by
Rigoberto Stewart,
President of the Asociación Limón REAL
Imagine that one had the opportunity to invest in Hong Kong at the close of World War II, but with the benefit of today's hindsight. For many of us the lesson proved by the thriving economy developed on that tiny, resource-less rock is as profound as it is obvious: economic freedom and prosperity are inextricably linked, and half-measures in either beg ultimate failure.
A new Hong Kong is in the making. The Limón REAL Project will transform the Province of Limón (Costa Rica) into an island of liberty and prosperity (REAL is the Spanish acronym for "Free and Autonomous Region"). This will be done by securing autonomy for the people of Limón, coupled with absolute economic freedom and other individual liberties. Autonomy, however, will not entail separation from Costa Rica, but a framework of principles that will protect individual liberty in the autonomous region.
Costa Rica is a small and relatively poor Central American republic wedged between Nicaragua and Panama. Its land area is home to approximately 3.8 million people, mostly mestizos, who are a mix between Spanish and Indian. Limón is one of seven provinces and stretches along the entire Caribbean seaboard. It accounts for 18 percent of the land area of Costa Rica but only 8.9 percent of its population (see table below)1. To put that into perspective, Limon province is slightly smaller than the State of Connecticut.
| Comparative Characteristics of Costa Rica and the Province of Limón | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Costa Rica | Limón |
| Size (km2) | 51,000 (20,000 mi2) | 9,184 |
| Population | 3,824,593 | 340,756 |
| Language | Spanish | Spanish, English, Indian dialects, Chinese |
| Predominant Religions | Catholic | Catholic, Protestant |
| Predominant Race | Mestizo | Mestizo, Black, Indian, Chinese |
| Annual Rainfall | 2,000 mm | 4,000 mm |
| Average Temperature | 24 °C (75 °F) | 29 °C (84 °F) |
| GDP/capita (1996) | $2,685 | $1,440 |
| Source: National Census of 2000 and data compiled by R. Stewart. | ||
In terms of climate, natural resources, and cultural and ethnic characteristics, this province differs so markedly from the rest of Costa Rica that it is considered by many Costa Ricans to be like a separate country.
The forging of the Province's unique ethnic identity began when the various native groups met the Spaniards whom Christopher Columbus brought with him on his third trip to America in 1502. Accompanying the Spanish were African slaves. A much later wave of Blacks emigrated from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands during the latter part of the 19th Century and early 20th to settle in Limón province. After centuries of persecution, the Bribris, Cabecares, Teribes and Guaymies Indians made Talamanca, in southern Limón, their refuge, living there on several reservations. There is also a large Chinese community dating from the days of railroad construction during the latter part of the 19th century. Over the years these groups mixed with whites, producing a large population of mestizos (Indian and white), mulattos (black and white) and zambos (black and Indian). Out of this singular interaction and mixture has emerged a distinctive Limonense character. However, such racial and cultural distinctiveness has inspired in the rest of Costa Rica suspicions and attitudes prejudicial to the province. This is also reflected in the attitudes of government officials, which helps account for the exacerbation in the province of bad government policies such as high taxes, low investment in infrastructure, excessive regulation, and poor public services.
From the days of the Spanish conquest, Limón has been Costa Rica's most discriminated against and exploited province. Even today Limonenses suffer unemployment, under-employment, poor health, educational problems, poverty and malnutrition. In 1995 the per capita annual income of a family in Limón was about US $1,200. Three years later it rose to US $1,440. During 1995-1996 both the unemployment rate and the number of poor families increased by 60%. In the following year, the latter rose another 15 percent. In 1996-1997, 26% of Limonenses were unable to meet their basic nutritional needs. Infant mortality is the highest in the country (16 per 1,000 births, 24 in Talamanca), and infant malnutrition in Talamanca, at 6.5%, is three times greater than the national average.
Why are the Limonenses so poor? The reason, historically, has been the absence of freedom, especially economic freedom. To illustrate, we need only mention the nationalization and subsequent shutting down of the railroads, the prohibition until after the First World War against blacks owning land, and the national government's stifling control of the economy.
Except for the banana industry, the Costa Rican government controls the economic life of the region and owns its most important enterprises. Government interventions in the economy include ownership of the seaports, as well as monopolization of importing, refining and distribution of petroleum products, electric power generation, telephone communications, and the provision of insurance. It also controls the social security system, which includes medical services (hospitals) and pension funds, and the now closed railroads. All of these enterprises are managed by strict political criteria that have proven to be a sure guarantee of poor and costly services.
