A Brief Political History of DR-CAFTA in Costa Rica

On October 7th 2007, Costa Rica will hold a referendum on The Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement, referred to as DR-CAFTA. (1) This may very well be the first occasion on the history the human race that a final decision about a Free Trade Agreement is made by the entire electorate of a country.
DR-CAFTA creates a free trade zone similar to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, in which tariffs on about 80% of U.S. exports are eliminated right away, and the remaining 20% is phased out over a decade. U.S. import duties are not substantially affected by DR-CAFTA, since the vast majority of goods produced in the participating countries already enter the U.S. duty-free due to the U.S. Government's Caribbean Basin Initiative.(2)
The United States Senate approved DR-CAFTA on June 30th, 2005, and the United States House of Representatives approved it on July 27th. On March 1st, 2006, the pact was ratified by the Legislative Chamber of El Salvador, followed by Honduras and Nicaragua on April 1st, 2006, Guatemala on May 18th 2006, and the Dominican Republic on March 1st, 2007.(3)
Costa Rica remains the very last country where DR-CAFTA has not yet been ratified, and not much time is left. The final ratification deadline is March 1st 2008, when not only the pact itself must be approved, but also what is known as the "implementation agenda", which includes (among other actions) passing laws that open competition in the state-controlled markets of insurance and telecommunications.

Continued with photos at: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/910/1/