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CAFTA: Point of Disagreement in Costa Rica

Roy Rojas · 19:20

lingua → es · zht · zhs

Editor's Note: Juliana Rincón Parra has already shown us the extensive opposition to Costa Rica's ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. However, San Jose-based Roy Rojas was adamant that we also show the support for CAFTA in Costa Rica and its blogosphere. The following post has been translated from its original Spanish.

cafta In the last two years, in Central America and the Dominican Republic, a lot of political discussion has centered around the good and the bad that would come from the proposed free trade agreement with the United States. Out of all the countries involved, Costa Rica is the only one that has not ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement. This is because an opposition of minority parties has tried to kidnap the Legislative Assembly and to obstruct all parliamentary progress.

What has in fact happened in the countries that have ratified - Nicaragua and El Salvador for example - is that exports to the US have increased significantly and unemployment has not gone up as opponents had warned. What is the fear keeping labor unions from supporting a deal with a country as consumerist as the United States, where, at the moment, Costa Rica already exports millions of dollars every year?

How is it that so many economists and experts on the subject, like those of the Inter-American Development Bank (I.A.D.B.) and Central American Bank of Economic Integration (BCIE), among others, could be mistaken and allegedly want to drag us into a catastrophe like the unions insist. This is simply inconceivable. We cannot close our doors to a great market like the United States, which, although we are currently insulated from by the “Initiative of the Caribbean Account”, this program could be eliminated at any time. And we would be left unable to export our agricultural products, technologies, and textiles to a market that feeds thousands of Costa Ricans.

According to data provided by the Ministry of Economy, 13,000 people could be unemployed with the exit of textile manufacturers from the country as it would be impossible to compete with other manufacturing countries that are able to export their products, without tariffs, to the United States. These companies leaving Costa Rica would then install in some other country of the region that has ratified the treaty. At the moment, in some zones of Costa Rica, the textile sector provides almost 78% of employment. In 2007, textile exports from Costa Rica diminished 11% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, in countries of the region that are part of CAFTA, textile exports have increased 17%, which makes us wonder if the treaty really wouldn't benefit us.

Now, one of the subjects that has been most controversial is the opening of the telecommunications industry to more competition (which does not equate to privatization). Many points of view exist about the topic, such as in Fusil de Chispas [ES], which frequently makes references to data from other countries where there are multiple suppliers of telecom services, such as this post pointing readers [ES] to an article from the online magazine Confidential, which points out the low tariffs that we have in Costa Rica [ES], even though we are third in cell phone use per capita worldwide.

En el año 2000, la tarifa por el servicio celular en Costa Rica era la más baja de Centroamérica, y estaba más de 50% por debajo de la segunda más barata, la salvadoreña. Así consta en un completo informe publicado entonces por la revista online Confidencial, sobre la calidad del servicio ofrecido por BellSouth en Nicaragua.

In 2000, the tariff by the cellular service in Costa Rich she was lowest of Central America, and was more than 50% lower than second place El Salvador. That is according to a complete report [ES] published by the online magazine, Confidential [ES], on the quality of the service offered by BellSouth in Nicaragua.

And so, if we are clear that we will not have privatization, and what we will have is just more competition, then why is there fear of letting other companies offer cellular and internet service? If the current provider, ICE, is the cheapest of the region and practically the world, than what does it matter if others come also? Competition benefits all of the users. ICE would likely improve their service and foreign service providers would have to compete with their low prices. The Association of Young people for the Development [ES], an organization of Costa Rican youths, has a weblog that deals mostly with the free trade agreement (State Universities and CAFTA [ES], State-investor Arbitration [ES], Where is our progress? [ES] , etc), It shows a clear example of the diversity of opinions on the topic of free trade. When the moment arrives for deciding, nobody it can say there was no information.

Supporting the free trade agreement does not mean that we support the North American government. Nor that we agree with its manifold international policies. But we recognize that, as a small country, we need a commercial partner. We need their market and we need a treaty which guarantees the right to their market which are now without control. With a treaty, we have a “contract” that would not allow them from preventing our entrance in the future.

24 comments · »»

Presenting - the new Global Voices web site!

Georgia Popplewell · 16:14

If you’ve visited the Global Voices web site before, you may notice that we look a little different. If this is your first time, you'll be happy to know that you’re looking at our new site design, which was launched on Monday 9 April, 2007.

We’ve worked hard to create a new streamlined, simplified and enhanced version of the site to make the reporting we do that much easier to follow and understand. We have removed the less necessary parts and fine-tuned confusing features. Even more exciting, we've developed new tools to help you sort through the vast quantity of material posted daily by our authors and editors. Here's an overview of our new features:

The Shelf

Those who remember the old design may recall the large country and topic clouds in green and blue boxes at the top of the page. These no longer occupy the whole top of the page, but they’re still easily accessible from what we call the “shelf,” an animated navigation tool at the very top of the page. Click any of the links and the shelf will roll down instantly, offering you all possible countries, topics, authors and search options - all without having to reload the page. Try it yourself! (Use the black and white arrow to hide the panel when you’re done.)

