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A.M. Costa Rica third newspage
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 40

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2970-2/8/07

Guest editorial
Consumer usually is the loser when protectionism is the rule

By Phil Mattingly*
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

What does avocados, Feb. 1st of this month and the Central American Free Trade Agreement have to do with each other you ask?

It’s a perfect example of how powerful interest groups win fights to protect their turf from competitive imports while consumers lose. Loud advocacy groups desperately trying to protect their financial advantage are waging this battle in Costa Rica now and the more important consumer voice is not heard above the fray.

For years I wondered why I could buy avocados in Mexico but when I walked across the border into the U.S., I had to pay 10 times more for the same fruit (yes, it’s a fruit not a vegetable).

Mexico is the largest producer of avocados in the world. Indeed its production is larger than the next four countries combined. So why were the consumers in the U.S. denied Mexican avocados at a much cheaper price?

The answer is a pathetic tale of greed and political power. In 1914 avocado growers in California got the federal government to pass a law forbidding importation of the fruit from Mexico. The reason given was, of course, that Mexican avocados were infested and would harm the crop in California, even though it was never proven that there was a danger or infestation. The California Avocado Commission fought aggressively and successfully any importation of Mexican avocados.

Twice in the 1970s and 80’s the U.S. government tried to pass laws to allow importation, but each time passage was successfully blocked by the politically connected and powerful growers associations. Mexico finally got fed up with their failure to export avocados to the U.S. even though they were having great success exporting to Asia and Europe and passed a law in 1992 forbidding the importation of sweet cherries from the U.S. (the West Coast being the largest producer of cherries, of course) for the same phony reason, harmful bugs.

Finally with the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1997 and after almost four years of difficult negotiation on the avocado issue, a begrudging agreement

was reached which allowed the importation of Mexican avocados into 13 northeastern states. The end of 2005 allowed Mexican avocados in every state except California, Florida and Hawaii.

Indeed, Wal-mart could import and sell Mexican avocados at their stores in New York, but were forbidden to ship the same avocados to their stores in California. This continued to protect the major market of California avocados, which was the West Coast, for the specific benefit of the California growers. If a small but powerful group can control the supply, they can control the price.

The winner was the avocado commission and the loser as usual was the consumer. Coincidentally the dreaded cherry bugs must have flown away with the avocado bugs. Mexico started allowing the importation of cherries in 1997 with the signing of the free trade agreement while the U.S. allowed the importation of avocados to the Northeast.

On Feb. 1, Mexican avocados were imported into California for the first time in 93 years! This is a shameful example of how a politically influential although small group can personally benefit by billions of dollars while the weak, unprotected and under represented consumer loses out.

One could make the same parallel of the much higher price of rice suffered by consumers in Costa Rica compared to the low price of rice produced in the U.S. and the battle to keep out the cheaper import that the Central American Free Trade Agreement will demand for the benefit of the consumer. Or the sugar producers in the U.S. who enjoy bought-and-paid-for import protection so they can charge almost twice the world price of sugar in the U.S. while keeping lower cost Costa Rica sugar from their shores.

All countries commit the same injury to their consumers for the greedy benefit of a powerful few. Costa Rica and the U.S. are no exception. The sheepskin hiding the greed within usually has “national interest” written on its flank. The louder the protestation, the larger the crowds, the more intimidating the threats simply means that the group has a lot of protected profits to lose and the silent, abused consumer the most to benefit.

*Mr. Mattingly of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a frequent visitor and observer of economic events.

Scouting marks
100 years here

Drummers provide diversion as they await the signal for thousands of Guías y Scouts de Costa Rica to step off in a Sunday morning march on Avenida Central to Parque la Sabana where the annual jamboree was held. The day marked the 100th anniversary of scouting in Costa Rica.

A.M. Costa Rica photo

Three suspects held as members of Escazú robbery gang

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Costa Rican police officials have detained three persons believed to be involved in a string of house robberies in the Escazú area. Police said the men were caught in the act in San Antonio de Escazú, west of San José.

There has been a problem with robbers breaking into houses, tying up and gagging the occupants and then stealing the victims belongings, said the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública.

The Fuerza Pública arrested the three suspects, identified by the last names Zúñiga Vega, Abarca Román and Fernández Muñoz, after finding them in a Hyundai vehicle Friday.

Officers apprehended the accused using a surprise attack.

The suspects, who were located at a Hyundai vehicle at the time, had no time to react to the raid, said officials. Police confiscated a 9-mm and a 38-caliber gun.

The arrests came as bandits were sticking up homeowners in San Antonio de Escazú. Somehow, police got word of the crime and descended on the home. The people at the home were not identified, but police said they had been bound and gagged. The suspects were detained as they loaded goods into their vehicle.

Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública did not indicate whether the three accused are suspected in the robbery of a U.S. diplomat's house that occurred Feb. 15. This particular incident involved three robbers who entered a house in San Rafael, Escazú, where they then gagged and bound the wife of the U.S. embassy worker.

