Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, July 27, 2005
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Trade Minister Says CAFTA
Will be Modified, Not Renegotiated
Foreign Trade Minister Manuel González has denied statements made by U.S. officials that Central America has agreed to changes to the Central America Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) designed to benefit the U.S. textile industry.
(Click for more)
Libertarians Accuse PANI
Of Squandering Cash
The Libertarian Party chastised the Child Welfare Office (PANI) yesterday for requesting nearly ¢25 million ($52,100) for a “party,” blasting the institution for attempting to spend money on frills when its orphanages are in disrepair. It said PANI, the government caretaker of orphans and defender of abused or threatened children, requested an extraordinary budget for a list of projects, one of which was the celebration of its 75 th anniversary.
(Click for more)
New Regional Bank Alliance
To Combat Terrorism
An alliance between Latin American and Caribbean banks and the U.S. Treasury Department is expected to allow authorities to more efficiently and justly combat the financing of terrorism, drug trafficking and other ills.
(Click for more)
July 27
Japanese Tea
Free admission to the Japanese tea ceremony in celebration of Japanese Week all this week. Takes place at the Calderón Guardia Museum, Barrio Escalante, Ca. 25, Av. 11/13. Info: 222-6392.
“Costa Rican Science Fiction Tales”
Discussion with Costa Rican writers Alberto Cañas, Fernando Durán Ayanegui and Iván Molina, at 7 p.m., Librería Universitaria, Calle de la Amargura, in front of Polycromía, San Pedro.
Japanese Film Festival
July 26-30, 3 p.m., Sala Gómez Miralles, behind INS Building. Info: 222-9329.
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Trade Minister Says CAFTA
Will be Modified, Not Renegotiated
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Foreign Trade Minister Manuel González has denied statements made by U.S. officials that Central America has agreed to changes to the Central America Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) designed to benefit the U.S. textile industry.
At President Abel Pacheco's weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, González said Costa Rica has agreed to discuss the matter, but nothing can be changed until the trade agreement goes into effect.
However, he added that making modifications to trade agreements is perfectly normal, particularly regarding the origin of products.
“If things aren't working, they are modified to meet the needs of the signatory countries,” González said. “(CAFTA) is not written in stone… trade agreements have their own life.”
Such modifications do not constitute renegotiation, he emphasized, saying CAFTA opponents would like to believe that is what is happening.
The minister's statement came in response to comments made Monday by U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman that all CAFTA signatory countries – Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and the United States – have agreed to close the possibility of China suppliers replacing U.S. suppliers of pocketing and lining for apparel produced by Central American manufacturers.
Under the change, Central American and Dominican manufacturers would be able to purchase materials for pockets and apparel lining only from CAFTA's signatory countries, according to EFE wire service.
As CAFTA stands now, manufacturers can purchase these primary materials from non-signatory countries such as China.
The promised change allowed CAFTA proponents in the United States to pick up the support of at least three Republicans in the House of Representatives, whom Portman thanked in a statement released Monday. These votes move CAFTA one step closer to passing in the House, where CAFTA debate begins today.
Minister González said he has consulted with Costa Rican manufacturers, who told him they would not be affected by the pockets and lining change.
However, he reiterated that the change is not official. Negotiations will begin after the trade agreement goes into effect, at which time Central American countries will have leverage to ask for a change that benefits them, González said.
CAFTA has already been ratified by Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and will go into effect between those countries and the United States if the U.S. House approves it. The U.S. Senate approved it last month (TT, July 1). Political insiders are divided about whether the trade agreement has the support of enough representatives to be passed, despite the pocket and lining change and the hard push by U.S. President George Bush in recent weeks.
In Costa Rica, President Abel Pacheco has yet to send the agreement to the Legislative Assembly for discussion, and does not seem poised to do so soon.
Taking Minister González's statements that CAFTA is a “living agreement” one step further, Pacheco followed with, “If the assembly ratifies CAFTA, and tomorrow it is not going well for us, we will leave (the agreement). Nothing obligates us to stay in something that doesn't serve us.”
Libertarians Accuse PANI
Of Squandering Cash
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
The Libertarian Party chastised the Child Welfare Office (PANI) yesterday for requesting nearly ¢25 million ($52,100) for a “party,” blasting the institution for attempting to spend money on frills when its orphanages are in disrepair. It said PANI, the government caretaker of orphans and defender of abused or threatened children, requested an extraordinary budget for a list of projects, one of which was the celebration of its 75 th anniversary.
PANI, however, responded that it did not request the money for a party, but rather for a children's rights congress that would have taken place in the Children's Museum in San José, as well as educational material on children's rights, among other things.
“This was not a party. It was a very important date for a very important institution,” PANI minister Rosalía Gil told The Tico Times.
The Libertarian Party, which has developed a reputation for frequent calls to arms over allegations of mismanagement, irresponsibility and corruption, issued a statement attacking PANI for shirking its duty to care for homeless children and squandering its time and resources in “horrible administrative management.”
The party's statement refers to a Comptroller General's report, addressed to PANI minister Rosalía Gil, dated May 19. The office approved part of PANI's budget request and rejected other aspects of it, granting the institution a total of ¢3.7 billion ($7.7 million).
The comptroller's office denied PANI ¢100 million ($208,000) for renovating one of its office buildings, “because there is no reason given that shows that this investment is more urgent than the necessities of repairing and outfitting some of PANI's homes for children throughout the country.”
“The Comptroller told us it would be better to spend the money we have on orphanages, so the repairs will have to wait until later,” Gil said. “It's okay, it's logical reasoning, and we have no problem with it.”
New Regional Bank Alliance
To Combat Terrorism
PANAMA CITY (ACAN-EFE) – An alliance between Latin American and Caribbean banks and the U.S. Treasury Department is expected to allow authorities to more efficiently and justly combat the financing of terrorism, drug trafficking and other ills.
Panamanian Juan Antonio Niño, president of the Latin American Federation of Banks, made the announcement yesterday along with Delia Cárdenas, head of the Caribbean International Financial Action Group.
Niño, also the regional head of the Panama-based Banco Uno, said the U.S. Treasury on Monday approved the federation's proposal for a cooperative exchange of information about improved methods to combat money laundering.
The program, which also will help authorities detect funds that may finance acts of terrorism, will help end “an unjust situation that was imposed from north to south,” Niño said, referring to the unilateral control mechanisms the United States placed on international banking after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks in that country.
Asked about the deposits in Panama of allegedly illicitly obtained funds by former Presidents Arnoldo Alemán ( Nicaragua ), Alfonso Portillo ( Guatemala ), Rafael Angel Calderón and Miguel Angel Rodríguez ( Costa Rica ), as well as former Peruvian security advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, Cárdenas and Niño said Panama has collaborated on the cases.
“We did what we had to do. Now it is in the hands of the (judicial) authorities. What's certain is the world has changed… now with the new measures nothing remains hidden,” Cárdenas said.
Though some banks now refuse to open accounts for those who are “politically exposed,” the Financial Action Group recommends closer supervision, not refusing service altogether.
Cárdenas, who is Panama 's Banking Superintendent, told the press a new phase of banking consolidation is developing on a regional level “without political intervention.”
The new program, which involves the 623 banks that belong to the Latin American federation, is expected to go into effect before the end of the year.
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