From Tuesday's USA Today:"Ending a four-year tussle, Costa Rican lawmakers today cleared the way for the U.S.-Central America trade deal to take effect Jan 1. In 2004 Costa Rica signed the pact along with its neighbors, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Opponents had stalled implementation of CAFTA until today, when laws governing intellectual property were approved, the AP reports."
Finally, the DR-CAFTA plan is complete! Muhahaha... huh? Oh, right:
From Tuesday's Xinhua News Service:
"Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez has praised his country's relations with China, saying the upcoming visit to Costa Rica by President Hu Jintao would be "historic." The visit is of great "importance" as the two countries have great potentials to further enhance their bilateral ties, Arias told Xinhua in a recent interview... Led by rapid growth in trade with China, Costa Rica's trade with Asia registered a strong surge in the following years."
Oh well, Uncle Sam; you win some, you lose some.
In all seriousness, despite the hand-wringing Costa Rica's legislature went through, both these newly strengthened trading partners and a little healthy competition may help bring Costa Rica's lagging economy to the next level, and with a hefty 57% approval rating (among the best in today's skeptical region), it seems to me that President Arias continues to navigate murky diplomatic waters with relative skill and popular support.
I'm glad this finally has happened. There's nothing more confusing, as a person or as a country, to be stuck between two options, endlessly debating, not able to make long term plans because you don't know what you'll be doing tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing: Kudos to the Arias administration for balancing out CAFTA with a overtures to the Chinese. It's about diversifying your options, not becoming attached to a single market.