...the corruption and strong-arm tactics used by Costa Rica's rich elite to shove CAFTA down the throats of workers and the poor, and the militarization of the formerly demilitarized Costa Rica, with U.S. "war on drugs" naval maneuvers, this incident does not surprise me. The elites of both countries consider smashing unions to be a top priority in their war on the poor.

Witness Colombia, where the "war on drugs" was used to slaughter thousands of trade unionists, human rights workers, teachers, community activists, poor peasant farmers and others, and to displace FIVE MILLION peasant farmers from their lands, by state terror--THE worst human displacement crisis on earth. All this was prep for U.S. "free trade for the rich" in Colombia. Bush Jr. accomplished the first--the murder and mayhem. Obama followed up with the U.S./Colombia trade agreement--in typical Republican/Democratic leadership collusion.

Labor unions provided the front line of resistance to CAFTA ("free trade for the rich&quot in Costa Rica. That is why they are being repressed. And, believe me, this policy originates in Washington DC. It is part and parcel of the U.S. "circle the wagons" strategy--defining and conquering a region of influence--the Central America/Caribbean region--against the growing power of the Left in South America, where leftist governments have been elected and/or re-elected in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru--and will likely be elected in Chile next time round--and where leftist policies, such as universal education, universal health care and "south-south" trade and cooperation hold sway and are being institutionalized in organizations such as CELAC (a new LatAm-wide movement toward integration).

The U.S. wants to include Venezuela, with its huge oil reserves (twice Saudi Arabia's) and Nicaragua (where the Sandanistas were elected) in their "circle the wagons" region. This is one reason for the billions of our tax dollars that the CIA, the USAID, the Pentagon, the State Department and others are spending to topple Venezuela's leftist government and to undermine and slander Nicaragua's government as well. The Miami mafia reps in Congress stated their intention to push for war on these countries in late 2010 even before the Diebold Congress was seated. Look at a map. Venezuela and Nicaragua form part of the southern rim of this U.S. "circle the wagons" region. Venezuela's oil is particularly needed to fuel the great U.S. war machine and corporate globalization. Its government was also the leader in forming the ALBA trade group, in opposition to CAFTA and NAFTA. ALBA's goals are social justice and empowerment, by means of concerted action, of the smaller, weaker countries in this region. (It is notable that, after the U.S.-supported rightwing coup in Honduras, the coup government withdraw Honduras from ALBA, despite considerable benefits of membership.)

Costa Rica is a lynchpin of U.S. efforts to reconquer Latin America for our Corporate Rulers and War Profiteers. This raid on the labor union office is no accident--and no merely local event (for instance, over-zealous prosecutors). It is part of much bigger strategy of Roman...er... U.S. conquest and domination.