My husband and I were living in Costa Rica for 5 months prior to the TLC vote and for one month more after the election. We were both attending language school at the time and spent a great deal of time reading the Costa Rica newspapers daily and discussing the free trade agreement in class.
The election was **very** close and I was shocked an appalled at the blatantly Marxist and anti-captilist rhetoric used by the anti-free trade side.
Anyone who buys property or invests in business in Costa Rica is, in my opinion CRAZY! Costa Rica could turn Marxist in a heartbeat!
Also....Their colleges, universities, and especially their government K-12 schools are heavily infiltrated with Marxists and ( just as in the U.S.) are hard at work preaching anti-capitalism, and the religion of Marxism to the children of that nation.
I wish everyone in the US had to be in the military to understand what limits people can stress people. Globalist Americans think free trade is all fun and no suffering. People in the world know that if their country opens itself to compete a cost effective US economy, there will be winners and losers in society. Latin America will gain factory jobs because US factories will move to their country for cheap labor, however, the farmers in these countries will lose out to highly efficient US agri business. If most of the people in these countries are farmers, guess what popular support for globalism is going to be very lukewarm. In many of these corrupt latin american countries, the dominant families will make sure they get first divs on all the goodies and opportunities leaving the rest of the unconnected people to fight for the scraps. That is why there is violent rioting in Greece against “capitalism” and free trade. Just imagine if the US trades with a nation that can provide highly efficient office workers, and every American who works in an air conditioned offices will be unemployed and are told that the only jobs open for them is summer season backbreaking 16 hour shifts in the heat as fruit and vegtable pickers on US agri businesses at 1/3 the salary of their former jobs. Free market proponents will say main street will swallow their pride and accept such conditions, Marxists will say bring it on, I am going to have a successful revolution.
The Ticos are a warm and friendly people but unsuited for the rigors of an advanced capitalistic environment. Which is why I think the ChiComs are putting big bucks into the country. The population is soft and looking for the benefits of trade without wanting to undertake the sacrifices. They will sell out in a latin minute when the Chinese present the bill. In fact all of central america will be a Chinese banana plantation in 10 yrs.