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Article Excerpt
The US concluded its free-trade deal, the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), in Washington on Dec. 17, but lost one country in the bargain. Costa Rica, at the very last moment, withdrew from the negotiations.
The issue over which Costa Rica left the table was insurance. Ronulfo Jimenez, coordinator of the government's economic team, told reporters the issue of insurance came up for the first time in this round, and, because this is the last scheduled round, there would be no time to draw up a counterproposal to US demands.
The US demanded total access to the Costa Rican insurance industry. "We want to sign a treaty," said Jimenez, "but not just any treaty." He expressed hope that Washington might understand that San Jose has its "peculiarities" and needs longer than the other countries to open some of its industries to the international market. By peculiarities, Jimenez was referring to national monopolies on some industries, of which the insurance business is one. These monopolies play a role in the national identity, much...
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More articles from NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs
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