Costa Rica To Vote
Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Costa Ricans
will make a historic
decision by either
rejecting or approving
the Tratado de Libre
Comercio (TLC) - the
Central America Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA) with the United
States - a debate that
has involved people from
all walks of life in the
country.
The active campaigns
have practically divided
the country as indicated
by the polls that show a
"technical" tie between
the "Si" and "No" of
decided voters.
Those who are against
the trade deal have
appealed to the emotions
of Costa Ricans with
claims of a takeover of
the large foreign
corporations, more
poverty and loss of
national sovereignty.
The group in favour,
that includes Costa
Rican president Oscar
Arias, say that the
trade deal will create
more employment and spur
economic development in
the country, among other
things.
In the end, after all
the votes are counted,
Costa Rica will either
join the other Central
American countries and
the Dominican Republic
in the trade pact or
tear it up and according
to president Arias, be
done with any trade
negotiations with the
US.
The decision is a tough
one and predictions of
the outcome of the vote
is difficult.
Costa Rica, which has no
army and boasts of
pristine beaches and
jungles, has enjoyed
almost uninterrupted
democratic government
for over a century and
has much better free
education and health
care than its mostly
poorer neighbors.
In the largest march
seen in the country in
years, some 100.000
people were out last
week to show their
support for the NO
fearing the breakdown of
its health care and
education.
No matter what the
decision, one thing is
for sure, the TLC issue
has injected the country
with a democratic energy
that it has lacked for
many years, the
referendum vote
awakening more passion
than most of the
president elections.
Supporters of the deal
contend that Costa Rica
needs to open its
economy more and attract
enough capital to
promote growth, provide
more and better jobs and
alleviate poverty among
its 4 million citizens.
But the agreement would
open state-run sectors
like telecommunications
and insurance to
competition from foreign
firms, and opponents say
that threatens
institutions that have
contributed to the
country's social
stability for decades.
Coffee farming, tourism,
call centres and
microchip manufacturing
support the growing
economy, which is more
diversified than its
neighbors and attracts
migrants from Nicaragua
and other Central
American countries.
The "No" camp received a
boost last month with a
scandal over a
government memo leaked
to a university
newspaper that urged
mayors to use dirty
tricks to scare voters
to support the TLC.
The country's second
vice-president and
minister of planning
resigned over the memo.
U.S. Trade
Representative Susan
Schwab said on Thursday
the pact would not be
renegotiated in the case
of a "No" vote. Many of
the deal's opponents say
they are pro-trade but
argue they could thrash
out a better agreement.
The referendum over
CAFTA, the world's first
such vote on a U.S.
trade pact, comes as a
culmination of more than
20 years of economic
reform in Costa Rica
that has seen the
country move gradually
away from the welfare
state and toward free
market economy.
There are clear
indications that the
population has been
resenting this change of
models.
President Oscar Arias
said in a nationally
televised address on
Tuesday that rejecting
the TLC would lead the
country to miss out on a
"universe of
opportunities."
Costa Rica is the only
country not to have
ratified CAFTA - which
includes Guatemala, El
Salvador, Honduras,
Nicaragua and the
Dominican Republic - and
will be the only nation
to decide the issue by
referendum.
CAFTA is in full effect
elsewhere in the region
after being narrowly
approved by the U.S.
Congress. |
|
