Costa Rica Referendum on CAFTA Questioned
For Immediate Release: October 17, 2007
Contacts: Tom Loudon, Alliance for Responsible Trade (301) 204-9549 Katherine Hoyt, Stop CAFTA Coalition (202) 271-4914
Costa Rica Referendum on CAFTA Questioned
U.S. intervention, corruption, and an internationally financed fear campaign provoke questions about referendum process
Location: Outside OAS offices at 17th Street & Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC - On Thursday October 18th at 12:30pm, International Observers to the recent Referendum on DR-CAFTA (Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement) in Costa Rica and other concerned civil society members will hold a press conference and present a letter to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), demanding that they intervene to stop the certification of the DR-CAFTA Referendum.
A National Referendum was held in Costa Rica on Sunday October 7th to decide if the DR-CAFTA agreement would be implemented there. Representatives from the U.S.-based Alliance for Responsible Trade and the Stop CAFTA Coalition, who represent U.S. faith-based, solidarity, union, and student organizations, were present in Costa Rica as international observers to the Referendum.
The entire Referendum process was marred by gross violations, committed by the U.S. government, transnational corporations and Costa Rican media and government officials. Some of the most flagrant of these violations occurred in the 48 hour period immediately prior to the Referendum, during a time when the law stipulates that there must be complete silence on the issue. The Supreme Elections Tribunal (SET), failed to act during that period, in spite of multiple requests that they silence violators. This calls into serious question the SET's objectivity as an impartial actor. This is why intervention is needed from the outside.
Among other violations, during the 48 hour period there was non-stop ‘news programming', most aimed at warning of the dire consequences if the Referendum outcome was against ratification of CAFTA. This included a last minute statement directly from the White House warning the Costa Rican people that this was their only chance for a FTA with the U.S.-an impossible claim for an outgoing administration. This was only one of the many false claims by U.S. Administration spokespeople in this campaign to instill fear in the Costa Rican population.
This delegation of observers came to the conclusion that due to the level of threatening and illegal activities throughout the campaign, the legitimacy of the Referendum process must be questioned. A letter will be delivered to the Secretary General of the OAS with 30 organizational and over 150 individual signatures requesting that the they intervene to delay a final pronouncement on the Referendum outcome by the SET until there can be a more thorough evaluation of reported and documented irregularities. A copy of this letter will appear in the Costa Rican daily, Diario Extra on Friday, October 19th.
The press conference will also address the U.S.-Peru FTA and problems with the way the agreement was ratified in Peru - a trend that can be seen in most countries ratifying U.S. FTAs.
A photo opportunity and press conference will take place at 12:30 on Thursday, October 18th, after which the letter will be delivered.
For more detailed information visit www.art-us.org or http://stopcafta.org/
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