ISDS Case Map
Costa Rica
With a little under two months until the October referendum on the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, time is quickly running out for Costa Rican president Óscar Arias to gain the necessary public support to pass CAFTA. The trade pact is strongly opposed by those who believe that it will not help the Costa Rican economy, while being significantly beneficial to the US.
The Pro-Liberation Front against the Central America Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) demanded the Costa Rican government publish results of a poll it commissioned about the level of public support for the agreement.
The top opposition leader in Costa Rica said he wants to renegotiate a free-trade agreement with the US, citing as a precedent the US revamping of a similar agreement with Peru.
Leaders of the movement against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) spoke to about 200 people yesterday outside the Supreme Elections Tribunal in San José.
The growth in exports being celebrated by the Bank of Guatemala has nothing to do with CAFTA.
Costa Rica's PAC party (Citizen Action) president Otton Solis has warned of the potential increase in unemployment if CAFTA-DR, the free trade treaty with the United States, is approved.
Costa Rica hopes that by Friday a timeline will have been set for negotiations on an association agreement between Central America and the European Union, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said yesterday during a press conference.
Leaders of the National Coordinator for the Fight Against CAFTA announced plans yesterday to hold demonstrations outside the Supreme Court, the Supreme Elections Tribunal, and the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
The Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) announced yesterday that it is postponing a nationwide referendum on the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) from Sept. 23 to Oct. 7 as a high court examines whether the assembly violated its procedures in its handling of legislation related to the pact.
At the request of a group of legislators, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) will review a controversial trade pact before Costa Rican citizens vote on it, according to a statement released Friday by the Judicial Branch.
