The Pineapple Problem

"http://tinyurl.com/2vjyzq2"

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with a perfect climate for growing some of the world's most popular plants (both ornamental and nutritious). But does this translate into real economic benefit for the people of Costa Rica? For at least 100 years, foreign agri-business has been attempting to despoil Costa Rica's riches and often succeeding. It began with United Fruit and banana plantations and continued with pineapple and other crops and with first USA and then international conglomerates such as Chiquita Banana, Dole, and others. I was told that "they" came in with huge tractors separated by a kilometer and with a razor sharp blade or wire between them and simply bulldozed huge swaths of rain forest to make pineapple plantations. "They" paid off politicians and government workers to get whatever permits they wanted and then hired the locals whom they paid very little, required long back-breaking work from them, and treated them as sub-human. Then Costa Rica got tougher with them and the labor laws became tougher and more fairly enforced so that "they"had to start paying a minimum wage and pay into the government health and pensions funds. I now that as long ago as 2008, Dole Pineapple was getting around many of these restrictions by hiring workers by the day, trucking them in in the backs of cattle trucks, and then letting them go. So they were only temporary, casual, and part-time workers according to the legal records. They would then send the cattle trucks out again and collect the workers lined up waiting for a job. The work, of course, is seasonal. That makes it easy for Dole and other such companies to get around various labor laws.

I have been told by workers in the banana plantations and in the rice fields that pesticides are sprayed from crop dusters while the workers are in the fields working. The incidence of sterility, birth defects, and cancers among these workers and their families is very high.

The ecological damage done by the clearing of huge areas of forest to plant a single crop is enormous. The on-going damage is still not completely known.

The economic questions is this: Do the losses to the environment and the public health get cancelled out by economic benefits to the people of Costa Rica?

This blog from PoveryMatters Blog, attemps to answer the question. Anyone interested in the Costa Rica left behind by tourists, should be aware of how outside interests and mega agribusiness in particular are affecting the country.

RAIN, RAIN: GO AWAY!

It has been raining here for three days and nights. Not just rain, but downpours with high winds! Every tiny defect in the galvanized iron roofs of the people in Costa Rica has been exaggerated many fold. We've got big pots scattered all over the house and/or attic to collect the water from the leaks. It is impossible now to do any repairs because we haven't had even ten minutes of sunshine in which to work. This is a Central American country not far from the equator. And it has been COLD!

My wood-burning stove's chimney pipe burnt through a month ago, and I've been waiting for my neighbor and builder, Carlos, to finish another project so that he can come over here and make a new chimney. Now, with a big hole in the chimney pipe, I cannot use the stove to heat the house and dry out some of the air. And my solar hot water heater is no longer producing hot water. So no hot showers. I do have LP gas for my kitchen stove and we are only losing electricity sporatically (as usual) so no big problems with cooking or lights, etc. I have a huge back-up water tank holding potable water in case of national potable water service failures, but that doesn't look as though it will be a problem.

I have chronic sinus problems and now I've been having sinus bleeds and much pain for two days. A result of very low pressure systems over the country. Ouch!

But it could be much, much worse. We did have three little earthquakes a couple of days ago, but they caused no damage, thank goodness! Guanacaste Province in the north had been in the depths of a very serious drought! Cattle died and crops withered. Now they are suddenly dealing with major flooding.

I have just learned that this nasty weather system has been declared a tropical storm and is moving toward Nicaragua where it is expected to make landfall. Poor Nicas! The economy of Nicaragua is in shambles and Costa Rica is flooded with illegal immigrants fleeing starvation and seeking some kind of income to send to families in Nicaragua. So that poor nation certainly doesn't need more troubles! The tiny isthmus called Central America doesn't need more trouble. It has been plagued by war, disease, hunger, floods, earthquakes, and dictatorships! Costa Rica and Panama are making some progress toward a better life for its citizens, but the rest of Central America still has a long, long way to go.

Does it seem that this year has already been one of the most devastating in memory for natural disasters worldwide? Or am I seeing things with a jaundiced eye?

It is hard for people who have enough and more than enough security to carry them through any rough times to realize what the reality is for the people caught in the aftermath of a natural disaster. It is worse than a return to the stone age in terms of living day to day. It is surviving a minute at a time in constant fear and post-traumatic stress without enough food, water, or shelter and with the menacing possibilities that even worse tragedies lie ahead for survivors. We lucky few in this world who never have to live for months without bathing, with only enough water to sip a bit at a time, with scavenging for food, with cold, wet, and hunger gnawing at their bodies while grief and fear and anger battle in their souls - we lucky few cannot begin to imagine the true horror of these disasters.

