Women from Costa Rica and Central America gathered together in a celebration dubbed as “The Power of No,” which highlights the power that women have in voting “No” on a national referendum to ratify the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on October 7.

More than 600 women from Central America joined the “The Power of No,” a celebratory activity on women’s voting power against the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on September 29. Held in Costa Rica a few days before the country’s CAFTA referendum on October 7, the celebration was spearheaded by Women Against CAFTA (Mujeres Contra el TLC), a coalition that leads the mobilisations for the “No” vote on the country’s ratification of the CAFTA.

“We want to feel and celebrate our power,” said Maria Suarez Toro, one of the organisers of The Power of No, “Not only to give us strength before the massive Great Victory March convened by all the social movements as the final demonstration before the referendum, but to make visible the enormous and diverse contributions women and feminists, have been making to the Patriotic Movement against CAFTA.”

Flora Fernandez, leader of Women in White, an organisation that has been very creative in its opposition to CAFTA, said that “The Power of No,” is a wonderful way of saying “No to corruption, to the sale of our dignity, our beaches, our water, and our natural resources.” She adds, “Our victory will be when we know that we stood up to the political and economic powers of this country.”

Daysi Flores, a young feminist from the Honduras who came to the event as a member of the Feminist Observatory of Transformational Politics, said “I am convinced that this loud No to CAFTA that [the] Costa Ricans are shouting will be heard all over Central America. This will give us hope to continue resisting this new form of patriarchy [that] we call corporate capitalism.”

Women Against CAFTA expressed that they want more than victory in the referendum. “We want to be recognised and remembered by the rest of the social movements as a force that must have a say in the construction of the new Costa Rica after the victory.”

FYI: Why say No to CAFTA?

Despite enormous pressure from the Costa Rican and US governments, Costa Rica is the only Central American country that has not ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Women's organisations in Costa Rica have created the coalition Women Against CAFTA (Mujeres Contra el TLC) to mobilise for the “No” vote on the referendum. They reject CAFTA because of its impact in eroding the national Constitution. The country's Constitution is based on a social and political framework that emphasises the state's role in protecting of human rights, importance of participatory democracy and social services system involving the collective ownership of the commons—environment, water, electricity, airwaves, and telecommunications. If ratified, CAFTA would override the Constitution and lead to the privatisation of the commons.

Reports also show that women’s growing poverty has been a result of neo-liberal policies, including those emphasised in CAFTA. The reasons for this are that women have always been the “poorest of the poor,” and that increased privatisation has led to higher health and education costs, such that a growing number of families cannot afford proper medical care, nor to send their children to school. And it is women who take on the extra tasks as substitute nurses, caretakers or teachers, often in addition to working at paid jobs.

Source: “Women of Costa Rica organize to stop CAFTA and call for solidarity from US Social Forum” from Feminist International Radio Endeavour, posted on June 23, 2007, <http://www.radiofeminista.net/junio07/notas/cafta_banner.htm>.

Related article:
“Costa Rica: Grassroots women protests CAFTA, display quilt” from we! August 2007, No. 1 

Source:
“Hundreds of women came together to celebrate women’s contributions to the struggle against the ratification of CAFTA in Costa Rica” from Feminist International Radio Endeavour, posted on October 2, 2007, <http://www.radiofeminista.net/oct_07/notas/results_powerofno.htm>. >.