Costa Ricans Vote on Trade Pact

White House Pressed for Approval as Heated Campaign Closed

A banner urges Costa Ricans to vote in a referendum on the regional trade agreement known as CAFTA. Costa Rica is the only nation yet to ratify it. (By Kent Gilbert -- Associated Press)

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 7 -- Costa Rica appeared headed late Sunday toward approval of a trade pact with the United States after a count of 88.7 percent of polling stations showed 51.6 percent of voters in favor of the trade deal. The balloting follows a contentious campaign marked by a scandal that toppled one of the country's vice presidents and a last-minute push for votes by the White House.

Costa Rica and five other countries -- the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador -- signed the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, in August 2004. But Costa Rica, the lone country to hold a referendum on the trade deal, is the only nation that has not formally approved it.

Leaders of both the "yes" and "no" campaigns said Sunday that turnout appeared heavy. At least 40 percent of Costa Rica's registered voters must cast ballots for the outcome to be valid.

Supporters, led by President Oscar Arias, who took office last year, argue that CAFTA is needed to stimulate Costa Rica's economy and would give its businesses greater access to regional markets. Opponents say the deal would hurt farmers and small businesses while creating monopolies and granting unfair advantages to large transnational corporations.

Top U.S. officials have played an increasingly active role in the debate. On Saturday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino warned Costa Ricans in a statement that the Bush administration would not renegotiate the trade pact if CAFTA is voted down. Earlier last week, U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab had similar warnings.

Schwab's comments drew complaints from Sens. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), who sent President Bush a letter Friday calling on him to assure Costa Ricans that "the United States is not threatening retaliation against the people of Costa Rica for exercising their right to vote." Sanders, the only self-proclaimed socialist in the U.S. Senate, traveled to Costa Rica before the vote.

Eugenio Trejos Benavides, president of the Patriotic Movement Against CAFTA, said in a telephone interview that the statements from the administration "are viewed by us here as meddling in our internal affairs." He accused Arias of seeking the White House's backing this weekend "in a desperate cry for help."

Alfredo Volio, spokesman for the Alliance for a Yes Vote, said in a telephone interview that the administration's statements are "at least a clarification" of the stakes.

"We have a chance to get on board a bus of development, on a train that has already been filled up by other countries," said Volio, who was minister of agriculture, economy, industry and commerce before resigning this year to lead the "yes" campaign. "Either we get on board now, or we don't get a seat."

For months, opinion polls showed CAFTA would pass. But in the days before the vote, polls predicted the issue would be defeated.

Arias voted Sunday morning as protesters chanted "Arias traitor" outside, the Associated Press reported. Arias has said CAFTA is a key to national prosperity.

Arias's confidant, Kevin Casas, who held the position of second vice president, resigned last month after a Costa Rican newspaper published a confidential memo in which he suggested distributing materials to "sow discord" about the motives of CAFTA opponents.

He also argued that a message should be delivered with "harshness" to more than 50 mayors: If CAFTA doesn't pass in their areas, they won't get any money from the government for three years.