ISDS Case Map
CAFTA
US - Central America Free Trade Agreement
Costa Rica's recent referendum was supposed to decide once and for all whether that country should enter into the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Instead, the Oct. 7 vote polarized and politicized this small country of four and a half million people more than anything since neighboring Nicaragua's war between the Sandinistas and the Contras two decades ago. And even though supporters of the treaty prevailed by a slim margin, CAFTA opponents still have a few cards to play and may yet block its implementation.
Democracy in Costa Rica was undermined after several violations to costarrican law.
Costa Rica's top electoral court confirmed the results of an Oct. 7 referendum on a free trade agreement with the United States, saying a recount showed the 'yes' votes only slightly lower than preliminary results had indicated.
Masked gunmen dumped a Guatemalan banana picker's bullet-ridden corpse yards from fields of fruit bound for the United States, a grim reminder of the risks of organizing labor in the Central American country.
Neoliberal policies and the free trade agreement with the US have made Guatemala rely on others to feed its population, a study published here denounces.
While free trade proponents cheered, opponents called foul in Costa Rica's 51.5 percent vote Oct. 7 in favor of ratifying the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
The vote was barely 24 hours away when President Bush's aides held an emergency conference call at 10:45 p.m. last Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid had sent a letter that could sink a US-led free trade agreement up for referendum in Costa Rica. The Bush team decided to put out its own statement to save it. The trade pact went on to pass narrowly Sunday, but the last-minute drama capped a furious few weeks in which the White House and Congress fought a proxy war in the tiny Central American nation.
Take action from October 15-20 to demand that the Costa Rica referendum results NOT be certified by the OAS
US intervention, corruption, and an internationally financed fear campaign provoke questions about referendum process
Costa Ricans narrowly approved -- 52% said yes, 48% said no -- a free trade deal with the United States in a referendum on Sunday that has split the Central American nation like no other issue in decades.
