Costa Rica-Venezuela bickering centers on factory

[arcos]

Costa Rica-Venezuela bickering centers on factory

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) -- Adding to weeks of diplomatic bickering, Costa Rica criticized Venezuela Wednesday, saying it had closed an aluminum plant in the Central American nation for "political reasons."

Relations between the two countries were strained earlier this month when Costa Rican President Oscar Arias criticized his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez for assuming extraordinary powers.

Last week, the Venezuelan government announced plans to close the 10,000 ton annual output CVG Alunasa plant, which employs 400 workers.

<snip>

Venezuela's Universal daily cited Chavez as saying Arias and other critics of his rule seek to please Bush, "so they get invited to the ranch in Texas."

<snip>

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/02/22/costa.rica.venezuela.reut/

[DU9598]

1. I love Costa Rica

What a wonderful vacation destination ... but perhaps Venezuela should be my next destination.

[BayCityProgressive]

2. Costa Rica

is moving to the right. Right wing government, decline in union membership, selling of public sector, and free trade agreements. When the US is done with Costa Rica, it will be similar to Bolivia and Venezuela pre Morales and Chavez.

[CRH]

3. The vote that put Arias in office ...

was very close, and took weeks to determine the winner by recount. There is more opposition to the right wing drift than it might appear. A very big issue here was CAFTA, and the opposition was surprisingly strong. In the polls Arias was way out in front, but after election day everyone was taken aback. Don't right off Tico common sense, just yet.

[Peace Patriot]

4. I would never write off the common sense of Latin Americans after what I've

seen them do over the last 4 to 5 years--transform a region that has suffered decades and centuries of the worst fascist brutality into a region where democracy is succeeding like nowhere on earth!

Common sense: That a country's resources should be used to benefit the people who live there. Education, good health care, help to small businesses, land reform, and grass roots participation in government are good for everybody. They are the essential building blocks of LASTING prosperity and a good society.

Common sense: TRANSPARENT elections. (U.S. voters, take heed!)

Common sense: Regional self-determination and cooperation.

Common sense: The U.S. has no good intentions in Latin America. The bankers of the Corporate Reich have no good intentions in Latin America. The Bush Junta will bring back the death squads if they can. Unite--on political and economic fronts--to prevent that from ever happening again!

Common sense: National and regional sovereignty. The Corporate Reich hungers to control oil, gas, minerals, fresh water and all other resources in Latin America. So, let them invest, but make them pay just and fair taxes on the resources they extract or use, and retain LOCAL CONTROL of those resources--both for economic and environmental purposes.

Common sense: Mixed capitalist/socialist economies. Take the best from both. Justice achieved through peaceful, democratic means.

Common sense: A South American (or Latin American) "Common Market" and common currency (to get off the US dollar). First steps: Many regional cooperation initiatives--Venezuelan buyouts of Argentina's and Ecuador's World Bank debt--to get them free of the Corporate Reich and its onerous terms, and create healthy trading partners. Venezuela (which lacks food self-sufficiency) trades cheap oil for Argentine beef. Brazil and Venezuela build a new bridge between their countries over the Orinoco River, and plan an oil pipeline. Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina all help fend off US attacks on Chavez. Even Colombia's rightwing president refuses to engage in plots against Chavez. Latin America for Latin Americans! (Interesting what's happening in Colombia--huge scandal about paramilitaries, even as Bush heads there with a $4 billion check for more military aid, written on future US taxpayers' credit. Even Colombia now has a new leftist movement.) Growing unity among the many leftist governments (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua--and among the big leftist movements in Peru, Paraguay, Mexico and Guatemala--on certain themes: sovereignty, self-determination, anti-neo-liberal (Corporate Reich--global corporate predation), anti-US "war on drugs" (war on leftists and peasants).

When you have transparent elections, common sense prevails. You want to know why we have lost common sense--and, indeed, seem to have lost our sanity--in the U.S.? Just look into WHO is now "counting" all our votes, and with what level of transparency. Latin Americans are showing us the way.

1. Transparent elections.
2. Grass roots organization.
3. Think big.

[CRH]

7. Your post was spot on ...

with clarity and word economy.

The South American "Common Market" part of your post is IMHO, the brightest future and best economic alternative as neo con/neo lib globalization is exposed by it privatizing excesses; and exposure that, unfair foreign corporate competition with local small business has the 'Walmart effect' of consolidating the profits of local consumption, and moving the booty to foreign head quarters. The application of first world globalization of second and third world economies, has illustrated to many the overall design is economic subjugation. The wishful platitudes of rhetoric, that first world corporate economic investment will provide jobs and a greater standard of living for all, in practice is seldom realized.

There is a growing number of citizens here aware of this globalization trend, and I expect to see movement toward the principles of a Latin/South American common market, in future non computerized transparent paper ballot elections. It is in such elections, this common sense is able to use the experience of history as a beacon for future direction, and the paper ballots can be transparently counted and re counted, as common sense dictates.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Definitely glad to see your input, CRH.

Welcome to D.U., also! :hi: :hi: :hi:

[CRH]

10. Thank You Judi Lynn, ...

Your posting helps me find balance with the MSM propaganda machine. You are tireless. Thank You Again.

[arcos]

6. Welcome to DU!

Are you Costa Rican?

[CRH]

8. No, expat awaiting residency ... n/t

[bigmonkey]

5. I must be too tired.

I swear I started to wonder what "bickering centers" were, and whether we should have them here.