A Sad Commentary

Once upon a time the Caribbean port city of Limon was a tropical paradise. Sparkling, clear water, tropical foliage, picturesque houses, hotels, restaurants, and shops. Years of poverty, racial discrimination, natural disasters, and government neglect have left once lovely Limon in shambles. Still, the people of the area have dreams. The annual "Carnival" is but one attempt to bring new life (and tourist dollars) to the area. A new bus terminal for the Caribbean coast has been built in San Jose. But this is a very small step forward. United Fruit (now Chiquita Banana) has reaped huge profits by exploiting cheap labor and perfect growing conditions for gigantic banana plantations. Shouldn't this giant comglomerate give a little back to the communities from which it draws its wealth? Here's what Virtual Truth Commission has to say about Chiquita Banana and Costa Rica:

In Costa Rica, the banana producers took advantage of the wave of migrations following Hurricane Mitch to hire Nicaraguan and Honduran workers on their plantations. Hundreds of thousands of refugees, mainly "illegal", had no other choice than to accept insecure jobs and exploitative conditions, notes the ICFTU. A coalition of producers, members of the government and the Church is about to secure legal recognition from parliament for the solidarista organisations. These pro-employer organisations are virtually waging war on the trade union movement in Costa Rica, in their efforts to replace it. According to the ICFTU, despite the International Labour Organisation's repeated condemnation of the solidarista movement as an attack on the right to form trade unions, the Costa Rican parliament is preparing to open a debate on April 1 which could lead to its official recognition. IUF affiliates also report fresh attempts to set up solidarista organisations in Guatemala where the trade unions have previously been able to resist the spread of this form of anti-trade unionism