And I wonder if this is not just a fluke of nature, but the beginning of the end. Is it too late to save life on this planet? Are we now facing another great extinction such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs?

Don't just sit there shrugging! Do something useful! It's now or never, Folks!

Attention Birders

Birds are ready and waiting to be counted for Christmas census

Special to A.M. Costa Rica A Costa Rican bird count next month looks to add to a list of 493 species already discovered. Christmas bird counts are a traditional year-end activity begun by the National Audubon Society in the United States more than 100 years ago. The Audubon's mission is to conserve biodiversity and restore natural ecosystems, focusing of course on birds, but also other wildlife and habitats. The bird count is a competition between teams. A circle 15 miles in diameter is marked and the area divided among teams of birders. All individual birds seen and heard are counted over the course of a 24-hour day In Costa Rica, the longest running bird count is centered around Finca La Selva, the Organization for Tropical Studies' field station reserve near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí.

This will be its 22nd year. Last year alone 325 species and 6,372 individual birds were counted by 67 persons in 17 separate parties. The richest region for bird diversity has been around the reserve itself and also on the slopes of Volcan Barva. Event organizers welcome both experienced and unexperienced birders to participate. The locations, dates and organizers for the bird counts are: -Aerial Tram: Dec. 14. Daniel Torres, 711-0018, danieltorrescr@yahoo.com -Cartago: Dec. 17. Julio Sánchez juliosanchez@yahoo.com -Grecia: To be announced. Rafa Campos ticornis@yahoo.com -Monteverde: To be announced. -La Selva: Dec. 30. Rodolfo Alvarado ralva@sloth.ots.ac.cr 766-6565 ext 139 -Fila Costera (Pérez Zeledón): Jan. 3. Noel Ureña filacostera@costaricabirdingtours.com 771-9686 or 354-9074

Short Sighted Past Hampers Costa Rica's Present and Future

Inside Costa Rica - National News

• The clout of American big business in the 1940s and 1950s in Costa Rica can be seen in laws which continue today to prohibit private sector labor unions. The result is that Costa Rica is still 20 to 40 years behind the United States in technological and construction expertise among other important industries. United Fruit was a major contributor to what has become a huge imbalance between private and public sector power, productivity, and the future. Looking only at short-term interests, United Fruit and other American companies carried tremendous political and social clout in Costa Rica and American companies are now belately feeling the adverse affects. The Costa Rican infrastructure is crumbling, start-up companies in the high tech area are severely hampered by outdated national communications systems, ineffective legislation, and corrupt government. It will take many decades of dedicated effort to turn around this situation. - post by mbthorman

Violation of Union Deals is Denounced

Experts from the International Labour Organization denounced on Saturday that mass labour agreements are ignored in Costa Rica since the unionization of private sector workers is banned.

• See InsideCostaRica.com at http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2006/october/08/nac02.htm - post by mbthorman

Goldin noted that the Costa Rica will change its international position as it implements changes.

The consultant added that ILO is extremely worried about the number of direct deals made with no union workers and the reduced quantity of mass agreements in the private sector, a situation that has not been seen in other nation.

MANY GRINGOS LIVING IN COSTA RICA find Tico Spanish very difficult to understand. Many shy away from trying to learn to speak and understand basic Latin American Spanish with a standard bag of excuses. I have a friend, for example, whose main excuses are 1) I'm not going to try to learn that gibberish. It isn't REAL Spanish. I took Spanish in high school and it was totally different! 2) Spanish is a illogical language. It takes 40 words to say what English can say in three. 3) Why can't they learn to pronounce their own language correctly. It all sounds like Hawaiian - "ahohwah. . . ". Well, to his first excuse, he knows and I know that it is totally bogus. He is 73 years old and took Castillian Spanish which used to be taught as the only Spanish in high schools 60 years ago. His second excuse has a little validity only if one is reading the newspapers or magazines. Spanish speaking writers tend to use very flowery phrases. It sounds more educated and beautiful to them. But normal speakers of either English or Spanish use short cuts, leave out sounds because the word in context is so common and well-understood, etc. His third excuse is the result of two things - we aging folk have a bit of a hearing loss whether we want to admit it or not. Consonants spoken rapidly or slurred over are simply not heard by us. So it words ending in "ado" sound like "ahoh" and so forth. The second problem is that rural speakers of Spanish tend to have an "accent." They really do leave out the "d", pronounce "v", "b", and "p" almost exactly alike, and speak the Spanish equivalent of a southern regional dialect in the United States - like Texas. But he is absolutely wrong when he claims that Spanish is illogical and English is always logical. Languages just develop and change constantly. There is very little logic to language in the sense that there is logic to mathematics. Each language and dialect has its own internal rules which are extremely flexible. And the idea that English is an easy language to learn is ludicrous. The following is a perfect example of how English as a native language is often confusing and very often funny.

