“Costa Rican Democracy, Oppositional Movements,
and the Central American Free Trade Agreement”
Tuesday, February 28th, 7pm
Room 5414
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue, NY NY 10016
This event is free and open to the public (bring a photo ID for building admission)!
With Jeremy Rayner and Andres Leon
In October of 2007, mounting contention over the Central American Free Trade Agreement in Costa Rica culminated in a historic referendum, pitting the decentralized, grassroots movement of the “No” against a “SÍ” campaign supported by big businesses together with the Costa Rican and US governments. This panel will discuss the significance of CAFTA for Central America as well as the contention over the treaty’s ratification in Costa Rica. We will explore how this conflict over “free trade” contributed to the creation of new political subjectivities and forms of political participation, while raising fundamental questions about the meaning of democracy and popular sovereignty in the context of neoliberal globalization.
Endorsed by:
Occupy Wall Street Latin American
Committee for Globalization and Social Change