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LOVERS: May 1 protestors make mock head of Pacheco kiss Bush.
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Is the Left Dead or Moribund?
Traditionally, May 1, International Labor Day, has been a day of parades in support of unions and socialist and communist political parties.
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116 Anniversary of the National Museum of Costa Rica
Go to the museum on Sun., May 4 and enjoy the following activities: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Book Exchange; 10-11:30 a.m., workshops and games for Children; also Indigenous Ceramics Workshop for kids and adults; 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., puppet Show; 12:30-1:30 p.m., Mascarades, Av. 2, Ctrl., Ca. 17. Info: 257-1433.

Conference "Meta-cognition: Learning How to Learn:"
Dictated by Dr. Neil Anderson, Fri., May 2, 7 p.m., C.R.-North American Cultural Center, San Pedro. Info: 207-7577.

Dance Presentations
National Dance Company performing May 2, 7 p.m., Municipal Gymnasium, Desamparados; May 3, 7 p.m., Cultural Complex, Pérez Zeledón.Info: 222-2974.

Traditionally, May 1, International Labor Day, has been a day of parades in support of unions and socialist and communist political parties.

But workers' movement leaders here were hoping to draw as many people to their May 1 parade as farmers' groups drew to a workday march on Monday.

The political left in Costa Rica has fallen on hard times, a far cry from the influential political and social movement that once helped shape the national agenda.

No self-proclaimed leftist parties are represented in the Legislative Assembly, and public opinion polls no longer register support for them. Unions, once incestuous partners with the left, now staunchly proclaim their "independence" and shy away from political embroilment. Aside from occasional rallies at public university campuses, the movement appears dead.

But scratch the surface, and many parts of the leftists' agenda are alive and well, and not even fierce opponents are ready to proclaim the political left in Costa Rica defunct.

According to Emilio Bruce, outspoken vice-president of the Union of Business Chambers and a well-known supporter of free enterprise, while there may not be much support at the polls for leftist political parties, there are many left-leaning elected officials in all major political parties. And he is openly impressed with the "renewal" of the union movement.

"(Unions) have undergone a very important and very successful transformation," he said this week. "The union movement is a reactivated one."

In recent years, the largest political movements have been union-led protests against privatizations and pension reform. This has union leaders, like the National Association of Public and Private Employees secretary general Albino Vargas, expressing optimism and showing swagger.

"We are in very good shape," Vargas boasted. "We have a very good network of communication from the (anti-privatization) movement and growing support for our agenda with opposition to free trade agreements."

That could be a bit of an overstatement. With only token exceptions, unions are limited to the public sector, leaving the vast majority of Costa Rican workers, including most agricultural and manufacturing laborers, outside of the union umbrella. Efforts to organize unions at factories and other private businesses are nil since Costa Rican law, which unions have been unable to reform even when sympathetic leftist parties have held posts in the legislature, allows businesses to fire union sympathizers, deny organizers access to the premises and avoid binding arbitration on collective bargaining.

At the same time, the local media have gone to great lengths to run stories about perceived "privileges" union members and especially union leaders have negotiated for themselves with a succession of governments. The result, according to polling company CID-Gallup Costa Rica analyst Luis Roberto Haug, is a lack of public support for unions and the political parties that have embraced them.

"The people have become more aware of the levels of privilege that unions enjoy," he said. "People are losing their faith in the unions and question the true goals of those in charge of the unions."

The failure of the unions to secure organizing rights in the private sector is also emblematic of the inability of the left to maintain political cohesion. Always a factional lot, since the 1970s, a series of leftist parties have formed, risen to a modest level of prominence and then collapsed amid personality fueled in-fighting. The latest was Fuerza Democratic (Democratic Force) which finished third in the 1998 elections and won the swing votes in the legislature, before self-destructing in the lead-in to the 2002 campaign.

"The political groups of the left and progressive forces of Costa Rica get easily distracted with whatever problem; they are very immediate," said Fuerza Democratica's last presidential candidate and founding member of the communist party (Vanguardia Popular or Popular Vanguard) Vladimir de la Cruz. "On the other hand, they have done themselves great damage with their divisions and crisis; In Vanguardia Popular, the Socialist Party, Pueblo Unido (United People), in the Revolutionary Movement Party and Fuerza Democratica, the same people have participated in the dividing processes. Isn't that suspect?"

Many blame de la Cruz in part for Fuerza Democratica's demise. Knowing his presidential bid would have trouble being more than a protest vote, he also sought his party's nomination for the legislature, a better bet for winning office.

This led to conflicts with other party leaders, namely then-Deputy José Merino, which ended with the party's image badly damaged and most of its supporters bolting to the budding Citizen Action Party (PAC), which while not a leftist party per se, adopted some rhetorical positions that appealed to disillusioned leftist voters.

"I think we are at a real juncture to create a party of the left," said Rodrigo Gutierrez Jr., one of Fuerza Democratica's original legislative deputies and son of the locally legendary communist leader. "The old leaders of the traditional left have not allowed new leaders to arise...they have had an excess desire to be protagonists despite not fulfilling their promises (to supporters)."

Somewhat jaded, count Gutiérrez among those now in the PAC fold. He admits it follows a long tradition of the country's major political parties to take the wind out of the left's sails by adopting its position on key issues.

The co-opting of the left dates back to the early 1940s when President Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia instituted social reforms such as universal medical coverage that Vanguardia Popular had clamored for. Boxed in politically, the party had little choice but to support the administration.

Despite this, in the 1948 Civil War, the party raised its own army (mostly from the rank and file of unionized banana workers), though the conflict ended before the forces could reach San José and potentially tip the balance in the war.

As part of the end to the war, Vanguardia Popular was outlawed, such was the impression the ruling class had of its influence and potential threat to the political status quo. Despite this, when the party was allowed to reemerge in the 1960s, it quickly regained support and regularly held seats in the legislature.

Even in the 1990 elections, which were widely seen as spelling the end to the left in Costa Rica, Pueblo Unido won a seat in the legislature, Rodrigo Gutiérrez Sr.

So the less than massive turnout at yesterday's march and the poor results at the polls last year may mark a new low for the left. Despite this, Bruce still feels the left has potential here.

"The (left) did not adapt to the process of change (following the fall of the Soviet Union) and the neo-Marxist groups are the minority," he said. "However, there are many parties that are not Marxist, but have people in them that are oriented toward them."

DNA Paternity Tests Begin
After a 14-month delay, the Social Security's (Caja) Paternity Test Lab conducted its first DNA test last month and is now open for business, reported the daily La Nación.

As a result of the 2001 Responsible Paternity Law, DNA testing is mandatory in cases in which the identity of a child's father is in question.

Two weeks ago, the Science and Technology Ministry certified the Caja's Paternity Lab with the ISO 17,025 international standard necessary to begin performing DNA testing. So far, more than 50 tests have been carried out and another 800 are waiting to be performed.

The Caja's Paternity Lab is located inside the Joissar Building, across the street from the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José.

The test, which costs the Caja ¢70,000 ($180), is fully covered by the state. The same test in a private lab would cost more than $500.

Under the Paternity Law, when the identity of a child's father is in question, the mother of the child can demand DNA testing of the man thought to be the father. If the DNA link is found between the child and the alleged father, he is then ordered to begin paying child support.

If the test results turn up negative, a second test is conducted before the case is dismissed. The Civil Registry is responsible for informing both parties of the test results.

According to the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC), the identity of the father is unknown in three of every 10 births that take place in Costa Rica.