Besides monopolizing the most important economic activities, the government uses its control of the regional economy to extract wealth for the benefit of other parts of Costa Rica. Thus the taxes extracted from the banana industry and the profits of state-run enterprises are not reinvested in the province.
This situation should provide enough motivation for the region to welcome individual and economic freedom. But there are at least two other reasons why the national government and the Limonenses should embrace this project. One is the pervasive unrest in the form of collective violence against the State, long smoldering in Limón. The other is the enormous economic potential of the region.
Because of worsening economic and living conditions, Limón has been a region of social unrest for the past 30 years. No less than six protests occurred between March 1999 and September 2000. In March, telecommunications workers, combined with several other unions, blocked the main roads in the province in protest against the telecommunications law then being proposed. In May, the Civic Committee of Sixaola, bordering on Panama, protested general conditions in that area by blocking the roads. In July, farmers demanding subsidies blocked the only highway to the port of Limón. In the same month there were protests again in Sixaola over lost benefits. In August 2000, laid off dockworkers joined with banana workers to demand supposedly deserved compensations; and in September 2000, unions at the ports, the petroleum refinery and other businesses blocked roads protesting the loss of perquisites. Undoubtedly Limón needs a solution before such violence escalates beyond closing roads.
The economic potential of Limón is enormous. Its tropical rain forests, both black and white sand beaches, exuberant coral reefs, abundant navigable rivers into the jungle, unique flora and fauna, and highly contrasting scenic beauty are especially conducive to nature-oriented tourism. Its rich, fertile soils offer an enormous potential for agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry. Moreover, it is strategically located to become a bustling center for such services as ports, airports and transportation, plus complementary services such as finance, insurance, telecommunications and electric power. This potential has hardly been tapped.
The Limón REAL project is not a wild-eyed lunge for freedom. Rather, it is a carefully formulated plan with a specific purpose. It was conceived with three objectives in mind. First, to develop the province and make available standards of living the Limonenses can now only dream of. Second, to assist the Blacks, Indians, Chinese and Mestizos to fully recover their liberty, property, and self-esteem. Third, to prove to all Latin Americans that liberty is not only morally correct, but that it works. Applied free market principles will transform the worst of areas into something wonderful in a short period of time.
Limón REAL is a project for, and about, the people of Limón. Its purpose is to encourage the Limonenses, through a growing grassroots movement, to declare the whole province an autonomous and free region governed by free market principles and individual freedom. The province will continue to be a part of Costa Rica, but with totally different legal-institutional arrangements.
Traditionally such projects are negotiated directly with central governments from the top, but that approach has seldom proved effective. The Limón REAL project will follow a bottom-up approach. That is, instead of negotiating first with the Costa Rican government, it will "sell" the idea to the Limón people, through an elaborate marketing strategy that will include, but is not limited to, disseminating written materials (project descriptions, books and pamphlets); meeting with organized groups of all kinds such as churches, clubs and unions; appearing on television and radio talk shows; presentations at seminars, conferences and workshops, etc. These activities are described in the Project Sequence section. Negotiating with Costa Rica's central government will begin only after the project is sufficiently accepted and embraced by the Limonenses.
The project is described in Dr. Stewart´s book2 Limón REAL, which covers many important details, including answers to these fundamental questions:
Autonomy is a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving prosperity in Limón. Economic freedom is the key. Autonomy will enable the cultivation of an institutional structure and system based on the free market and protective of personal freedom. Some salient features of a society so structured are listed below. Research data, supportive arguments and operating details are provided in the book Limón REAL.
In order to achieve autonomy for Limón, we anticipate a long series of activities. These will change as the project moves forward and new opportunities arise. The initial stages emphasize market and financial research and fund raising. The intermediate ones concentrate on marketing the project to the Limonenses and negotiating with the central government. The final stages will be devoted to preparing the citizens and businesses for autonomy and the actual implementation of it. The changes in project activities will be determined by achieving the following critical milestones: obtain the initial funding, complete the business plan, secure the project funding, obtain the necessary support of the Limonenses, negotiate a date for autonomy, and Autonomy Day itself. The project will proceed in eight stages. The following is a summary of each stage in terms of its objectives, expenditures, and time frame.
This stage is now completed. Besides formalizing the idea and publishing it in book form, it included presentations of the project before various groups of Limonenses and international conferences, publication of articles in a major national newspaper, preparation of a video and brochure, and initial distribution of the book in Spanish in Limón Province. It began in 1995 and ended in December 2000.
