Second Vice President Suggested Unethical Campaign Tactics

October 3, 2007
San Jose, Costa Rica

DR-CAFTA (the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement) is facing serious controversy and resistance in Costa Rica. The nation will vote on the agreement in a referendum this October 7. Costa Rica is the only participating country that has not ratified the agreement, often referred to simply as CAFTA (in addition to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, participants include the U.S., El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua). If passed, CAFTA will create a free trade zone in which tariffs on some 80% of U.S. exports to the region are eliminated (most of the participating countries' exports already enter the U.S. tariff-free).

With just a few days to go until the referendum (the first referendum in Costa Rica's history and the first free trade agreement referendum in world history), controversy over a leaked memo has weakened support for CAFTA in Costa Rica and forced Second Vice-President and Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy Dr. Kevin Casas to resign. The controversy is a tough blow for both President Oscar Arias' administration and the pro-CAFTA campaign.

The memo in question was co-authored by Casas and Fernando Sanchez, a cousin to the president and legislator for his party, the Partido Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Party, or PLN). In the document, Casas and Sanchez outlined a list of suggestions for the pro-CAFTA campaign that included unethical and even illegal strategies.
Among other things, the authors suggested using fear to influence voters, tying the anti-CAFTA movement to Latin American leftists like Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Daniel Ortega, threatening to deny federal funding to municipal governments that fail to secure a "yes" vote, and not reporting pro-CAFTA campaign efforts by government officials to the election authority, the Supreme Elections Tribunal, or TSE.

The memo has been widely criticized by both pro- and anti-CAFTA officials. After first claiming an invasion of their privacy, both Casas and Sanchez apologized for their suggestions, saying they were "regrettable" and written in the heat of anger after a physical confrontation with anti-CAFTA protestors at a debate.

Kevin Casas and the Ministry of Planning are being investigated by the TSE, which condemned the memo. President Arias' brother and right-hand man, Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias, says none of the suggestions in the memo were put into practice, however.

Though Casas was considered one of the promising young stars of Arias' administration (he was voted one of the "most distinguished world leaders under 40" by the World Economic Forum in January 2007), his resignation was welcomed by leaders of his own party and the pro-CAFTA movement, which is working to get past the incident quickly and counteract negative publicity.

In the last poll taken before the memo was leaked, a majority of Costa Ricans said they were in favor of CAFTA. A more recent poll-published after the debacle, in the last week of September-shows the country is now split almost exactly down the middle.

The pro-CAFTA campaign is also suffering thanks to a recent visit to Costa Rica by two U.S. Democrats, Congressman Mike Michaud from Maine and Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, whose comments actually encouraged citizens to vote against the treaty. The two hinted that the U.S. would be willing to negotiate a new, bilateral trade agreement with Costa Rica in the future.

Your Latin America Insider,

Suzan Haskins
for International Living

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