U.S. Congressmen Make
Another Lobbying Visit
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net

With officials in the six countries that have already ratified the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) scrambling to determine when the pact will take effect among those nations, a group of U.S. congressmen paid a visit to the lone holdout – Costa Rica, where discussion of the agreement began only recently in the Legislative Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee.

At the press conference following a meeting between members of the committee and their visitors at the assembly building in San José yesterday afternoon, Congressmen Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, and Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, reiterated familiar arguments in favor of CAFTA. They emphasized that the pact has potential to help both Costa Rica and the United States, but veered away from points of controversy.

When asked about the possibility that the agreement would damage Costa Rican sovereignty, Blunt said, “The appropriate debate on those issues (should take place) in your country,” adding that part of the debate on CAFTA in the House of Representatives included discussion of whether the United States was conceding too much to other signatory countries. However, “the narrow majority believed it was in the interests of both countries,” he said.

In April, Congressman Meeks was part of the largest U.S. Congressional delegation ever to visit Costa Rica – eight representatives in total. Then, he told The Tico Times he was undecided about the agreement and wanted to learn more before making a decision (TT, April 29); he went on to vote in favor of CAFTA.

Asked what made up his mind, he said, “ Costa Rica had a lot to do with it, quite honestly.” He added that he was impressed with the quality of the educated workforce here and became convinced CAFTA would benefit both countries to become more “interdependent.”

“There's always a short-term pain, but a long-term gain,” he said of the pact.

Texas Democrat Rubén Hinojosa addressed the assembled journalists in Spanish, saying one concern of people in his home state was that there hadn't been enough communication regarding CAFTA. He touted the benefits Texas received as a result of 1994's North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and urged Costa Rican leaders to communicate with the people they represent.

As the U.S. congressmen spoke with the press, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office was releasing a statement confirming that while the United States hopes to implement CAFTA as soon as possible with the countries that have ratified it – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic – it is not yet certain whether any of those countries will have the required complementary legislation ready by Jan. 1 as scheduled.

“The U.S. is prepared to implement the free trade agreement among the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) as soon as possible with those countries that the United States has determined to have taken sufficient steps to complete their commitments,” the statement said. “An announcement of whether any of the CAFTA-DR signatories will be ready by Jan. 1 will be made before the end of the year. After Jan. 1, the United States will put the agreement into force with the other countries on a rolling basis.” 

The statement also indicated the United States will move ahead with implementing the agreement as long as at least one signatory has “made sufficient progress in adopting new laws and regulations” by Jan. 1.

The U.S. congressional delegation is now headed to El Salvador and Nicaragua to discuss CAFTA's implementation in those countries, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Elaine Samson told The Tico Times.