TLC – Is It Right For
Costa Rica?
by Dennis Kaiser*
The TLC, (CAFTA), has
brought out a great deal
of propaganda as to how
it will be great for
Costa Rica and all Ticos.
The lastest
international
corporation to campaign
here is General Electric
– GE. Recently Lloyd
Trotter, Vice President
of GE made a “campaign
tour” to sell the TLC.
Also on this propaganda
mission were President
Oscar Arias, Roberto
Dobles, ministro de
Ambiente, and the
ministro de Comercio
Exterior, Marco Vinicio
Ruiz.
Trotter pointed out that
with the approval of the
TLC – free trade
agreement with the
United States, Costa
Rica will become more
competitive. He did not
go into how that would
be, however, left it
more like a veiled
threat against not
approving.
Ministro Ruiz explained
the benefits to the
local economy of the
investments by companies
like GE as he stated
that the fact GE is
there is a demonstration
that foreign companies
are evaluating Costa
Rica for increased
investment.
Ruiz added that approval
of the TLC will also see
increased export to the
US by the large foreign
companies of products
manufactured in Costa
Rica.
At present there is
nothing that says GE or
any other corporation
couldn't enter Costa
Rica. They could still
provide the same to
Costa Rica as well as
selling their products
in the United States and
elsewhere around the
globe. They do not need
the TLC in order to do
that. They do not,
however, want to operate
under Costa Rican laws,
but, rather, the laws
they have set within the
TLC agreement.
The US Ambassador to
Costa Rica, Mark
Langdale, a long-time
promoter of George W
Bush has been touring
the country on a
propaganda mission. In
fact, he has recently
been charged with
meddling as his efforts
to distort have become
magnified. In a recent
speech he referred to
the laws of CAFTA and
those being a primary
reason it should be
approved. He stated,
“And a final example is
the strengthening of the
rule of law. And in this
category i would include
the ratification and
implementation of CAFTA
because CAFTA is more
that the reduction of
tariffs and other trade
barriers between the
U.S. market and the
Costa Rican market. It
is an entire set of
commonly applied rules
and regulations on how
trade and investment
will be conducted and
treated in the entire
region among and between
all 7 participating
countries.”
It must be mentioned
these rules of law are
completely out of the
control of the Costa
Rican government and its
people. Should there be
a 'misunderstanding'
between Costa Rica and
an International
corporation the ruling
will come from a World
Bank appointed tribunal.
Gautemala is already
going through the
tribunal system
involving the Railroad
Development Corporation,
a company that has been
in Guatemala for ten
years. They are now
suing the country
$65,000,000.00 using the
rules of law established
in the CAFTA agreement.
The attorney for the
railroad company is an
attorney who negotiated
the CAFTA agreement with
Guatemala and the other
Latin American
countries.
As Mr. Trotter mentioned
GE would be interested
in investing in Costa
Rica if they agree to
the TLC agreement. One
must ask, “Why would you
not invest in Costa Rica
without the TLC?” We
have the same educated
workforce, we have the
same climate, and you
would have the same
worldwide market. The
only thing that would be
different is under the
TLC agreement they would
function under their set
of rules of law, not the
rules of law established
by the Costa Rican
government.
It might be said that
the TLC agreement, with
laws established by
corporations and
enforced by corporations
is not a democracy, but,
rather, a fascist
government.
The propaganda of the
TLC is that jobs will be
created. However, what
is not mentioned is how
those workers will be
treated. The NAFTA
experience is an
important lesson for the
TLC or any other trade
agreement in the future.
Human Rights Watch has a
64-page report, “Trading
Away Rights: The
Unfulfilled Promise of
NAFTA's Labor Side
Agreement.” This report
analyzes 23 complaints
filed under the accord
since 1994. the
complaints allege
systematic workers'
rights violations in all
three countries –
fourteen in Mexico,
seven in the United
States, and two in
Canada. General
Electric, along with
Honeywell, Sony, General
Motors, McDonald's,
Sprint, and others have
been named as violators.
The North American
Agreement on Labor
Cooperation (NAALC),
NAFTA's labor
provisions, includes
eleven labor principles
including freedom of
association,
discrimination, and
minimum wage. The accord
also requires the
signatories to have high
labor standards and
provide access to fair
labor tribunals.
Complaints filed under
the NAALC have cited
favoritism toward
employer-controlled
unions; firings for
workers organizing
efforts; denial of
collective bargaining
rights; forced pregnancy
testing; mistreatment of
migrant workers;
life-threatening health
and safety conditions;
and other violations of
the eleven labor
principles.
Human Rights Watch saiu
that not one of the 23
complaints filed under
NAALC had so far
resulted in sanctions
against the corporate
violator. Remember,
tribunals are composed
of World Bank
appointees. The World
Bank does not deal with
individual workers, but
rather corporations and
nations.
As Mr. Langdale the rule
of law that the TLC
agreement would bring is
important. The NAALC
rules lack standards for
accepting or rejecting
cases, for following up
on issues raised by
petitioners, or for
deciding what
constitutes an
appropriate government
response to violations.
Remember, if something
is “right” for you it
doesn't need to be
“sold” to you. It is
like in the United
States when George W
Bush and his cronies
“sold” illegally
invading Iraq. If it was
the right thing to do
they would not have had
to tell 27 lies in their
selling of it.
The same is true with
the TLC, or CAFTA as it
is better known. If
international
corporations wanted to
invest in Costa Rica
they would, under Costa
Rican laws, instead they
want to operate under
their own laws, divorced
from those of the
country.
* Dennis Kaiser is a
resident of Puerto
Jimenez, Costa Rica and
New Vienna, Ohio. |