Share us!

At the bottom of each post, just above the comments, we've added a “share this” link. Click on the link to send the article instantly to your favorite social bookmarking site (e.g. del.icio.us, Digg), or email it to a friend.

Navigation by Media and Region

At GV we try to showcase the widest array of citizen media possible: our articles often include photos, embedded video and audio. Clicking on any of the new media icons will take you directly to a list of posts including either video, audio or photographic content. Each media page has its own RSS feed.

Next to the media icons are our new contextual navigation pull-down menus, which allow you to narrow down your Global Voices search to a specific region or topic.

Translation Listings

Lingua

With the advent of our “Lingua” sites, Global Voices content is now being translated by our Lingua volunteers into six languages (and counting!). Entries on the main GV site are now accompanied by a list of the languages they've been translated into, allowing you to switch to your preferred language (if it's available) or simply to brush up on your French or Bangla while visiting the site.

The Map

Our shiniest new toy, the map, offers a geographical perspective and looking glass for the international content on GV. On each page you'll see the map of a country or region relevant to what you're looking at. By rolling your mouse over the image you'll see actual maps of that country and be able to see the names of surrounding countries by rolling over their dots. Click on a country's dot and you'll find yourself on the GV page for that country. Get lost on the other side of the planet or just check out your neighbors. We hope you have as much fun with this thing as we do!

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Bolivia: Exodus Interrupted

Eduardo Avila · 14:57

lingua → zht · zhs

The exodus from Bolivia recently sped up due to a looming deadline set by the European Union. Beginning on April 1, Bolivians wanting to enter Europe must now secure a visa to do so. No longer could Bolivians that want to find greener pastures, particularly in Spain, could enter as easily as before. With this deadline in mind, many Bolivians rushed to local travel agencies and airline ticket counters to purchase a seat on the next flight to Madrid, but were met with unexpected results.

Violeta, a blogger from Cochabamba, wrote in her blog Desnudate! [ES] about this mass migration from one’s homeland:

31 de marzo, fecha máxima para que los bolivianos podamos “huir” de nuestro país rumbo al sueño europeo, más precisamente a España donde supuestamente existirían mejores condiciones económicas y “mejor vida” según algunos “españobolivianos” (ahora mas españoles que bolivianos) que aseguran que nunca más volverán a Bolivia, nunca más volverán a un país de pobres, a un país sub-desarrollado, al país de las cero oportunidades.

March 31 was the last date that Bolivians could “flee” from our country towards the European dream, especially to Spain where supposedly one would find better economic conditions and a “better life” according to some “Spanish-Bolivians” (now more Spanish, than Bolivian). They are sure that they would never return to Bolivia. They would never return to such a poor, underdeveloped country, and a country with zero opportunities.

To help facilitate this escape from the country, many unscrupulous individuals took advantage of paying customers. Miguel Buitrago aka MABB wrote about this in his blog.

Making matters worst, there are plenty of people, such as travel agents, who are trying to speculate with the anguish of these people by continue selling tickets to Spain, even though there are no more places on the planes. The military has jumped in and has announced it would make available, on order of the government, airplanes to take Bolivians to Brasil so they could catch connecting flights. These tickets are supposed to cost $390 dollars, and that is on top of the between $1200 to $3000 dollars people already paid.

At the forefront of this mess, is the tanglement left by the airline Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), which had been in financial trouble over the past year. The company had oversold flights to Madrid, and to add insult to injury, these flights that were schedule right before the April 1 deadline were cancelled due to a shortage of fuel. Many dreams were dashed and administrators of this failed airline were taken into custody.

Andres Pucci lists reasons why the airline is on its last legs [ES], such as poor administration by VASP and Tito Asbun. He also faults the current government’s lack of interest in resolving the crisis, as well as the higher prices for fuel. Customers were openly protesting these failings at the airports across the country, but the airline’s workers were also protesting past wages that have not been paid and a helplessness to improve their company. A blog written by workers of LAB recently was resurrected called OPINE acerca del Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano [ES] (Give your opinion regarding Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano. Blogger Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas writes in Guccio’s [ES] that most likely that LAB, the oldest airline in South America, has its days numbered.

This time, last year:

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was also in the news, when workers took their protests to another level by occupying the runways in the airport in Cochabamba. One blogger wrote, “if a miracle does not happen soon, then the final ending is in a matter of days or weeks.” One year later, the same conclusion would be valid.

