By IANS
San Jose : Thousands of Costa Ricans across the country have taken to the streets here to protest the free trade agreement with the US, Spanish news agency EFE reported Monday.
The demonstration was peaceful and protesters carried hundreds of flags with images of heart in red, white and blue (the colours of the Costa Rican flag) arranged to read “No”, signifying their rejection of the trade pact.
Costa Rica next Sunday will vote in a referendum – the country’s first – to decide on the issue of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
Participating in the demonstration were young people, adults and even children, all of whom shouted slogans like “No to FTA”, as well as peasants, union members, professors and Indians who arrived from all over the country to join the throng.
The rallyists were carrying placards and signs that said, “The homeland is not for sale”, “We know how to be free”, “We’re not afraid” and “No to neoliberal policies”.
The protest has been spearheaded by the Patriotic Movement.
Jorge Arguedas, the leader of the union for the state-run Costa Rican Electricity Institute and one of the organizers of the protest, told EFE that participation far exceeded their expectations of drawing some 100,000 people to the protest rally.