No business as usual!
Costa Ricans fight privatization of electrical
industry
By Rebeca Toledo
Protests, strikes and blockades gripped Costa Rica the week
of March 20, after the Legislative Assembly passed, in first
debate, the "Law to Transform Costa Rican Electrical
Institute."
The bill, known as the Energy Combo and opposed by the
majority of the people, is aimed at opening the state-owned
Costa Rican Electrical Institute (ICE) to private
competition.
President Miguel Angel Rodríguez was forced to put
the bill on hold for 60 days on April 2 due to the enormous,
sustained pressure from anti-Combo forces. Over 11,000 workers,
organized under the leadership of the Internal Front of the ICE
Workers, went out on strike and occupied ICE buildings
throughout the country.
Labor unions, student organizations, environmental groups,
dock workers and whole communities shut down the country off
and on for two weeks--culminating in a general strike on April
3.
Negotiations between these forces and the government are now
under way. But the opposition continues to demand that the bill
be completely withdrawn.
The Combo consists of three separate parts. First, the ICE
will be broken up into two companies, ICELEC and ICETEL, which
will focus on energy and telecommunications respectively. Then,
the existing state-monopolized markets will be opened up for
private and foreign competition, followed by ICELEC and ICETEL
seeking joint ventures with private companies, where they will
maintain only 51 percent ownership. The whole process would
take five years.
The people's opposition contends that once opened up, the
ICE will inevitably fall prey to privatization. As Manuel
García from the National Association of Public and
Private Employees says, "The privatization we've seen in Chile,
Argentina and El Salvador have shown us that far from being an
improvement, opening the markets has turned out to be a
setback." Costa Rica's ruling class has been trying to open the
ICE up for five years now.
State labor laws would no longer protect the ICE workers.
Private and foreign companies would be allowed to build in
national parks and preserves and use up natural resources with
very few restrictions. Energy, phone and Internet prices will
be allowed to soar.
Demonstrations against the Combo took place throughout the
country. On March 22 alone, there were anti-Combo actions
reported in over 40 areas of the country.
In the port city of Limón, dock shutdowns became a
daily occurrence, with a total paralysis on April 3.
Limón is on the Caribbean coast and heavily populated by
Black Costa Ricans who have been marginalized by the
government. Some of the most militant actions, as well as some
of the heaviest repression, took place there.
In southern Costa Rica, as far as Golfito and San Isidro de
El General, highway and street blockades stopped business as
usual. The tourist province of Guanacaste was also hit with
protests, as were Heredia and Alajuela.
And thousands came out in the capital of San José for
the daily protests from the ICE headquarters to the
Presidential House. Protesters blockaded the streets with
burning tires.
Belying its reputation as a peaceful, army-less government,
the state unleashed the heavily armed Costa Rican regular and
security police against the protesters. They attacked many
demonstrations, arresting, beating, and even shooting
protesters, including children.
In one instance, in the Pacific province of Puntarenas, the
police fired tear gas at a primary school.
The government, led by the Social Democratic Unity Party,
launched a media campaign to promote the Combo, trying to
vilify the thousands of people on the streets as violent
outsiders. But this tactic backfired as a survey concluded that
71 percent of the population supported the demonstrations.
The National Liberation Party, the leading ruling-class
opposition party, had been supporting the Combo but finally
called for negotiations as plans for the general strike were
gaining steam. It was during this time that the biggest
demonstrations took place.
The Internal Front of the ICE Workers has been the chosen
representative of the anti-Combo forces by the other
participating organizations. They insisted that the bill be
withdrawn before any talks could begin. It was only after the
60-day holding period was set that they agreed to talks.
Coordinator Jorge Arguedas said they would not abandon
tactics that will pressure the government if it does not
negotiate in good faith. They are aware that negotiations are
limited, especially since they have no official vote in the
special commission, but only in the streets.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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