Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 28,  2003

YELLOW CARD: CAFTA protester Walter Quesada issues President Pacheco a "warning" card. TT/ Scott Brennan

Demonstrators and Deputies Unite in CAFTA Protests
Clamoring for transparency and a representative voice in the regional free-trade talks, several hundred farmers, indigenous representatives, union workers, students and other civil organizations took to the streets yesterday morning to demonstrate their discontent with the closed-door negotiations of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
(Click for more)

C.R. Continues Lobbing
EU for Trade Privileges
Following last week's meetings with top European diplomats and trade ministers, Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar announced yesterday that Costa Rica has made significant advances in its efforts to convince the European Union (EU) not to impose tariffs on non-traditional exports, such as fruits, flowers and ornamental plants. 
(Click for more)

Street Kids Find Another New Home
In a stroke of last-minute luck, five former street kids helped by the Costa Rica Humanitarian Foundation found another new home last Thursday, after being ousted last week from their spacious abode in Ciudad Colón (TT Daily Page, Jan. 22).
(Click for more)

Colombian Refugees Doubled in 2002
Fleeing violence in their native country, more than 7,600 Colombian refugees are now living in Costa Rica, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
(Click for more)

Seminar for educators:
"Learning by playing - constructing knowledge," speaker, Dr. Martin Carnap, projects advisor, events in "Caballito del Mar Azul" 300 m. south of Multiplaza, Escazú. Info: 288-8713, 292-5609.

Fun, Games and Theater Workshop
Today at 9 a.m. for kids 9-12 at the Museum of Forms, Sounds and Spaces, Ca. 19-21, Av. 1. Info: 222-9462.

Coin Classes
Experts teach how to collect coins, for children 9 a.m.-noon, teens 1-4 p.m., adults, 5-8 p.m., starting today through Jan. 30, Coin Museum, at Central Post Office, Ca. 2, Av. 1/3. Info: 223-6918.

Demonstrators and Deputies Unite in CAFTA Protests
By Amanda Schoenberg
and Tim Rogers
Tico Times staff

Clamoring for transparency and a representative voice in the regional free-trade talks, several hundred farmers, indigenous representatives, union workers, students and other civil organizations took to the streets yesterday morning to demonstrate their discontent with the closed-door negotiations of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Demonstrators gather outside Congress TT/ Scott Brennan

While one group waved placards, flags and shouted protests outside Escazú's Real Inter-Continental Hotel, the site of the talks, a larger group of demonstrators marched through downtown San José to the Legislative Assembly to present the government with a proclamation demanding transparency in the negotiations.

Police were on hand at both protests, but neither turned violent.

The protestors' joint proclamation, received inside the Legislative Assembly by a group of lawmakers and former President Rodrígo Carazo (1978-1982), calls for a "civil fight" to prevent any trade agreement that is not "completely fair trade."

Citing social and economic discrepancies between the United States and the developing Central American countries, the proclamation calls for "profound transparency" in all ensuing trade negotiations.

"We oppose the free-trade negotiations because they are going on behind the people's backs," said demonstrator Fanny Sequeita, of the teacher's union.

Other protesters claimed free-trade agreements are bad as a whole.

Port-worker union leader Jose Francisco Correa had traveled to the capital from President Abel Pacheco's home province of Limón to demonstrate against CAFTA. Holding up a sign that accused the President of being a "neoliberal" and a "liar," Correa said: "There are no jobs in Limón, and Pacheco has done nothing for us; opening up Costa Rica to transnational companies will not help."

Nelson Cañas, a rice farmer from Guanacaste, said he was demonstrating against free trade as a show of solidarity with his fellow farmers of Costa Rica. He criticized Pacheco for promising to help small farmers, but doing nothing to help them since taking office last May.

Protestors, many of whom held up "yellow cards" as a warning to the President, said they don't think free trade will help in the fight against poverty, as it is being advertised by the Pacheco administration.

"Free trade will knock out the smaller companies and increase poverty," said Miriam Arriola, a union worker for the Public Works and Transportation Ministry (MOPT). "Unlike the United States, there are very few subsidies for farmers here. We are even importing [the ingredients for] pinto." (Gallo Pinto, the national rice and beans dish).