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Armenia: Predictable politics and apathetic youth

Artur Papyan · 10:15

lingua → es

A lot of things happening in the political landscape of Armenia are anticipated and predictable “by journalists and people on the street alike”, Notes from Hairenik states, building up his speculations around the fact, that this predictability in the Armenian politics leads to apathy, as people do not see their vote as a decisive factor in bringing change to the country:

When politics is predictable, apathy abound. Supposedly we just have to take things as they are reported by the Armenian media or by word of mouth. There’s nothing else to be done except to let it happen, at least that is the vibe I have been getting.

Despite the overall mode, the blogger insists, that it is the Armenian citizens who will ultimately determine the course of the elections. Still in another post here, Notes from Hairenik quotes The Armenian Weekly newspaper on the topic of political apathy, especially among the Armenian youth:
(more…)

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Jordanian Blogosphere: An Iris Also Blooms

Naseem Tarawnah · 09:38

The seasons are moving forward, the weather is moving forward, and the clocks have all sprung forward for spring. But controversy is in the air these past few weeks on the Jordanian blogosphere…

The Arab Observer has a bone to pick with people who harass women on the street, while Hala looks at the double standards of so called ‘honor crimes' in Jordan. Meanwhile, Tamara tuned into a local religious radio station only to shocked to hear a sheik legitimizing female circumcision, calling it mandatory in Islam!

“Using an official radio station to legitimize female genital mutilation is outrageous. When the sheikh said that it is mandatory in Islam, he showed his own ignorance of the religion.”

(more…)

0 comments · »»

Touring Libyan Blogs:Nalut Spring festival, mountain bikes in Libya, maturity, headless a short story, abuse of maids, and true love

Fozia Mohamed · 08:55

Another week in Libyan blogs, this week Khadijateri attended the Nalut Spring Festival, all I can say that it is incredible, the photos. the people, the adventures. I made a promise to go next year, how can anyone miss such beauty ?

“Nalut is in the Nafusa Mountains and is approximately 2,000 feet (610 M) above sea level.Halfway up the mountain that leads to the city of Nalut a welcome station was prepared for travellers entering the city. A tent was set up next to a small mosque with a group of people serving dates, fresh buttermilk and ibsisa (a mixture of spices and nuts that are roasted and ground into a fine powder. Oil and water is added and it's mixed into a paste). Clean bathrooms, fresh water and a sitting area were provided for women and men. The welcoming committee had answers to any questions that visitors might have and it was a lovely beginning to the generous hospitality offered by the people of Nalut.”

(more…)

4 comments · »»

China: Memedia Issue 3: New century for grassroots media

Nan Yang · 02:29

Another benchmark for the vibrant Chinese blogsphere, key bloggers and big names have come together to form Memedia, home to a collectively-written weekly roundup of the biggest stories from the Chinese blogsphere. Writes Virtual China's Lyn Jeffery:

Coming from the combination of three terms, Me/Meme/Media. Memedia will provide interesting things, important things, diverse things, for us to enjoy together….

Here's a translation of Memedia's third weekly issue:

[科技和互联网]
如何从一个被监控的铅封的计算机中偷取数据？自然有大坏蛋帮你想办法！谷歌继续被阉割，上海市委书记和邓小平等文字陆续从谷歌的世界里彻底消失。BlogSpot也再次无法访问，虽然还有访问的方法，但是BlogSpot的恢复不知道google.cn的公关同志能否解决？

[Technology & Internet]
How do you steal data from a monitored computer cased in lead? You can be sure there are bad eggs willing to help you to sort it out! Google remains castrated, blogs Ken Wong at GSeeker, for terms like Deng Xiaoping and secretary of a municipal committee of the CPC in Shanghai have disappeared from Google search results. Blogspot once again cannot be visited, although there are still ways to visit the site, and is it possible for Google.cn PR to resolve the blocking?

(more…)

2 comments · »»

Arabeyes: When the Country Becomes YOUR Personal Farm

Amira Al Hussaini · 01:37

This is the official portrait of Al Haj Abu Gamal. Look at it carefully for he is no ordinary villager. Abu Gamal translates to Gamal's father while Al Haj is an honorary title bestowed on Muslims who have been on pilgrimage to Mecca. And those two reasons aren't the only ones which give him the right to have an official photograph.

Al Haj Abu Gamal is the leader and owner of a farm estate, called El Ezba in the Egyptian dialect of Arabic, and he is also the main character in a satirical blog (Arabic), which is keeping some Egyptians in stitches nowadays as it mocks incidents and personalities which have incredible similarities to what is happening in contemporary Egypt.

So what does the anonymous blogger, who is entertaining us with tales and graphic images of Al Haj Abu Gamal, his family, projects, visits abroad and expansive estate, has to say about his main character and life at El Ezba? (more…)

1 comment · »»

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