RSSBy light years, Washington traditionally has held the upper hand when it comes to foreign influence on Latin America. Its hemispheric power-advantage rests on decades of security, trade, investment, and ideological connections. However, the era of globalization is now tearing down many of the worl[...]
Archive for the ‘Costa Rica’ Category
July 25th, 2008 - 10:45 am § in Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Front Page, Mexico, Press Releases, Venezuela
China’s Claim in Latin America: So Far, a Partner not a Threat
July 22nd, 2008 - 9:34 am § in Caribbean, Costa Rica, Front Page, Guatemala, Press Releases, Venezuela
The Growth of Petrocaribe: A Win for Venezuela Foreign Policy
Costa Rica and Guatemala are the latest to sign up with Petrocaribe Nineteen Caribbean Basin nations now receive subsidized oil shipments from Venezuela The future could not look brighter for Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan-led oil consortium that offers preferential financial term[...]
Trucker Strike Aims at Panama/Costa Rica Border
The first major disruption of the nine-month-old Costa Rican-Panamanian free trade agreement came on July 6, when approximately 200 truck drivers from Panama, Costa Rica, and other Central American countries paralyzed cargo crossing from Paso Canoas, Panama to Cerro Punta, Costa Rica. The protest, [...]
Guanacaste experiencing dramatic deterioration
Your article “It’s Official: The West Coast is a Mess” (TT, May 16) only scratches the surface of the issues now facing Guanacastecos due to the growth of tourism in Costa Rica. The true scope of environmental degradation and the economic downturn is apparent in the dramatic degradation of th[...]
April 24th, 2008 - 2:58 pm § in Costa Rica, Press Releases
Contentious CAFTA – A Turning Point for Costa Rica?
Five of the six countries, including Costa Rica, which signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, have now ratified it. Oscar Arias, Costa Rica’s Nobel Laureate president, signed the agreement in November 2007, after the pro-CAFTA forces in his country won a h[...]
Despite What President Arias Might Want You to Believe: Why Costa Rica Might Not Need CAFTA After All, and Why It May Be a Bad Deal for the Average Costa Rican
"Collective suicide." It was what Costa Rica President Óscar Arias has publicly predicted for his country if its good citizens don't ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will be put to referendum this Sunday. "Let's not close the door. Let[...]
Votes for Sale? Japan, China and Taiwan Duke it out in a Diplomatic Contest in Which a Number of Shameless Caribbean and Central American Countries are the Prize
Recent events have made it clear that a number of small Caribbean Basin nations are able to cast a far larger shadow than their relatively modest dimensions would ordinarily allow. What is their special draw? True, in any number of respects they already have become, or are well on the way to being, [...]
August 14th, 2007 - 9:21 am § in Costa Rica, Economic, Economic Report, Front Page, Press Releases, Reports
CAFTA’s October Referendum: A Death Sentence for Costa Rican Trade & Foreign Investment?
illustration by Margaret Scott With a little under two months until the October referendum on the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) is staged, time is quickly running out for Costa Rican president Óscar Arias, elected for a second time in 2006, to gain the necessa[...]
August 13th, 2007 - 12:00 pm § in Costa Rica, Front Page, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Press Releases, Reports
Pesticide’s Victims Will Finally Come Before a U.S. Court
Banned Products Return Home after Being Sprayed on U.S.-bound Crops For the period of May, 2007, the USDA reported the total value of monthly agricultural imports to the U.S. amounted to $6.1 billion. Of that total value, 15 percent arrived here from Mexico, 15 percent from Canada, three percent f[...]
Costa Rica’s Oscar Arias, A Man not Without Flaws
• Ottón Solís – A mild version of the “Pink Tide” • Anti-CAFTA factor effects the election as does Arias’ unabashedly pro-American orientation • Further Americanization of Costa Rica appears likely under Arias, although large “pink tide” vote will not make the State Department [...]