The politicians who received the group inside the Legislative Assembly echoed the groups' concerns and criticisms.

Citizen Action Party deputy Epsy Campbell said transparency and responsibility are imperative in the negotiation process, and called for a national dialogue before the trade talks go any further.

National Liberation party congresswoman Maria Elena Núñez sympathetically told protestors that many of the country's lawmakers also feel left out of the free-trade negotiations. She demanded a better explanation for what would happen to the country's agricultural sector, which is expected to be the most adversely effected by the CAFTA agreement.

Speaking to reporters outside of the negotiation rounds, Alberto Trejos, Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Minister, admitted that national lawmakers had not been consulted before yesterday's talks began.

Former President Carazo (1978-1982), a vocal critic of U.S. economic policy in the region, harshly criticized what he termed "the globalization of corruption and exclusion" that he believes could result from a free-trade agreement with the United States.

He called for the government to defend the small farmers of Costa Rica, and not bend to pressures exerted by the U.S. government.

"History obliges us to defend ourselves," he said.

Demonstrators will meet with lawmakers again today at the Legislative Assembly to discuss CAFTA, before holding a massive protest march through San José Wednesday morning

Don't miss Friday's TT print edition for full CAFTA coverage.

C.R. Continues Lobbing
EU for Trade Privileges
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Following last week's meetings with top European diplomats and trade ministers, Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar announced yesterday that Costa Rica has made significant advances in its efforts to convince the European Union (EU) not to impose tariffs on non-traditional exports, such as fruits, flowers and ornamental plants.

Claiming to have received overwhelming support from European diplomats, Tovar said he is optimistic that Costa Rica will not be taken off the EU's list of "Generalized Preference System" (GSP), which allows certain non-traditional exports to enter Europe markets tariff-free.

Costa Rican diplomats are working around the clock trying to meet with as many EU officials as possible before the tariff proposal is discussed on Wednesday, Tovar said.

The GSP policy was developed in 1971 to aid developing nations help increase exports. The products on each country's GSP list are evaluated regularly to see if they still meet the requirements for tax exemptions.
If exports of a product reach a certain volume during three consecutive years, the product "graduates" from the program and becomes subject to regular tariffs. (TT Daily Page, Jan. 15 and 23)

Although the program is more than 30 years old, it wasn't until recently that Costa Rica and several other Central American countries were included on the list as GSP-Drug countries, due to the amount of illegal drugs produced in the region.

The EU decided that extending trade privileges to a large sector of the population would deter farmers from getting involved in drug harvesting. However, in Dec. 2001, the EU passed a series of reforms to GSP regulations, eliminating the clause that protected GSP-Drug countries.

Tovar and Foreign Trade Minister Alberto Trejos are now arguing that there are strong reasons why the privileges shouldn't be revoked - at least not yet.

On Monday, Tovar gave an update on recent diplomatic efforts to convince European leaders. In the last week, special envoy José Joaquín Chaverri traveled to Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark to lobby the issue.

Spanish officials offered Costa Rica their full support, noting that the tariffs wouldn't just hurt the country, but would also negatively affect Nicaragua, which depends on money sent home by the thousands of immigrants who work in Costa Rican non-traditional export companies.

A letter sent to Tovar last Friday by the Finish Foreign Ministry echoed Spain's sentiments.

The letter stated that eliminating the trade privileges would "bring negative socioeconomic consequences to the region." Swedish diplomats also agreed to help the country and announced plans to propose GSP reforms that would make the graduation process gradual and less sudden.

Ambassador to Germany Bernd Niehaus discussed the matter with German and Austrian officials, who also promised to lend a hand. He will travel to Italy, Great Britain and France in the coming days.

Ambassador to The Netherlands Edgard Ugalde secured the support of Dutch officials. Former Presidents Oscar Arias (1986-1990) and Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002) have written various letters to top EU officials, urging them to reconsider the decision.

However, the support the country has received from European diplomats and leaders may not be enough to maintain the privileges. Technical reports issued by the EU's foreign trade commission will play a key role in influencing the final decision.