|
Article Excerpt
On May 8, Oscar Arias was sworn in as President of Costa Rica, returning to the office he held 20 years ago, from 1986 to 1990. He is a different man than he was then, and Costa Rica is a different country. Back then, the overarching problem was war and peace in Central America, and Arias acquitted himself brilliantly, winning the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his part in bringing an end to war in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Now the issue is the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and Arias cannot bank on the support of a divided electorate that brought him to power with a margin of just slightly over 1% (see NotiCen, 2006-03-02).
The returning president was given no slack, not a moment to forget the coming battle to bring Costa Rica into the CAFTA fold. As the inauguration ceremony droned on in the Estadio Nacional, thousands of unionists, academics, students, and popular-sector activists clamored outside to remind him that his support of the agreement would not go unchallenged.
Arias, in turn, threw down his own gauntlet. "Sovereignty is not defended with prejudices or slogans but with work and with concrete plans to bring prosperity to Costa Rica. Isolating Costa Rica from great movements in the modern world is a reactionary cause and a betrayal of the country's...
|
|
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
|