Today's Featured Humor : -) - - Strange Signs in London

Strange Signs in London

Spotted on a bathroom of an office:
TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW.

In a Laundromat:
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES. PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE
LIGHT GOES OUT.

In a London department store:
BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

In an office:
WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT
BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In an office:
AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN
ON THE DRAINING BOARD

Outside a secondhand shop:
WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING
YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Notice in health food shop window:
CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS

Spotted in a safari park:
ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR

Seen during a conference:
FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE
ON THE 1ST FLOOR

Notice in a farmer's field:
THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES.

Message on a leaflet:
IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS

On a repair shop door:
WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR - THE BELL
DOESN'T WORK)

Submitted by Brain J.

Courtesy of http://www.strangecosmos.com/index.html

COSTA RICA VOTE TOO CLOSE TO CALL
CAFTA IS MAJOR PLAYER
As the days grew fewer before the February 5 balloting date, the polls which had shown Oscar Arias with a comfortable lead began showing a dip in his percentages and a rise in those of third party candidate, Otton Solis. Arias had looked like a shoe-in. He was a popular former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner He is a Centrist and appeared likely to support Costa Rica's accepting the treaty with the United States called in Costa Rica the ?TLC? and in the USA ?CAFTA.? Otton Solis has been calling for major changes in the economy to provide more assistance to the most impoverished, to improve the country's infrastructure, system of medical care, and educational system. He has also called for re-negotiating the TLC to put into place specific guarantees and to remove some of the more unpopular provisions which were seen by most TICOS as attempts to turn Costa Rica into a banana republic for the benefit of the United States. As the weeks went on CAFTA became more and more an issue and public opinion began to swing against it.

At this moment the independent Elections Tribunal is making an exhaustive recount by hand of every ballot cast in every polling place across the country. The difference was so great between the pollsters' predictions and the results as they came in from the outlying areas that everything is now being double-checked to make sure there were absolutely no errors. One man, for instance, had been scratched from the voting rolls because he had been reported deceased. He complained (the reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated?) to the Tribunal and a careful examination of his documents proved him to be alive and well. He was allowed to vote belatedly and his vote will be counted in this new recount. Computers were used to tabulate the votes. This time around they will not be used for fear that they could have been tampered with or human errors or computer glitches could have occurred. Every vote will not only be counted by hand, but the tabulation of the votes will be done by the old fashioned method of addition, checked, and rechecked at every level. We don't expect a result for another week or so. Fortunately, Costa Rica did not chose to use electronic balloting. They didn't even want punch cards which were considered too prone to error. They have a very good paper trail and can make sure a recount is absolutely fair.

Despite all of this work, the Elections Tribunal may still come up with a situation calling for a second round of elections. The difference in the numbers of votes cast for each of the top two candidates was taken up by the candidate for the Libertarian Party. He isn't even close to being in the running, but he managed to siphon off enough votes to make a difference in final outcome between Arias and Solis. Furthermore, the country is becoming more and more polarized by the CAFTA issue and huge public demonstrations are taking place now. The very poor unemployed people think CAFTA will give them more jobs. The rest of the people seem to feel that Costa Rica's future is in high technology and World Class medical facilities and schools and teaching hospitals. CAFTA is seen as a Union busting measure that would take Costa Rica backwards. The trade unions here are very strong. They are called ?sindicatos.? All the workers for government institutions here are unionized. There are also unions for truck drivers, public transportation, and the like. In short, if all the unions call a general strike, the country would shut down. No electrical, water, or telephone service. No nurses, doctors, or support staff at the national hospitals and clinics. No buses or taxis. No police officers. No transportation of goods. No port workers. No airline workers. No teachers. And there is even a students' union. So all the schools and universities would be shut down. This power of the sindicatos acts as a check to executive excesses as it did a few years ago during the current Pacheco administration. First the truckers went on strike because the permit required by all vehicles showing them to be in good working status and meeting pollution guidelines was being run in a questionable manner by the French company contracted to handle the inspections. The truckers blocked the main roads leading into and out of the Capital. Pacheco called out the riot police to force the truckers back to work and to stop their blockade. Unfortunately for Pacheco, the riot police are dressed like Star Wars Darth Vaders and were filmed by television crews breaking truck windows and throwing tear gas grenades into the cabs. When the drivers came out doubled over and gasping for breath, the police were shown clubbing them. All of Costa Rica saw these scenes on television and the next day the major sindicatos joined the work stoppage in protest against such outrageous acts of violence against fellow Ticos. Students and teachers, electricians, and nurses all took to the streets. The taxi drivers and the bus drivers joined the blockade. Pacheco had to back down. The system of automobile inspections was changed and things returned to normal. The majority of Costa Ricans support the sindicatos and CAFTA would force them out of existence. Therein lies most of the difficulty.

