Updated at 7:15 p.m. Dec. 12 -- As night fell upon downtown San José, a crowd of protestors gathered outside the Legislative Assembly where legislators debated the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).  

Intern ational Affairs Commission legislators planned to discuss the trade pact until midnight, when they were expected to vote on whether to send it to the assembly's floor. Protestors planned to stake out until then, too.

In October, the assembly set the Dec. 12 deadline for the commission to vote on sending CAFTA to the assembly's floor. The controversial move prompted minority party leaders to blow the whistle and promise to appeal the move before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV).  

This week is crucial for the trade pact in Costa Rica, the only country that has not ratified it.  

Tonight's deadline remained firm despite the fact that hundreds of motions - most presented by minority parties - have been presented before the Intern ational Affairs Commission.  

"We shouldn't vote on it until the whole legislative process has taken place, once each party has had time to have its word," Citizen Action Party (PAC) president Elizabeth Fonseca told The Tico Times.  

"None of that has happened," she said.  

While legislators discussed CAFTA tonight, beefed up security forces outside the assembly guarded its entrance from a growing crowd of protestors. 

See this Friday's print or pdf edition of The Tico Times for more on this story and stay tuned to the Daily News page for CAFTA updates.

As explained in this week's edition of The Tico Times, the General Immigration Administration recently emitted a decree automatically renewing all foreigners' residency cards, or cédulas, until July 2007.

The measure is designed to give the institution time to improve its outdated and overloaded systems and reduce wait time for residency renewal appointments, now topping out at more than 10 months (TT, Dec. 8). Immigration Director Mario Zamora recommends that foreign residents whose cédulas have expired carry a copy of the decree, available at www.migracion.go.cr/Circular_DG_2166_2006.doc.

For more information, visit the Immigration home page at www.migracion.go.cr, not www.migracion.co.cr, as published in Friday's edition. We apologize for the error.

-Tico Times

-Tico Times