Costa Rica in 2004

Costa Rica in 2004

Area: 51,100 sq km (19,730 sq mi)
Population (2004 est.): 4,252,000
Capital: San José
Head of state and government: President Abel Pacheco de la Espriella

For much of 2004, national attention in Costa Rica was riveted on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States. By late 2003 bilateral negotiations had reached an impasse, and there were growing hints that Costa Rica would be excluded from the agreement, but in January 2004 the differences were smoothed over. The main sticking point had been the U.S. insistence that Costa Rica’s state-run monopolies in telecommunications—including cell phones and the Internet—as well as electric power and insurance, be opened to competition. By the terms of the agreement struck with the U.S., state monopoly status in these areas would be removed by 2011.

Pres. Abel Pacheco de la Espriella had a hard year. Although economic growth was in the 4–5% range, inflation reached an annual level of 13%—its highest rate in six years—the legislature was unable to pass a deficit-reduction package, and many sectors of the population refused to accept the terms of the CAFTA agreement. The legislature had not yet acted on CAFTA, but the agreement was stalled in the U.S. Congress as well. By August 2004 much of the country was paralyzed by a national strike that involved sectors as diverse as schoolteachers and truckers; the administration was forced to make concessions. Once again in 2004 Pacheco’s administration was hit by a wave of cabinet resignations. Many Costa Ricans were already focused on the February 2006 presidential election. In March 2004 former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias Sánchez announced his candidacy on a platform to transform Costa Rica into Latin America’s “first developed country.” In October a wave of scandals rocked the country and resulted in the arrest of two former presidents who were accused of taking bribes.

by: Mitchell A. Seligson