Meanwhile, we can only wait to see what will happen next.

The brave little country of Costa Rica is the only hold-out against CAFTA. President Pacheco, after months of waffling, finally sent the treaty to the legislature for approval. But the people of Costa Rica are very much against turning their country into a banana republic for the benefit of greedy corporations in the United States just slavering over the possibilities of stripping Costa Rica's natural beauty and its constitutional protections in order to enrich their own pockets. On November 18, 2005, at least 20,000 people marched in a demonstration against the "TLC" as CAFTA is called in Costa Rica. More demonstrations are in the works. This single issue could decide the next presidential election. The Costa Rican Libertarian Party is, so far, the only political party to come out against the TLC. If popular former president, Oscar Arias, does not see his way clear to declare opposition to the TLC, his chances of re-election will be greatly diminished. If he joins the anti CAFTA forces now, he will become the next president. Now is the time for letters and phone calls to Mr. Arias to let him know how the people stand!

IRC Americas Program | The Price of Going to Market

IRC Americas Program | The Price of Going to Market

¡CREAME, TICOS! El TLC es otra palabra para explotación. ¡OSCAR, mire a esto y click en el acoplamiento para ver la información muy importante para el futuro de Costa Rica!

Americas Program | Commentary | CAFTA: A Treaty Tied by Chains

Americas Program | Commentary | CAFTA: A Treaty Tied by Chains

People of Costa Rica, read what TLC will force on Costa Rica. Click on the link shown above.

La Gente de Costa Rica, lean qué TLC forzará en Costa Rica. Click en el acoplamiento demostrado arriba.

(DV) Engler and Martinez: Oiled Again

(DV) Engler and Martinez: Oiled Again

And if you think you've heard all the terrible problems with the TLC (CAFTA), I'll bet you haven't read about this! Click on the above link to find out how TLC will destroy our tourist industry!

¡Y si Usted piensa ha oído todos los problemas terribles con el TLC (CAFTA), yo apostaré que usted no ha leído sobre esto! ¡Click el acoplamiento antedicho para descubrir cómo el TLC destruirá nuestra industria turística!

Words of Advice to Costa Rica Tourist

I've recently been hosting a number of new visitors to Costa Rica and have heard a great many questions and suggestions from them. So I thought I'd pass along some information that might be useful to new visitors.

Although Costa Rica is very close to the equator and is, therefore, considered to be a tropical country, it is also a country blessed by beautiful high mountain ranges. With altitude comes cooling. A visitor to Costa Rica, therefore, who plans to visit a beach area or an area of lowland rainforest and ALSO plans to visit a volcano or a cloudforest or other higher altitude area needs to be prepared for both HOT and COLD temperatures. Even if the days at a mid level forest like mine are warm, the afternoons and nights (especially during the "green" season) can get very chilly.

Another thought along the line of clothing is that even in the so-called dry season, a visit to the cloud forest will be wet. You will need a rain parka or umbrella or other rain gear.

Shoes are an important consideration. You can cheat on other clothing to keep costs down, but you should be sure to have the most comfortable shoes you can buy. If you will be doing any hiking or walking through wooded areas, you'll need good walking shoes that completely enclose your feet. This is not only a matter of comfort, but of avoiding biting ants, prickly plants, barbed wire that has been hidden by overgrowth of plant life, and the like. On the beaches and in town you can wear comfortable sandals. Good ones will help you do any hiking along the beaches that you may want to do. If you come during the rainy season, you'll probably want to have high rubber boots for hiking through forests. The mud here can be VERY slippery and sucking. The boots will also protect you from the rare possibility of a snake bite. Most of the very poisonous snakes that you might alarm as you hike will strike at the area between the foot and the knee. They say it is also best not to be the third person in line during a group hike. The first person passing by alerts the snake. The second person gets it angry. The third person gets the bite. Since big rubber boots take up a lot of space in a suitcase and can be a bother to pack, most people just plan on buying a pair of boots when they get here and giving them away to a deserving farm worker before you leave. They're fairly cheap. (the boots - not the farm workers)

You'll also need a sun hat. You can buy one on your first day in San Jose or bring one with you. And don't forget to bring a small tube of sunblock for your first day or two until you can buy a larger supply to be used up or left behind again when you leave. Packing light has many advantages.

