Nick Halverson Costa Rican Update

My obervations of the passing of the TLC (CAFTA) in Costa Rica

October 8, 2007

This morning Costa Rica awoke to a new Costa Rica poised for a very strong future with last night's passing of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (in Costa Rica it is called TLC). I followed Hanz Cruz, Deputy Mayor of San Isidro del General, and a representative from the Si (yes) campaign all day (from 7 am - midnight) to observe and experience a history making event. We visited eight locations, including a nursing home and a prison (more on that later) delivering food, signage and support for the Si campaign.

First a little background on TLC: Costa Rica was the last remaining country to sign the trade agreement that also includes the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

The aim of CAFTA "is to liberalize U.S. and Central America markets, creating a free-trade zone similar to that created between the US, Mexico and Canada as a result of  the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)." It will eliminate tariffs on basic grains, such as rice, beans and corns both immediately and gradually depending on country and product specific agreements. As such, the agreement particularly affects the rural sector throughout Latin America where small farmers are unable to compete with subsidized agricultural imports from the U.S.

The TLC vote was a referendum vote which means the people were only voting on one topic with a simple 1/4 page ballot that you checked either Si (yes) or No.

A little background and some interesting facts on voting in Costa Rica

As with Presidential elections in Costa Rica, the TLC vote took place on a Sunday. The voting booths were open from 6 am to 6 pm. For a country where time is sometimes not followed as closely as most North Americans and Europeans are accustomed to, when it comes to voting they are right on time - to the minute. The polls were open at 6 am and at 6 pm sharp a siren sounded and the polls closed immediately.

All votes must be made in Costa Rica, so there are no absentee ballots. This is less of an issue in Costa Rica than most other countries because Costa Rica does not have a military, and therefore, does not have thousands of citizens offshore.

Voting in Costa Rica is something to be proud of, to celebrate and to use as a social event. Therefore, music was being played, people were smiling and some were dancing all day. It was a very different experience from my last voting experience in the USA where you solemnly wait in line, being sure not to talk too loud, and wait up to an hour to vote.

Costa Rica has three major political parties. For the TLC vote two of them came together as one to support TLC. Can you imagine the democrats and republicans doing something like that? The one party who was opposed to TLC was the same party who came in second place in the last presidential elections in 2006.

Prisoners are allowed to vote in Costa Rica. It was a strange experience bringing rice and beans and fruit juice to a prison for voters. The food was searched and we were patted down before entering the walls. Once inside the gates we walked unescorted to the building where the voting was taking place. In the distance a soccer match was being played. Sure enough, inside one of the buildings there was a ballot station and photos of all prisoners and signatures next to the ones who had voted. The belief in Costa Rica is that in a democracy, everyone has a voice.

At the voting locations, representatives of each group set up tents right next to the entrance of the voting buildings, which were all schools (except for the prison and nursing home of course). The tents are used for voter check-in and to register new voters.

The election had 184 international observers, including ten from the United States to ensure a fair election.

Show your spirit

Costa Rican's are proud to promote which side of the issue they were on. Well over 50% of vehicles had a bumper sticker, a flag or a homemade sign telling everyone which way they were going to vote. There were 1,000's of Costa Rican's with white t-shirts on with either a big "Si" or a big "No" on them.

Costa Ricans take their right to vote very seriously. I saw 100's of people throughout the day walking to get to the voting booths. Some young couples were pushing strollers, some much older were walking slowly down the street. Others were being picked up by volunteer drivers on each side of the issue to ensure their constituents arrived at the voting booth. They were not going to miss this opportunity to vote.

Behind the scenes

Throughout the day calls were being placed by Hanz and others involved in the campaign around the country trying to get a read as to the results. Everyone was nervous as there was no clear indication as to who had won. Making matters more difficult was the fact that both sides used the colors of Costa Rica's flag in their marketing (red, white and blue) so even anecdotal information was difficult to ascertain.

The wait begins

I've never been on the "inside" of an election on election night, but it is a pretty tense place to be. By 6:30 pm a group of approximately twenty-five friends and colleagues were at Mayor Rosibel Madrigal's home waiting for the results to be announced at 8:30 pm on national TV. Hanz and several others were starting to receive phone calls from the local voting locations - the results were not good. They were losing at the smaller locations around San Isidro, however, the polling stations only carried a couple hundred votes each.

We anxiously ate pizza and discussed the many 'what-if's' go through your mind in this sort of situation. I was surrounded by a motivated and successful group of people who wanted to see this referendum pass.

The results

At precisely 8:30 pm, the preliminary results were released. The entire group was silent as we all watched the television anxiously waiting. With approximately 52% of the vote, the referendum had passed.

Approximately one hour after the results were announced, President Arias (who supported the referendum) spoke to the country. During his speech he announced that "today is the day that Costa Rica begins a new democracy...and Costa Rica is the most democratic country in the world."

We stayed up past midnight before going back to our homes. At the end of a long day it was comforting to go to sleep and know in the morning it was going to be a bright future for Costa Rica.

Pura vida!

Nick Halverson

Paradise Brokers - COO

For a more in depth overview of CAFTA, please visit the Wahsington Office on Latin America.

All photos (c) Nick Halverson