The primary objective of this stage will be to obtain from foundations, businesses and individuals the US$200,000 needed to complete the business plan, establish headquarters in the Province of Limón, and continue marketing the project from an office in Limón city. This stage began in January 2001 and should end not later than June 2001.
Work needs to be done in three primary areas before the project can be fully specified and accelerated. Legal planning will be needed to facilitate a smooth transition and to draw up the various agreements and corporate entities that will be part of the project. Financial planning will be needed to quantify the assets of the Limonenses currently held by the national government and to ensure soundness and fairness in the agreements and corporate entities. Marketing research will be needed to provide details of implementation. The culmination of these three efforts will provide a complete and viable business plan with the legal, financial and marketing details worked out. This stage will also include establishing headquarters in Limón, publishing a second English edition of the book edited for that audience, and engaging in preliminary marketing, primarily by means of flyers, pamphlets, videos, and sales of the book in both Spanish and English. This and the following stage will exhaust the preliminary funding.
Once the business plan is complete, funds will be needed to market the project to the Limón people. To obtain these funds, the finance committee will use the business plan, audio/visual aids, and the two editions of the book to market the project in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Europe. This stage will end when the funds are in hand and should take no more than nine months.
This stage will begin when total financing has been secured and will end when a critical level of support from the Limonenses has been achieved. Determining when this level of support has been achieved is not an exact science. Using all relevant sources such as independent surveys, petitions and membership recruitment, the Limón REAL team will identify when the Limonenses have embraced the project to the extent that the national government's cooperation can be reasonably assured. We expect this stage to take 12 months. This is where the bulk of the effort to secure the Limonenses' support will occur. These efforts will take the form of a wide array of marketing activities, each designed to reach specific segments of the population, to address particular aspects of the project or to address specific needs of the Limón people as a whole. The intellectual leaders in Limón will be provided with the philosophical and economic reasoning needed to persuade them of the merits of autonomy. But because the Limón people are in deep need of a sense of pride and hope for the future, the mass marketing effort will stress the emotional aspects of the project. It will also emphasize the practical aspects as opposed to the philosophical.
This stage will begin once a critical level of support among the Limonenses has been achieved. Independent research projects, signatures on petitions and membership in the Limon REAL Association will be some of the indicators used to determine when level of support has been reached. The object will be to use this support as leverage to negotiate autonomy for Limón with the Costa Rican central government. This stage should take no more than three months and will end when the date for autonomy is set.
Marketing Activities. In this stage the marketing emphasis will shift away from the Limonenses toward the rest of Costa Rica and the national government. While the groundwork for acceptance of liberty and free market principles will already be set through the activities of other organizations and individuals in Costa Rica, the specific emphasis on autonomy as a solution will be provided by the project. The purpose will be to strengthen the position of the negotiators by securing the support of the rest of the country. Some marketing will continue in Limón, and contacts will be initiated abroad to interest foreign investors in the soon-to-be autonomous region.
Negotiations with the Government of Costa Rica. Many issues must be negotiated with Costa Rica's central government. These will include definition of a Limonense, definition of autonomy and its characteristics, identification of needed constitutional and legal changes, identification and valuation of the assets to be returned to the Limonenses, and procedures to be followed during the transition.
These negotiations will call for hiring specialists in different areas to help negotiate details surrounding the national debt, asset transfers, changes in operations of certain government firms, valuation and transfer of natural resources, etc.
This stage will extend from the moment an agreement is reached to grant Limón autonomy under the conditions stipulated in the Limón REAL document to the actual date autonomy begins (Autonomy Day). Here the primary goal will be to make all necessary preparations for autonomy. This should take eight months.
"Selling" the Region Abroad. Selling the project abroad will entail making contacts with the international business community. It will include preparing materials, giving presentations to visiting businessmen, sending out business prospectuses, traveling to give presentations, and responding to inquiries from abroad.
Helping Prepare Citizens for the Change. Some citizens will need to make a decision whether to join the autonomous region or stay with the current system. They will inquire about the project and will need responses. We anticipate that inquiries will cover a wide range of subjects and we must be prepared to deal with them.
Helping Prepare Institutions for the Change. Autonomy will entail changes affecting the courts and judicial services; social security; the school system; petroleum refining, importing, and distribution; operation of the ports; institutions such as the Atlantic Coast Development Board (JAPDEVA), state banks, the National Insurance Institute, and the institute that provides electrical power and telecommunication services. The project will assist these institutions in making the transition as smoothly as possible.
