Power to the People: Costa Rica Votes “Sí” to TLC
With everything going on recently I never had a chance to write about the big vote this weekend. On Sunday the people of Costa Rica voted to pass the new free trade agreement (known as “TLC” in Costa Rica, “CAFTA” in the U.S.). I don’t usually get into politics on the Blog (that inevitably gets me into trouble), but such an important event for the country at least deserves mentioning.
One cool thing about this process is how the vote even came about. The legislature of Costa Rica — made up of numerous political parties, not two as we have in the U.S. – could not reach an agreement on TLC. The “Sí” side could not build a coalition, nor could the “No” side. So what did the politicians do? They decided to put the power in the hands of the people! (What a concept. Do you think Washington would ever do that? Yeah, right!)
On Sunday Ticos went to the polls to decide whether to approve or deny the trade agreement. The final margin of victory was around three percent to ratify TLC (51.5 to 48.5). It was a tough, close race. Even though nearly half of the country is against the new trade agreement, all Ticos can claim victory: they made the decision, not the politicians.
If you’d like to read more about Costa Rica passing TLC, click here.
