Oh shit. Costa Rica votes yes to US free trade deal:

[cali]

SAN JOSE: Costa Rica's president Oscar Arias declared victory Sunday in his drive to join a free trade deal with the United States, announcing on television that voters had backed it in a referendum.

"The people of Costa Rica have said yes to the free trade agreement, and that for me is a sacred wish," Arias said in a televised address to the nation after Costa Ricans voted in their tens of thousands on the measure.

Earlier partial results showed that with 73 per cent of votes counted, just over 50 per cent of voters said yes to the agreement against 47.5 per cent who voted no, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. Turnout was around 60 per cent.

The Central American Free Trade Agreement is to open local markets to US products but also boost Costa Rican exports to the United States.

<snip>

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/304456/1/.html

Let me be the first to say it: I don't believe this was a fair vote.

[comtec]

1. Hmmm... can you say DIEBOLD!?

yeah I think it's a totally bogus result. But where us business is concerned...um... yeah.. god help us all.

[cali]

3. something help us all.

And I actually had my hopes high that this would be defeated.

[Tesha]

11. The United States already does a fair amount of outsourcing to Costa Rica.

The United States already does a fair amount of outsourcing
to Costa Rica; why would the Costa Ricans oppose this?

Tesha

[comtec]

15. Because it'll bend THEM over now

and because it won't make things better for them, only worse.
oh well only time will tell. Maybe *afta will work for SOMEONE!

[RB TexLa]

2. And what reason to you have to believe it wasn't a fair vote?

[cali]

5. There was a great deal of opposition to it.

I don't have anything concrete. Just my suspicions.

From the article:

It has been accepted by several other countries in the region, but faced left-wing opposition in Costa Rica, where Arias was forced to call a referendum on it after more than three years of domestic debate. - AFP/ac

(love how they call the opposition "left-wing".

[RB TexLa]

6. And it looks like 47% of the voters voted against it.

[Maribelle]

10. Looks could be deceiving.

But what isn't deceiving is the heavy hand Bush threatened Costa Ricans with if they did not pass CAFTA.

[bryant69]

4. On what grounds?

Of do you have anything specifi to suggest this might be an an unfair vote?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Maribelle]

7. Many Costa Ricans believe the results have possibly been skewed. A recount begins Tuesday.

most polls leading up to the vote had predicted an easy defeat

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/WireStory?id=3701005&page=1


Yet another Bush mugging?

[cali]

8. Thanks, Maribelle, for providing

that info and the link.

[Maribelle]

12. This is truly not passing the sniff test.

And here we go with yet another manifestation of this totally corrupt White House.

[Benhurst]

9. I find it hard to believe the United States would meddle in another

sovereign nation's affairs, to say nothing of fixing an election.

As The Leader would say, "Let freedom reign!"

P.S. If anyone knows of a good bridge for sale in Brooklyn, please contact me. I'm prospering so in the Bush economy, I need a safe place to invest my excess capital.

[pinto]

13. Some background. Manual recounts are not uncommon in Costa Rica.

Arias, the current president, was elected after a mandated, manual recount. And, apparently, CAFTA, is as hotly contested as was this other election.

The 2006 national election was expected to be a landslide for former President (1986-1990) and PLN's candidate Óscar Arias, but it turned out to be the closest in modern history. Although polls just a week before the election gave Arias a comfortable lead of at least 12% (and up to 20%), preliminary election results gave him only a .4% lead over rival Ottón Solís and prompted a manual recount of all ballots. After a month long recount and several appeals from different parties, Arias was declared the official winner with 40.9% of the votes against 39.8% for Solís.

Since Oscar Arias returned to office, the political climate has been characterized by an increased polarization of public debate, mainly centered on whether to approve or reject CAFTA. Main supporters of the approval include the President's PLN, which has established a coalition with PUSC and ML in Congress in order to approve the implementation laws in Congress, as well as different business chambers, while the main opposition to CAFTA comes from PAC, labor unions, environmental organizations and public universities. In April 2007, former PLN Presidential candidate and CAFTA opponent José Miguel Corrales won a legal battle at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which authorized him to gather over 100 thousand signatures in order to send CAFTA to a referendum and let the people decide the fate of the controversial agreement. As the February 28, 2008 deadline to approve or reject CAFTA loomed, Arias decided to call for the referendum himself, and it is now scheduled to take place on October 7, 2007.


2006 Presidential Election:

Candidates Votes %
Óscar Arias - National Liberation Party (PLN) 664,551 40.92%

Ottón Solís - Citizens' Action Party (PAC) 646,382 39.80%

Otto Guevara - Libertarian Movement Party (PML) 137,710 8.48%

Ricardo Toledo - Social Christian Unity Party (PUS) 57,655 3.55%

Antonio Álvarez Desanti - Union for Change Party (PUC) 39,557 2.44%

Jose Manuel Echandi Meza - National Union Party (PUN) 26,593 1.64%

Juan Jose Vargas Fallas - Homeland First Party (PPP) 17,594 1.08%

Other parties 33,950 2.09%

Total (Turnout 65.4 %) 1,623,992 100.0%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Costa_Rica

[DU9598]

14. Inaccurate polling?

The final polling on this iniative showed 55% of the residents opposed to its passage.

Wasn't the presidential election in Costa Rica contested and questioned a few years ago?