Guiding the Regional Electoral Process. In conjunction with the national government, the project's board will set election dates and expedite the election of a governor and other regional officials. This activity will include a strong information campaign. Candidates must be well aware of what Limón REAL stands for.
This period will cover the transition to a free and autonomous region, the first 24 months of actual autonomy. It is described in the book Limón REAL as the transition period from Limón under Costa Rican laws and institutions to a free and autonomous region operating under the Founding Principles set out in the book. This process will not, and can not, be rushed. Each individual issue must be considered independently and timed according to its unique problems. Some aspects of daily life in the region will change immediately, while others will take time. Some of the more important activities of this period follow.
The Regional Government Takes Office and Begins the Transition. The regional government, comprised of the Governor, his cabinet and representatives of the municipal governments, will assume its duties from the first day of autonomy and will have such attributes, characteristics and functions as are established in the Founding Principles. Nevertheless, during the first two years of autonomy it will assume greater functions and powers than at any time thereafter. The temporary and extraordinary powers will allow the regional government to:
These eight stages may be considered in terms of the milestones and time periods shown in the graph below.
Just as the activities change as each milestone is achieved, so does the organization that supports those activities. The organizational structure began with the project's creator and one assistant. It is now progressing to a larger organization with headquarters and offices in Limón, and Task Force leaders and members in various parts of Costa Rica and around the world. Final organizational structure will consist of a board of trustees, a director general, a project manager, multiple Task Forces, a financial officer, office directors, market research specialists, and a well trained cadre of promoters, many of whom will be volunteers. With variation in size and activities, this structure will remain until the completion of the project.
Formalized and rigorously applied project management practices, such as Critical Chain Project Management, will be adopted. This is an important strategy, but left for the final business plan to specify. It is expected that under this approach, task forces to address the various obstacles and required actions will be organized and provided with explicit, easily gauged milestones and deliverables.
In addition to preparing a budget for each stage, we have identified three critical budgetary milestones: 1) initial funding to cover stages two through four; 2) project funding to cover stages five through seven; and 3) transition funding to cover stage eight. For stage one the budgeted figures represent total investment in the project through December 2000.
| Personnel | Office | Marketing | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 297,000 | 0 | 19,000 | 316,000 | ** |
| Stage 2 | 12,000 | 0 | 12,000 | 24,000 | |
| Stage 3 | 29,200 | 31,700 | 35,000 | 95,900 | |
| Stage 4 | 21,600 | 4,950 | 56,500 | 83,050 | |
| Stage 5 | 1,171,200 | 281,600 | 1,430,857 | 2,883,657 | |
| Stage 6 | 564,450 | 15,450 | 100,000 | 679,900 | |
| Stage 7 | 771,880 | 70,800 | 340,000 | 1,182,680 | |
| Stage 8 | 2,280,000 | 0 | 0 | 2,280,000 | |
| Total | 5,134,430 | 404,500 | 1,993,357 | 7,545,187 |
** The preliminary work was financed mostly by the Project leader, Dr. Rigoberto Stewart, with some financial help on specific projects within the preliminary preparation stage.
Three financing steps will be required to complete the project:
First step financing consists of raising $200,000 in donations and is the primary goal of this Preliminary Business Plan. These donations will pay for the legal and financial research and planning required to construct the Final Business Plan and associated legal documents. Since it is highly unlikely that the entire project can be financed through donations, we recognize the need to create attractive investment opportunities to provide the $5.6 million needed for the second step. The nature of these investments will be the primary subject of this section. Third step financing pays for the governor, his cabinet or staff, and the operational expenses associated with the two-year transitional period that begins after Autonomy Day.
Initial Financing
We have allotted six months for securing these initial donations. To mitigate risk to principal, donors are free to make stipulations such as holding the donation in escrow until we acquire the full $200,000. Otherwise, formal investment mechanisms cannot be offered at this stage. As we mentioned above, the main purpose of the initial financing is to research and design those investment mechanisms. It should be obvious to the donor, however, that he or she would be helping to create a future investment opportunity with unique and extraordinary potential.
Donors contributing more than $1,000 will enjoy monthly progress updates through secured website access, affording them privileged information and reports concerning the project. In addition to showing how their contributions are being applied, this information should prove beneficial to assessing and timing future investments in Limón REAL. Donors contributing $10,000 or more will be invited to a special financers day in Limón REAL where they will be updated personally.
