The president of Costa Rica, Laura Fernándezdismissed this Wednesday, October 28, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Indiana Trejosdue to the secrecy that, he claimed, surrounded the negotiations for the country’s eventual incorporation into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), reported teletica.com.
Fernández also ordered the immediate and definitive rejection and archiving of the process of adhesion to the treaty, considering that it could not put national producers at risk without them knowing the conditions of the agreement.
“I am a transparent person and I like to work with my cards on the table, openly and sincerely, and that is why I decided to remove Minister Trejos from her position and instructed that this treaty not be signed and that it be archived immediately.”Fernandez declared.
According to The Nation of Costa Rica, the differences between Trejos and Fernández were exposed a few days before his dismissal because they had different positions on how the agreement should be negotiated.
Trejos, according to The Nationdenied Fernández’s accusations about secrecy when negotiating during a hearing of the Financial Affairs Commission of the National Assembly.
Fernández maintained, according to teletica.comthat its decision seeks to protect Costa Rican families dedicated to livestock farming, dairy production, and small and medium-scale fruit and vegetable crops.
Trejos’ dismissal came after Fernández questioned the way talks to incorporate Costa Rica into the trade deal were conducted.
This Friday, October 9, Fernández called representatives of different productive sectors to a meeting to analyze the eventual accession to the CPTPP. During that meeting, ranchers, dairy farmers and farmers expressed their rejection of the initiative due to the possible effects on national production.
In that meeting, the ruler also questioned the lack of transparency in the negotiations and ordered the then Minister of Foreign Trade to share the content of the treaty with the sectors involved.
However, according to Fernández, as of the date of its announcement, the representatives of these sectors had not received the complete document.
