Just after midnight on April 5, weary government and civic representatives inked a deal that put a halt to three weeks of sometimes violent national strikes in Costa Rica. The strikes were the largest mass protests seen in this Central American country in 30 years.
Protesters clad in bright yellow T-shirts and bandannas were a common sight in the streets during the demonstrations. The colour symbolised solidarity with the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), which stood at the centre of the controversial legislative bill that sparked the protests. April 5's early morning agreement places that contentious piece of legislation into a review process that may last up to 150 days.
Commonly known as the "ICE Combo", the bill proposes to privatise the state-owned electricity and telecommunications industries. Few argue that the services don't need improvement, but opponents say the bill is too deeply tied to the personal financial interests of several political families. They also say passage of the bill will lead to significant rate increases, job cuts, and the exploitation of Costa Rica's famed natural parks through the unregulated construction of hydro-electric projects.
The overall worry is that such government initiatives invite rapid privatisation, ownership of major business by foreign companies and, some say, the elimination of the middle class as wealth concentrates in elite hands. The common chant during the protests was "Costa Rica is not for sale!".
But some worry the 150-day review period will not result in significant changes to the ICE Combo bill.
"I'm not very happy about the agreement we had [April 5], because it does not give us [any sort of] assurance[s]. I think the government will do the way they want, and it is just a farce that they want to listen to us", says Maria Elena Fournier, the president of the Yisqui Conservationist Association, one of the groups opposed to the bill. "I have a feeling that if the government is going to lie again, people maybe think about how to throw out this government. Some groups are talking about that. People are getting tired, we are getting tired of them always telling lies."
Popular objections were voiced during the five years the bill was under development. Despite this, the Congress overwhelmingly passed the privatisation legislation on March 20 during initial debate even as thousands of protesters massed outside the doors of the legislative assembly.
In the days following the vote, Costa Ricans from various economic and social backgrounds joined in peaceful strikes and road blockades across the country. The protests culminated in a march down the central street of the capital city of San Jose on March 24, in which 50,000 to 100,000 people participated.
Sporadic violence did break out. In the first week of demonstrations, riot police confronted hundreds of students blocking an intersection near the University of Costa Rica. The police lobbed tear gas and beat several protesters. More than 50 students were arrested. A human rights complaint has been filed.
One man died as a result of the protests and five others received bullet wounds. The violence broadcast on television sparked public outrage in this country know worldwide for its promotion of peace and also forced government officials to consider talks with civic leaders.
If negotiations had not succeeded on April 5, protest organisers indicated that a "huelga con brazos caidos", (a strike with broken arms), may have been staged, in which all civil employees refused to work. Several unions had already called on their members to strike when the agreement to take the ICE Combo out of Congress put a halt to the protests.
Even so, many predict the recent protests prefigure more social unrest. The average citizen can recite a long litany on government corruption, fraud, and mismanagement. Already the social security workers' union has taken impetus from the ICE Combo protests to stage their own strike.
During the 1980s, neo-liberal economic policies increased social discontent and labour tensions. In the last decades, several state-run enterprises have been fully or partially privatised. The current Costa Rican president, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, was elected on the platform that he would push forward with plans to privatise national banks, the state-run insurance company and the national brewery.
The Costa Rican government has long wanted to distinguish itself from its troubled Central American neighbours and aggressively courts US investments.
"I believe that [the government has] been caught in the wave of this new trend in the world about globalisation and privatisation. They believe that Costa Rica has to change, has to give up in terms of the welfare state", Costa Rican sociologist Emilio Vargas says. "They argue that the welfare state has already played out its function and at this moment it is more an obstacle to development than an incentive to development. The popular movement disagrees with that interpretation."
Vargas went on to say that Costa Ricans are very proud of the social development achieved in the last 50 years, due in part, to the socialised state system. When services are privatised "the capacity of the people to buy services is very limited as compared to the people of the developed countries", he said. "We believe that the strategies of development in these types of countries should not be the same as those strategies of development chosen by the developed countries."
Central-left congressman Jose Merino was one of the few to vote against the ICE Combo last month. He feels the recent strikes are historically significant for the whole Latin American region.
"I hope that the international community takes notice of this example that has taken place in Costa Rica for the rest of Latin America. [Those countries] could also suffer a great deterioration to their societies with the continual application of this kind of capitalist development", he said. "Today we are questioning [economic] liberalisation by institutions like the IMF and the World Bank, because it seems that they have brought with them more inequality, more poverty, more social and political destabilisation to our continent."
Meanwhile, the agreement signed guarantees that the government will not take reprisals against protesters. Activists hope that after the 150-day review period the ICE Combo, or at least its most controversial provisions, will be taken out of Congress.
"We are not sure if the Combo is already dead. We are going to work very close to make sure that the Combo does not re-emerge", Fournier said. "I hope that the government is going to be transparent and let the people of Costa Rica talk about what we want for the future."
[The author works for Radio for Peace International in Costa Rica. Visit <http://www.rpfi.org>.]
BY MEGAN STACY