Costa Rica Vice President Resigns Over CAFTA scandal

SCANDAL IN COSTA RICA IN THE RUN-UP TO A REFERENDUM ON FREE TRADE

The second Vice President of Costa Rica resigned over the weekend to quell discontent over a leaked strategy memo in the run-up to a national referendum on the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Costa Rican voters will go to the polls next month to decide the fate of DR-CAFTA, the free trade agreement between 5 Central American countries, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Costa Rica is the only country that has not signed on to DR-CAFTA. The resistance to the agreement by civil sectors there has been so well organized, that the government has had to put DR-CAFTA to a nationwide vote. Costa Rica's second vice president Kevin Casas resigned on Saturday due to a scandal caused by a leaked memo he authored. In it, Casas recommended to President Oscar Arias that the government implement a fear campaign ahead of the referendum to tell voters that failure to pass the agreement could lead to massive job loss. He also recommended threatening mayors with loss of government funds if the "No" vote wins in their municipalities. Casas also suggested a media campaign to insinuate that Fidel Castro of Cuba, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua have intervened in Costa Rican affairs to defeat DR-CAFTA.