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Huge Crowds in Costa Rica Protest US Pact
Reuters
Sunday 30 September 2007
San Jose, Costa Rica - More than 100,000 Costa Ricans, some dressed as skeletons,
protested a U.S. trade pact on Sunday they say will flood their country with
cheap farm goods and cause job losses.
Chanting "No to the free-trade pact!" and "Costa Rica is not
for sale!" demonstrators filled one of San Jose's main boulevards to show
their opposition against the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the
United States.
"The trade deal is putting at risk our workers' rights. We need an accord
with the United States, but not this way," said Juan Chacon, a 50-year-old
computer technician.
In the searing heat, some protesters wore masks of U.S. President George W.
Bush and handed out fake dollar bills, lampooning U.S. trade policies.
A small contingent of pro-trade demonstrators turned out at the rally. A plane
pulled a banner across the skyline reading: "Yes to the free-trade accord,
for the benefit of the nation!" The drone of the plane's engine drowned
out some of the protest speeches.
A government official told Reuters that more than 100,000 people turned out
for the demonstration, a huge protest in a country of 4 million.
Costa Rica is the only country that has not ratified CAFTA - which includes
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic - and
will be the only nation to decide the issue by referendum.
The October 7 referendum has split the nation, with Costa Rican President Oscar
Arias and some businesses saying CAFTA will bring investment and jobs. Opponents
say it will mean a flood of cheap rice and dairy imports and limit the country's
sovereignty by taking investment disputes to international arbitration.
Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for brokering a Central American
peace plan during his first term as Costa Rica's president, says it would be
"collective suicide" if Costa Rica rejects CAFTA.
The White House struggled to win support for CAFTA in the U.S. House of Representatives
in 2005, where a partisan battle almost killed the deal.
A poll last week showed a slim majority would support CAFTA, with 50.6 percent
saying they'd vote "yes," while 44.7 percent said they opposed it.
The poll's margin of error was 3.8 percent.
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