No TLC, yea!

So I got back to San Jose this afternoon, after a week in the Caribbean Coast. I got off the bus, and walking along to the hostel, I see hordes of people wearing "No TLC" t-shirts and badges, carrying flags and all sorts of jazz. It looked pretty awesome! Apparently there was a rally earlier today to protest against TLC (which does not stand for tender loving care! It's Tratado de Libre Comercio, which is Free Trade Agreement in spanish. The internet is so wonderful!). I arrived at 1.30pm, just in time to catch all the people walking back from the rally. It looked like a really good rally though, judging by the amount of people walking in the streets with "No TLC" paraphernalia. The entire main street in San Jose was blockaded to allow for the protestors, I wish I could've seen the march, I imagine it would've been amazing! There was so much graffiti all over the city (yes, more than usual) against TLC, "oligarquía ≠ democracia" and the like. They weren't anti-bush or anti-USA as such, more pro-Costa Rica and national pride. Lots of people were wearing "Me ♥ CR" shirts and waving the Costa Rican flag.

So a bit of background, as far as I know, Costa Rica and the USA have a proposed FTA on the table. At first, an unofficial poll revealed that most people supported the FTA, something to the tune of 80%-20%. A few months later, however, the figure changed to 50-50 (I don't know why). So far, all the local people I've talked to are against the TLC, and I've seen more stickers and graffiti around the country that are against it. The government is putting it to the people, and there's going to be a referendum on 7th of October. Apparently, the current president got elected on the promise that he would sign the TLC with the US?! It'll be interesting to see the outcome of the referendum!