Companies that backed treaty are equated with Hitler on Web site of The Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados.

Session seeking compromise
will take place today


Today President Óscar Arias Sánchez will seek to form a coalition to allow easy passage of pending legislation that will bring the free trade treaty with the United States into force.
Arias and his brother Rodrigo, minister of the Presidencia, will be meeting in the morning with legislative deputies of the Partido Acción Ciudadana. Party leader Ottón Solís already has said that he will negotiate for financial help for smaller firms affected negatively by the trade treaty.

Solís supported the campaign against the trade treaty and even visited Washington to sound out U.S. officials on re-negotiation of the document. The treaty passed Sunday by 3 percentage points, in part because the U.S. Trade Representative's Office said that there would be no re-negotiation of the agreement if voters turned it down.

The Arias brothers also have meetings scheduled with other political party representatives in the legislature, including the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana, whose member Abel Pacheco, authorized the treaty negotiations and served as president when the document was signed.

Partido Acción Ciudadana, a strong opponent of the treaty, seems to be distancing itself from the more radical members of the No campaign who still are seeking to reverse the referendum vote. The Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados, for example, has a photo of Adolph Hitler on its Web site and says that Costa Rican businesses were concentration camps that forced workers to vote in favor of the trade treaty to avoid unemployment. The Web site contains a number of other stories that suggest the organization, which represents workers in the nation's government monopolies, has not accepted the outcome of the referendum.

The Partido Acción Ciudadana, on the other hand, is looking toward the 2010  elections where Solís will likely be a presidential candidate. The party could lose face with some voters if it did not accept the results of the referendum.

Dole says it will phase out
use of paraquat herbicide


Dole Food Co. Inc. said Tuesday that it is discontinuing the use of paraquat in its agricultural operations worldwide by implementing an immediate phase-out program, except in Costa Rica where Dole’s targeted phase-out program extends to June 30.

During the Costa Rica phase-out program, Dole will continue its practice of applying paraquat-containing herbicides only through mechanized equipment such as boom spray devices under supervised conditions, the company said. The herbicide has not been used in banana cultivation here since 2001, but it still is used on fields of pineapples.

“Dole’s implementation of this phase-out program responds to developing marketplace conditions in Europe and elsewhere regarding the use of this herbicide, while also balancing needed compliance with the local regulatory requirements,” said David DeLorenzo, president and chief executive officer of Dole.

A number of European countries have prohibited the chemical, which also is distributed under a number of trade names. Environmental groups said that exposure to the chemical can cause damage to internal human organs and also skin cancer.

Environmentalists also estimate the poisoning by agrochemicals causes up to 200 deaths a year in Costa Rica and costs the country $7 million a year in medical care.
Dole with 2006 revenues of $6.2 billion, is the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and fresh-cut flowers. The firm is based in Westlake Village, California.

Play planned for Jacó Saturday


The Little Theatre Group of Escazú will present its latest play, "84 Charing Cross Road," at Club Del Mar in Jacó Saturday at 6 p.m.

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