Costa Ricans protest against free trade deal with U.S.

Around 10,000 Costa Ricans protested on Monday against a free trade deal with the United States, calling on the legislature to reject the agreement.

The demonstrators marched through the streets of San Jose and other towns to protest against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) that will remove trade barriers between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

There was no violence during the demonstrations that were supported by unions, teachers, students, farm workers and indigenous groups.

The protestors, chanting anti-CAFTA slogans and carrying signs that said the CAFTA-DR was unjust, rallied outside the Congress, urging deputies to reject the agreement.

Protest leaders handed in a petition calling on legislators to end privatization of the country's ports and what organizers called the "repression of demonstration."

They said they would return in greater numbers on Tuesday.

Rodrigo Arias, brother of President Oscar Arias and cabinet spokesman, told the media that the protests would not work.

"Demonstrators are asking the government to withdraw the free trade agreement from the legislature: a demand we cannot accept. This government is acting coherently, as it announced in its campaign for office. This agreement is needed by the country."

President Arias promised to pass the deal during his election campaign earlier this year.

All public services were working normally despite the protests, the spokesman added.

Costa Rica's Union of Private Enterprise Chambers and Associations shunned the protests.

Source: Xinhua