MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Costa Rica signs free trade agreement but hurdles remain

Costa Rica's president on Wednesday signed into law a much debated controversial free trade agreement with its Central American neighbors, the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Protests had been expected outside the president's residence, but only a small number of people gathered nearby holding anti-pact signs. Costa Rica was the lone holdout among the six Latin American nations now party to the agreement. The pact has already taken effect in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. The White House fought a bruising battle to get the deal ratified by the U.S. Congress in 2005, when it passed the House of Representatives by just two votes. In Costa Rica's congress a group of 38 pro-CAFTA legislators are working to pass the laws but progress is slow and another 19 legislators are trying to block legislation. Opposition is not limited to Congress: a small group of increasingly rowdy CAFTA opponents hold protests outside legislators' houses, the Legislative Assembly and the Presidential Palace. So far only one of the 13 bills has been approved in an initial debate. Furthermore the bill on intellectual property has not even been discussed because the Foreign Trade Ministry only announced early this week that it was required. If the assembly can't finish the job by March first, Costa Rica must seek an extension from all the CAFTA-signing countries. However Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said that his office has not considered that possibility. "We haven't yet thought about asking permission" to extend the deadline, he said. "We trust that the assembly can... finish this process".