Depending on the time of year, you'll want to get a supply of a good insect repellent. Aside from mosquitos (called "zancudos" here) there are small biting flies that hang around low plant growth and especially coffee plantations. Gringos call them "coffee flies." Some of the Ticos I know call them "bocones" which means big mouths. I guess that's because the fly is so tiny, but it leaves a hole in your skin bigger than it is. Avoiding certain mosquitos is also a health concern. There is one species of mosquito that carries Dengue Fever (also referred to as "bone break fever".) Nothing like having the worst case of the flu you've ever experienced to ruin a vacation!

When hiking in wooded areas it is wise to wear socks, long pants, and a long sleeved shirt - even if it's really hot and humid. They will provide you with both sun and insect protection to a large extent.

If you are planning to spend your whole time at some luxurious resort, you won't have to be concerned about ruining your clothes. But if you are like most tourists, planning to do "the nature thing," you should consider bringing old clothes with you - not your best shirts and designer jeans.

If you will be traveling on a tight budget, consider the wonders of bus travel. You can check out a website called www.costaricabybus.com. If you do your planning early enough, you can even buy the book with all the most important bus connections and schedules listed in it along with many helpful hints. Personally, I think bus travel is a lot safer and easier than renting a car and trying to find your way around. (A recent newspaper article claimed that two cars and hour were stolen in Costa Rica!)

Well, that's about enough for this section. I'll have more in another post.

Cheaper Labor Does Not Guarantee Jobs

The thinking has been that large corporations seeking ways to maximize profits and minimize costs are relocating to countries where the labor is to be had very cheaply. The news item below, however, belies this conventional wisdom. More than a cheap and plentiful labor force is required. To complete in the modern world, third world countries and developing nations need to invest in much better education and opportunities for learning. Costa Rica has very few, if any, free lending libraries, for example. This discourages reading and lowers the perceived value of books and education. Learning by rote is another Costa Rican educational flaw. Teachers must be allowed more flexibility in their teaching techniques and children need to be taught not only "facts" but more importantly how to think. Creativity, questioning, and logic are all far more important to a future work force than memorizing dates. Why bother memorizing something that can be easily referenced on the Internet or in a book. The trick is in learning that the information exists and is accessible should one need it.

NEWS of the WEIRD - Current News

CAFTA - COSTA RICA MUST SAY NO!!!

For those of you who have been following the CAFTA/TLC articles on this blog, here is the latest.

My daughter sent me this letter she received from the director of the Texas Fair Trade Coalition:

As you?ve probably heard by now, we lost the CAFTA vote late Wed. night
217-215. Our collective hearts are broken, but we've not lost hope because,
although the fight is over,* the tight vote exemplifies indisputably that THIS
TRADE MODEL IS BROKEN!

The vote did NOT win on its merits--it took one of the ugliest political battles
ever to secure it as well as egregious violations of democratic procedure. Bush
visited the chamber that day (with Cheney) for the first time in TWO YEARS, he
was so afraid of losing this vote as it was conjectured to be the final nail in
his "lame duck" coffin.

Proof in the pudding: "If we had not moved forward on CAFTA, it would have
undermined the U.S. position, which has been to lead the fight for
globalization," -- Calman Cohen, president of the business-backed Emergency
Committee for American Trade.

All in all, CAFTA is a fairly insignificant trade deal in terms of real changes
in trade policy; it will certainly tighten the U.S.'s ability to enforce
intellectual property rights in member countries, especially for pharmaceutical
companies to gain even greater protection against generic, and certainly will
create yet MORE mechanisms to exploit workers and the environment (and open
more doors for such here, while exporting jobs and diminishing democracy), but
it does little to improve our economy in terms of decreasing tariffs (80% of
imports from these countries are already duty-free) and increasing exports to
those countries (which is a tiny fraction of our export economy). It is merely
the leverage by which the corporate globalization model keeps it current course
or not, if the tight margin of victory and the politcal battle that led to it
proves to stop like-deals in their tracks.

