Michael Soto, Minister of Security, said that the unions are promoting violent acts in the presence of international media, so that they record violence against trade unionists, who have held a strike against the tax reform for 25 days.
According to Soto, a video recorded on Wednesday on the southern border with Panama allows them to accuse at least one union leader of inciting police so that the media of other countries capture the actions of the officers.
In the images, according to the minister, two buses with indigenous people arrive and the union leaders place them at the head of the demonstration. One of the leaders, already identified and accused, states that they are placed at the head of the demonstration “because they cannot be attacked or beaten.”
In that same video you can see how the leader of the demonstration tells the people who are there and asks the police to attack them because at that moment there is an international press and for everyone to see how violent Costa Ricans are, which I absolutely reject,”
said Soto.
This is not the first time that the international press seems attractive to trade unions to broadcast their messages. On Thursday Albino Vargas, secretary general of the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP), celebrated that journalists from other countries will cover the “impressive demonstration” scheduled for this Friday.
The trade union movement has negatively impacted the international image of Costa Rica. The experience of some tourists in the country has been bad due to the strike, according to the National Chamber of Tourism. Hotels in Limón, for example, have suffered the cancellation of 75% of reservations and travel agencies report a 50% decrease in weekly sales.
Germany issued a warning to tourists about the situation in Costa Rica. Through its German Information Center for Latin America they indicated that
the security forces are taking measures against the blockades of streets and violent conflicts cannot be ruled out.”