Caribbean & Central America - February 2008 (ISSN 1741-4458)

President Oscar Arias was forced to appeal to the US and other partners to extend the deadline for the Cafta-DR trade treaty to come into effect in Costa Rica. The deadline for implementing the deal expires on 29 February and Costa Rica is the only member country to have yet failed to do so. Fierce opposition in congress means that it is unlikely the Arias government will be able to meet the deadline.

Only half of the twelve enabling laws, known as the "implementation agenda", necessary to complement Cafta-DR have so far got past the first hearing in congress [RC-8-01]. This delay prompted Arias to request a meeting behind closed doors with the leader of the main opposition party, Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), Ottón Solí­s. This was intended to expedite proceedings, but to no avail. Arias's decision to invite Solí­s to a private meeting was clearly motivated by his exasperation at the PAC's delaying tactics. He said he wanted to speak to Solí­s about his vision for the country's future to see in what ways it differed from his own.

Solí­s said he was willing to talk on condition that everything they discussed could later be made public. Arias responded tartly that their meeting in person would obviate the need for Solí­s to write four-page letters to him requiring lengthy responses with which Solí­s was never satisfied anyway.

Public opinion on the issue continues to be as divided as it was during the October referendum, which narrowly ratified the trade treaty. Businesses, however, clearly support Arias. The Costa Rican chamber of commerce, for instance, savaged Solí­s for obstructing the passage of the reforms as "shameful", "irresponsible", and contrary to the will of the people.

In the meantime, Arias has been forced to plead with Costa Rica's Central American partners in the Cafta-DR in order to have the deadline extended. He said that they would all benefit from the inclusion of Costa Rica - the biggest economy in the sub-region - in the free trade agreement. There is no existing mechanism within the terms of the treaty allowing for the extension of the deadline, but it should prove a formality if Costa Rica manages to gain the support of its neighbours.

• Drugs war

The execution-style killing of five men whose bodies were found in Costa Rica appears to confirm the warning issued by the country's chief prosecutor, Francisco Dall'Anese, about the growing influence of Colombian and Mexican drug-trafficking gangs in the country [RC-08-01]. The victims were all identified as Panamanian. These latest killings represent a sudden escalation of inter-gang turf wars, and suggest that the foreign cartels are operating in Costa Rica through local recruits.