Primary Financing - $5.6 million
The more important and initial application of this money will be for marketing Limón REAL to the Limonenses. This is an essential first step to pave the way for subsequent negotiations with the national government. Given the size of this financing, formal investment mechanisms are needed to attract it. Two possibilities in this regard are presently under consideration and are summarized below. It may well be that the financing research performed in Stage 2 will reveal additional options.
We should mention that anyone (including foreigners) should enjoy protection under Costa Rican law to invest and own property or businesses in Limón even today. Clearly, if Limón REAL succeeds, the tax-free, unregulated environment will increase considerably the value of such investments. However, these types of investments in themselves provide only peripheral support to the immediate needs of the project. Donors and potential investors are encouraged to invest in Limón through any means they prefer, but we remind them to consider the importance and potential benefits of directly supporting the autonomy project.
Regardless of the enthusiasm and optimism of the Limón REAL team, it is reasonable that outside investors will consider their investments high-risk and will expect commensurate returns. Hence, financing mechanisms similar to venture capital scenarios must be provided. Two possibilities are:
These two options are explained below. Additional research is needed to determine what other forms of investment might be available for the more risk-averse investor.
An important aspect of the project is the privatization of the assets the national and local governments will relinquish control over as part of the conditions of autonomy. These assets, as explained in the book Limón REAL, include national parks, highways and roads and their easements, offshore areas, and the surface and subsurface assets that these all reflect; i.e. land, water, surface and subsurface minerals and agricultural rights are included. These assets are to be returned to the Limonenses (and other investors) in the form of shares in a corporation which will manage or sell the assets. The ensuing income will be dispersed to shareholders in the form of dividends or the buy-back of shares, as appropriate. It must be clearly noted that the assets (surface and subsurface) of the Indian Reservations in Talamanca are not part of this package, but will be returned to the Indians alone.
The break-up of the former Soviet satellite countries saw several plans for transferring state controlled assets to the rightful owners: the citizens of the country concerned. The effectiveness of these various plans might be debatable but the intended purpose -- returning government-held property to its rightful owners -- is not questioned here. The same purpose is sought in Limón REAL. We have listed below several guidelines that will be used to help make sure this purpose will be realized in Limón.
A corporation (Sociedad Anónima) is the best structure to meet these guidelines. Corporations provide mechanisms for transparency, independent and reliable accounting, managing and protecting stockholders' interests, etc., that are compatible with these guidelines. Hence we have the concept of a corporation that owns and controls the assets in question. Investors in the Limón REAL project would purchase preferred shares in this corporation, and the Limonenses would become the owners of the common stock of that corporation, which we shall call Autonomía Limonense S.A. As presently considered, the Limonense would be required to provide evidence of their right to claim shares in Autonomía Limonense S.A., and would be asked to pay a small administration fee for the verification of that claim and for the issuance of the actual shares in their name. This design circumvents many of the difficulties posed by trying to distribute vouchers, yet preserves all the self-interested advantages of the Limonenses as investors in the project.
Given the scale and political nature of this concept (returning control of their rightful assets to the Limonenses), along with the fact that much of the problem to begin with is official corruption, concerns of mismanagement and corruption loom heavily. The corporate structure allows establishing a board that clearly has no conflict of interest with the stockholders. One possibility would be to contract with an internationally recognized accounting and management firm such as Arthur Anderson. Independent auditing and reporting are legally required under the corporate structure and additional safeguards can be instituted that make the S.A. quite advantageous for this purpose.
The issue of fairness to both the Limonenses and the other investors is also best addressed through stock ownership. We recognize the following situation: a) the assets under consideration belong to the Limonenses and b) the project investor is serving the function of securing those assets for the Limonenses. Hence there is no ambiguity or conflict with the notion of the project investors gaining part ownership in Autonomía Limonense S.A. as compensation. In other words, it is reasonable and required that the Limonenses pay fair value for the service of returning their property to their control. Presumably the only way that the average Limonense has of paying up-front for that service is through his or her ownership in Autonomía Limonense S.A. Again we stress that the board and management make-up of Autonomía Limonense must not pose a conflict of interest to any of the investors (Limonenses and project financers).
At present it is uncertain what the value of Autonomía Limonense S.A.'s assets will be. So the question of how much ownership in Autonomía Limonense S.A. will justify the financing remains unanswered. Conceivably Limonenses might own 65 percent and other investors as much as 35 percent of the company. Clearly the ratio must be fair to both the Limonenses and the other investors and will further depend on the value of the assets compared with the level of financing needed for the project.
