The Costa Rican Countryside- intense energy!
We headed out of the office at 7am, destination San Carlos, a city about 120 kilometers from San Jose. In addition to giving the delegation a splendid tour, the purpose was to take the latest flyers and stickers to offices there and around the province of Alejuela. By the end of the day we would feel, up close, the energy of popular participation in this David and Goliath struggle.
The intense traffic, from the outset of our journey until we left the main highway on the road to Naranjo, along with a couple of stops delayed our arrival until about 11am.
The scenery was varied and breathtaking.
Costa Rica has an incredible variety of vegetation and fauna. Once of the Pan-American Highway, the road is narrow and treacherous, winding up and down through a splendor of sensual stimulation. One lane bridges and an excess of 18 wheelers added a level of tension to the magnificent scenery. We passed an array of crops, starting with coffee, small plots of vegetables, a variety of fruits. As we neared San Carlos, we passed through wide expanses of dairy and cattle production.
My company for the trip was Jorge, the President of the Telecommunications Union, a key leader in the ‘no' campaign, and his wife, our driver. Much of the trip Jorge was on the phone, taking and making dozens of calls, learning new information about things which are happening and putting out fires seemingly all over the place. In between calls, he answered questions about all sorts of things, providing historical insights to someone not familiar with Costa Rica and drew an organizational chart outlining the structure of the ‘no' campaign.
Along the way, we saw signs referring to the referendum, probably a few more ‘no' signs than ‘yes' ones. When we finally arrived at our destination, the hub of the ‘no' campaign for the San Carlos municipality, a clear picture emerged of the level of popular support present in this struggle. The interests represented by each side of this referendum became glowingly evident in this office, called "casa patriotica", patriotic house.
Running the office is a dairy farmer and veterinarian who is a part of the Dos Pinos dairy cooperative. The cooperative, which produces 300 different products, is a huge entity, especially by Central American standards. Its members produce over 250,000 gallons of milk daily, and the cooperative purchases, transports, processes and converts this production into cheeses, yogurt and other dairy products. The cooperative also provides services to the farmers, including, but not limited to veterinarian services which the campaign head is paid to provide.
The campaign leader has taken this week as his vacation, to dedicate all of his time to coordinating the final days of the campaign and overseeing the observers and vote counting process. He is one of the 35-40 volunteers just in this office, who are the flesh and bones of this campaign. There are no paid workers!
The entire time we were there, the office was abuzz with a steady stream of people who were arriving to receive materials and coordinate all of the many pieces which will need to come into place in the next few days. The mood was calm, not frantic, but the activity was permanent. In the back there was a silk-screening operation, where arm bands, banners, and eventually t-shirts were being printed for the home stretch, between now and Sunday. They were young and old, farmers and students who all share the conviction that ratifying this treaty will bring dramatic negative consequences, and are contributing their small grain of sand to help insure that the referendum does not pass.
Our sense was that this is the scene being repeated all over the country. There are slightly over 4,000 polling places, so the organizing committee decided they would need 12,000 ‘officials' to oversee the voting and counting process. They have over 29,000 people signed up as volunteers to do this. Soon we will know how many times this energy and enthusiasm is multiplied through out the country.
As we neared San Jose on our return we learned of the latest scandal which had broken regarding the President, Oscar Arias. A weekly university paper broke the story this of how Arias' presidential campaign had been heavily financed by Carlos Slim, the Mexican telephone baron, and wealthy Central American families. This was in exchange for his promise to sell off public services, their principal interest being in telecommunications. Tomorrow morning there is a press conference at union headquarters, and most likely our next blog will feature important details which emerge.
Please stay tuned through out the week-end for at least daily updates.