KEEP COSTA RICA OUT OF CAFTA

This report, dated October 6th, is written by Doug Palmer for Reuters news service, and was posted that day on Yahoo News.

Costa Ricans will be voting on Sunday, October 7th, whether they should join the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The Bush Administration, through a spokeswoman, warned that if her voters turned down the Agreement, it will refuse any renegotiations on it. They also hinted at eliminating some benefits it already has under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI).

According to the left-wing Huffington Post, commentator Mark Weisbrot notes that no country ever had it’s citizens vote on a “free trade agreement” before. He reports that America’s ambassador to the country claimed that some markets for Costa Rican goods would be shut down if the “No” vote won.

And according to an Associated Press report published in the San Luis Obispo (CA) Tribune, CAFTA would force the local service and telecommunications industry to accept foreign rivals.

When the American government foisted NAFTA onto the people, it claimed it would create jobs and businesses. Instead we lost millions of jobs, especially in light and heavy manufacturing, much of it shipped to Mexico, which is now losing many of those jobs to Red China. Worse, it reduced her economic and political sovereignty, as it did also to both Mexico and Canada.

Something similar may happen to Costa Rica if it approves this travesty of justice.

We at the Review encourage any readers from Costa Rica to vote “No” on the CAFTA issue. Even more, we encourage you to read more about Distributism, both in English and Spanish. Tell those who are interested to find out more about this alternative to BOTH Socialism and Capitalism.

And then act on what you read to build a better Costa Rica…a Distributist Costa Rica.