Costa Rica on Arias, Sabina and CAFTA · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Costa Rican blogs these past two weeks have had a bit of CAFTA, a bit of music and some complaints on the roads and the trash. The latter two are issues that worry those out in the streets and seem to leave those in power unconcerned.
The uproar on the AntiCAFTA marches has mellowed out a bit. This weeks’ blog movement is due to a related but separate event: Oscar Arias’ appearance in a Joaquín Sabina concert. (wikipedia information on the artist here  )
These bloggers commented on the event firsthand:
Lau Fu in La fuente clandestina
La noche del 8 de noviembre un Palacio de los Deportes lleno de sabineros hasta el copete gritó para calentar las cuerdas vocales antes del concierto: ¡No, no al TLC! y ¡Fuera, fuera hp…!, furibundas exclamaciones que tuvieron como blanco al más alto representante de Costa Rica -como lo llamó Joaquín Sabina-, el presidente Oscar Arias.
During the evening of November 8th, the concert venue, completely full of “sabineros” yelled and warmed their vocal cords up before the concert: No to CAFTA! Leave!Leave! SOB…! Irate exclamations that had as their target to costa Rica's hightes representative- just like Joaquín Sabina called him-, president Oscar Arias.
Furia de mais continues the story:
Unos 4 gatos que sonábamos como miles… el malparido, el vende patrias, el viejo verde, el cabrón -que me acompañe la virgen del Carmen, esto es la Interné-… Y yo pensaba que no era posible… no era posible que este mae me cierre el año con una cagada tan jórrida: primero se roba las elecciones, me hace pasar 12 meses de mierda con su prepotencia vil y chueca, y para colmo de males, me llega a joder la vida al concierto de Juaco! ¡Misericoldia señol, misericoldia!…
We were a handful that sounded like thousands… the bastard, seller of our homeland, the skirt chaser, the motherf* -may the Virgin of El Carmen protect me, this is the Internet-… And I thought it couldn't be happening… it isn't possible that this dude shits on my year in such a despicable way: first he steals the elections, makes me spend 12 months from hell with his evil and twisted arrogance and to mess things up even more, he comes to f* my life up at Juaco's concert. Mercy lord! Mercy!
Mariela wrote about the disorganization of the event. From the gender segregated separate lines that took forever to get people inside, to the rude and violent security guards and the general ambiance.
Cristian Cambronero in Fusil de Chispas contrasts two concerts that share one character and characteristic: Oscar Arias.
Miércoles. Reunido para oir a Sabina, un puño de gente aprovecha la ocasión para abuchear al presidente Arias y gritar consignas contra todo: el tlc. Una polada risible.
Viernes. Reunido para oir a Perales, un puño de gente aprovecha la ocasión para ovacionar al presidente Arias. Una polada per se.
El escenario: el mismo. Costa Rica. La polada, bonita.
Wednesday: Gathered to hear Sabina, a handful of people takes advantage of the ocasion to boo President Arias and yell slogas against everything: CAFTA. Laughable tackyness.
Friday: Gathered to hear Perales, a handful of people takes advantage of the ocsion to give a standing ovation to President Arias. Just plain tacky.
The stage: the same. Costa Rica. Tackyness. nice.
There's even a youtube video of the Sabina Concert with Arias‘ arrival.
Pancho Varona, who came with Sabina, wrote on his blog (via por la boca)
Resumiendo, todo resulta simpáTICO en este país centroamericano regido por un presidente premio nóbel de la paz que se llevó una tremenda pitada cuando Joaquín lo nombró en el concierto, ya que el presidente Arias vino a vernos.
Summarizing, everything is simpatTICO in this Centralamerican country ruled by a nobel peace prize president who received a remarkable booing when Joaquín mentioned him in the concert, since president Arias came to see us.
Uri Riddleman in Tiquicia's Blog  writes about the huge holes in the Costa Rican streets.
Julia Ardón writes about the cruelty of the well-to-do against the quiet dignity of those who scrounge and pick throug the trash to survive.
Also in Julia Ardón's blog, she writes about the increase in the free trade zones in Nicaragua.
El otro día vi los datos del salario mínimo en las textileras de Centroamérica . Mientras el nuestro es el más alto con $ 225 aprox por mes para cada trabajadora, el de Nicaragua es el más bajo con $ 72.
¿ diay? Cómo no se van a ir para allá las compañías extranjeras?
¿Qué hacer entonces para ser “más competitivos”?
¿Bajar los salarios, limitar las garantías sociales?
O más bien….hacer inversión social en educación, salud, cultura, infraestructura , telecomunicaciones? Para qué? Pues para que las compañías de afuera que vengan aquí vengan a buscar “calidad” y no “cantidad” de mano de obra barata y desechable…
The other day I saw the statistics regarding minimum wages in the sweatshops of Central America. While ours is the highest with aproximately $225 a month for each worker, Nicaragua's is the lowest with $72.
So? How could foreign companies not go there?
Lower salaries, limit social welfare?
O rather… invest in education, health, culture, infrastructure, telecommunications? Why? So that outside companies who come here come to find quality instead of quantity in cheap and disposable labor…
Gabriela Zamora Sauma in Por la boca:
El tratado de libre comercio con Estados Unidos (Cafta, por sus siglas en inglés) no le conviene a Centroamérica; no todavía. Lo dijo la Junta de Notables meses atrás, pero ya lo había dicho la Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU).
La ONU afirmó que el Cafta tendrá resultados poco equilibrados, otorga un acceso limitado al mercado estadounidense para los seis países de la región y compromete la salud pública y la innovación tecnológica.
The Free trade agreement with the United States of America does not benefit Central America: not yet. This was said by those selected to deliberate on the CAFTA and Costa Rica, but it had already been said by the United Nations (UN)
The UN stated that CAFTA would have unbalanced results, it grants limited acces to the US market for the six countries of the region and compromises public health and technological innovation.
SirenaCanta posts a recap of world events that sums up her perspective of the hemisphere's situation quite aptly:
Ganó Lula en Brasil (por suerte el castigo no le salió por la culata a la izquierda brasileña)
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Seguramente ganará Chávez en Venezuela
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Está Evo Morales en Bolivia
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Kirchner está en Argentina (que no es nada servil, no crean)
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Tabaré Vásquez en Uruguay (Como dice Sole, Tupamaro de verdad.
Yo digo que la gente espera más de él pero ¡se hace lo que se puede!)
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Ganó Ortega en Nicaragua
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Fidel no ha muerto…
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Guatemala no quedó en el Consejo de Seguridad
¡el nido de los halcones está alborotado! y como perdieron el poder se preguntan “¿y ahora quién podrá ayudarnos?”
Lula won in brazil (luckily punishment didn't ricochet to the brazilian left
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Chavez wil probably win in Venezuela
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Evo Morales is in Bolivia
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Kirchner is in Argentina ( not really that servile)
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Tabaré Vásquez in Uruguay (As Sole says, a real Tupamaro. I say that people expect a lot more from him, but you do what you can!)
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Ortega won in Nicaragua
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Fidel isn't dead
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Guatemala was not selected for the Security Council
The hawk's nest has been disturbed! and as they have lost power they ask. And now, who will help us?