Also of note is how much the vote shook up the Democratic Party. Even though the
Democratic Leadership Council supported CAFTA, the party line was that CAFTA's
passage was akin to handing the President a major political (albeit shameful)
victory. Thursday, House Minority Whip leader Nancy Pelosi was so incensed at
the outcome, that she called a special party meeting to put the 15 Democrats
that voted for it on the hot seat. "Committee reassignments" were rumored to
be on the table for these folks. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the Senior Chief
Deputy Minority Whip, admitted "some of my friends cast their votes for special
interests."

27 Republicans voted against it (Ron Paul our only TX rep.)-- MANY more wanted
to, but were pulled away during the disgusting display of breaking arms "into a
thousand pieces" -as was commonly noted. Republicans held the vote open past
the 15 minute deadline, for 47 more minutes, to pull in 8-10 'errant'
Republicans. Pelosi accused House leaders of turning the House floor into an
episode of "Let's Make a Deal," charging that ethics rules were broken. The
Washington Post said, ?The last-minute negotiations for Republican votes
resembled the wheeling and dealing on a car lot.?

Some "nay" votes were even changed to "aye" after the arm-twisting...but if all
votes that were already cast were counted at the 15 minute mark and if at that
time, all uncast votes were cast according to leanings, we would have won
221-214. :(

There were 2 key Republican votes NOT cast--2 that had committed to "nay"s--due
to some suspicious excuses about not making it back to the House in time
because of a storm (over 3 hours earlier) and that a vote cast was not
registered because of a "deactivated voting card" (Jo Ann Davis of VA, and
Charles Taylor of NC respectively); both most likely cases of trying to have it
both ways.

In terms of TFTC, we only lost 2 of our targets: Ortiz and Hinojosa, having
succeeded in winning Gonzalez, Cuellar, Edwards and Jackson-Lee. So along with
Cuellar's "aye" vote, we'll see LOTS of opportunity for organizing in south
Texas around fair trade issues. Although the model is broken, we have our work
cut out for us as we continue fighting AFTA, FTAA and more expansion of the
model through the WTO...although the WTO General Council closed its meeting
this past Friday in Geneva without any real progress so it looks like CAFTA's
passage didn't create any real momentum in this regard.

We should note too--that this vote is not so much about politics as it is about
people; and to the people of Central America and the Dominican Republic, we are pained and saddened at what this loss means for you, and will stand by you as we move forward to build a new, workable, global model that favors people over profit.

We are currently working on after-math strategy. Stay tuned and meanwhile, feel
free to call your Congressperson to THANK them or ask what they got in exchange
for selling their constituents out (and report back to us if you do either!).

Many thanks for your support,
Lesley and the staff and interns at Texas Fair Trade Coalition.

NYTimes article:
http://www.citizenstrade.org/pdf/ nyt_houseapprovesfreetradepact_07282005.pdf

Public Citizen statement: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2002

*(3 CAFTA countries still need to ratify it: Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Dominican
Republic-there's a small chance for a little more resistance there)

---------------------------------
Please contribute to our efforts by donating online today!

http://www.texasfairtrade.org/staticpages/index.php?page=donations


Lesley Nicole Ramsey
Director, Texas Fair Trade Coalition
1405 Montopolis Drive
Austin, TX 78741
Tel: (512) 472-1915
Fax: (512) 389-2899

The only hope now for COSTA RICA is that it does not become a part of this fiasco. It will do so much harm to our beautiful country while doing nothing advantageous. CAFTA is known as the TLC here. If Costa Rica becomes a signatory to this duplicitous treaty, it will immediately be exploited by gold and petroleum interests in the United States. It's beaches and moutains will be ruined. The health of its citizens dangerously jeapordized, tourism will plummet, and Costa Rica will lose its territorial rights! Click here for the previous post regarding how CAFTA will allow off-shore drilling for oil on our most beautiful beaches and the unchecked mining of gold by foreign interests. For Central America and the Caribbean CAFTA equals EXPLOITATION. There is no other way to express this.

Click here to read this excellent article from the Americas Program for more information.


AND NOW TAKE ACTION! CONTACT DIPUTADOS, NEWS OUTLETS, AND CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE. EXPLAIN TO THEM THE DANGERS THIS TREATY POSES TO COSTA RICA. DO NOT DELAY. DO NOT GIVE UP. OUR FUTURE IS AT STAKE.