold a referendum.