Even here keeping your mouth closed is a great idea

En boca cerrada no entra mosca

“A fly cannot enter a mouth that is shut.” Of course, it is a very unpleasant thing to have an insect fly into your mouth, and to swallow a fly, for example, can be dangerous to your health since they are very dirty creatures. Therefore, this dicho teaches that we can stay out of trouble if we don’t talk too much. In other words, if we can only learn to keep our mouths shut we will be better off in the end.

Politicians, for example, often find this one of the hardest lessons to learn as the escalating war of words between Mr. Oscar Arias and Mr. Hugo Chavez would seem to indicate.

On the other hand, a certain politician with whom my family was once acquainted was famous for using this dicho as a way of getting out of answering questions put to him directly. He was also a master at double talk and avoiding giving real answers to hard questions. Perhaps that is why he was so successful at keeping his job. He was re-elected to his particular post more often then any other Costa Rican politico before or since.

But politicians are by no means the only people who have trouble keeping their mouths shut. A particular in-law of mine is what is sometimes referred to as “outspoken.” She always says what is on her mind no matter how misinformed, prejudicial, or insulting it may be. She is continually getting mad at this one or that one in the family and telling them off.

Then the next week she’s made up with that lot and is now angry with someone else. She’s a terrible gossip as well, and is always talking about things that are not her concern. I’m certain she talks about me, as she does everyone else, but I don’t want to know about it. As best I can, I try to remain on good terms with everyone in our enormous clan, and this often means keeping my ears as well as my mouth securely muffled.

When we were kids, we were taught that family problems were not the concern of strangers and we should not discuss them with anyone outside our immediate family.

The
way we say it

By Daniel Soto

Of course, my grandmother frequently warned against talking too much, but if you read this column often you’ll know that my sainted grandmother did not always practice all that she preached.

An amusing anecdote though it didn’t appear so at the time involved my grandmother and the death of one of my uncles. It seems that grandma was sick in the hospital when another of her sons came to visit her. He was warned repeatedly by my mother and her other brothers and sisters not to mention to grandmother that my Uncle Roberto had died while she had been hospitalized.

Even the doctor warned him that the news might cause her enough distress to kill her. Well, as soon as my uncle entered the room he blurted out the report that Roberto was dead! Everyone was shocked and dismayed that he would have done such a foolish thing. But my uncle explained that he thought it better that, should she die, grandmother would go to her grave knowing the truth.

Well, of course, she didn’t die. In fact the sad tidings were almost like a tonic for her. After that she could hardly wait until she was well enough to be going about the neighborhood telling everyone the bad news of Uncle Roberto’s death.

You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE!

DOS VISTAS . . . finally on the market...

Located literally on top of a ridge, a small mountain, the vistas are unequalled anywhere in the area.   Surrounded by mountains and volcanos, the panoramas stretch from the lights of San José and the Central Valley to the smaller towns further north, Sarchi, Naranjo, Atenas, and Palmares. This house and its location is truly one of a kind.

Dos Vistas is located just off of a well-
maintained public road only 10 minutes into the mountains overlooking Grecia.   The property consists of one manzana (almost two acres), private yet very accessible and convenient.   The property sits on a flyway for birds and flocks of parrots and literally hundreds of other species visit daily.

The home itself is spacious yet comfortable.   It consists of over 1,500 sq. feet, and over 300 sq. feet of tiled terraces.   There are two large bedrooms, each with its own bath.   The large living area, with larger two story cupola, is vaulted and the entire home features hardwood ceilings and gorgeous tiled floors. The kitchen is framed by custom cabinetry and granite counters. Just off of the kitchen, yet separate from the rest of the home is the pila or washroom. And two steps further is a rustic carport.

The home is surrounded by trees, coffee, grass and many varieties of shrubs. There is more than enough room for additional creativity, perhaps a pool, a jacuzzi, a larger garden, or a gazebo.

This home is truly one of a kind.   It is not huge. It is comfortable and the location is definitely pure Costa Rican.   Click HERE for additional pictures.

Come to Grecia and view Dos Vistas — before it is gone. $160,000

randy@cr-home.com toll free: 1-877-247-3014 local: 444-8716 or 841-5782

A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 40

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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 40

Investigators want to know why Costa Rican woman plumeted from ninth floor
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Investigators want to determine if a Costa Rican woman who survived a fall from the ninth floor of a Sabana Oeste condo jumped or was pushed. The woman is Xinia Redondo Zárate, 33, who was found by paramedics about 1 a.m. Friday at the Las Brisas condominiums. She was badly injured and went to Hospital	San Juan de Dios. A current condition report on the woman could not be obtained Sunday night. She was living on the ninth floor with a man identified as a U.S. citizen who was interviewed by police. The woman survived because instead of hitting the ground or concrete she landed on the roof of a parking shelter, attendants said.

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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 40

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