A suite of pre-packaged real estate and business investments and investment funds will be established to provide some focused investment opportunities. Some investment packages will come complete with the legal and financial services necessary to establish ownership, residency and/or to become operational quickly. Those in the form of funds, will allow the investor to buy shares. Under this scenario when an investor buys in to one of these trusts or corporations or pre-packaged investments, a percentage of that money will be applied to the second step financing -- the $5.6 million needed for Project Stages 5 through 7. To the investor this cut (applied to Limón REAL) is little different than a marketing budget -- supporting Limón REAL applies directly to appreciating the value of the investment. These funds would be focused on particular economic sectors. Examples might be:
Any investment options, Autonomía Limonense S.A., Fund Investments, or others, must be equally fair to both the Limonenses and to the investor. This should go without saying but perhaps warrants special mention. The opportunities reflected by Limón REAL, although extremely important, are consequential to the goal of freedom and well-being for the Limonenses and not the originating impetus. This notion should always pervade one's consideration of the project. This is not to say that the interests of the outside investors should be risked or compromised, but rather to emphasize the importance of the hierarchy to the success of the whole project. The rights and interests of the Limonenses are not to be compromised in any respect by the investment vehicles. Besides being morally wrong, the project would quickly be lost if this were to happen.
Funding the Transitional Government
The transitional government will consist of a governor and his cabinet, as detailed in the book Limón REAL. Additional operating funds will be required for aides, travel, consultants, etc. We anticipate that these salaries and expenses will total $2.3 million. As the reader of Limón REAL can see, the concept and philosophical implications of taxes as presently implemented are antithetical to the project. Hence, taxes in the normal sense are out of the question and alternative funding mechanisms are needed. This too will be researched and specified through the efforts of Project Stage 3. Some possibilities are:
As part of the financial considerations, we must concede the possibility that, along with the transfer of these aforementioned assets, the project will incur liabilities consisting of a portion of Costa Rica's national debt (currently US$9 billion). The question of poor or immoral judgment in assuming this debt on behalf of the Costa Rican citizenship will probably not weigh heavily on the minds of the national government's negotiators. However, if the national government is able to make a legitimate argument that Limón should assume a portion of this liability, we will have to weigh that against the offsetting assets conceded to the national government (e.g., port facilities, refineries, pipelines, electric and telephone lines, hospitals, etc.).
We have made significant progress over the past year. As indicated in the project sequence, Stage 1 was completed in December 2000 with the drafting of a preliminary business plan. We are now in Stage 2.
Asociación Limón REAL. In order enlist the support of the Limonenses and other individuals, we have formed the Limón REAL Association. This entity, legalized and registered in accordance with Costa Rica's law on civil associations, is the body that will manage all aspects of the project. With just a little registration effort, the membership is already above 50 and growing fast. Foreigners are encouraged to join at a modest contribution of US$100 per year. The attached form can be used.
Offices. As part of the initial marketing effort (Stage 2), we have opened an office in Limón.
Website. Although it was originally planned for a later stage, we realized that a website is a good fund raising tool and have built one with the support of Barry Conner of America's Homeplace Inc. The address is www.limonreal.com. With a password, the business plan can be downloaded from this site.Task Forces. John Kingman has done a good job describing the task force approach to the project, the nature of these forces and the products expected from them. We invite interested individuals to read the PDF file on the website, and if they would like to participate in any of them or have suggestions, contact John Kingman directly at (JEEKingman@compuserve.com). He is managing that aspect of the project at this time.
Government. So far, there has been no negative reactions on the part of the Costa Rican government; instead there has been show of private sympathy on the part of many government officials. We have had calls from high officials asking about the project and eager to read the documents. One of the advisors to the President bought the book in an instance when the government was looking for ideas as to what to do to improve conditions in that province.
Leaders in Limón. Leaders in Limón are beginning to approach us with great interest and the project is being discussed favorably. As an example, the Cultural Civic Committee of Limón in conjunction with the Public Library have invited me to present the project as part of the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Limón. This will take place on the 25th of July. The organizers are asking key individuals to read the book before the event. A deep discussion of the project will follow.
Environmental groups. Over the past year, we have had several encounters and exchanges with environmental groups working in the province. Our point of view has influenced them to the point where they sent out a communique in which they talked about the province as a autonomous and environmental region.
Media. We have published several articles in provincial magazines and newspapers. There is a radio show in Limón called La Hora Brava which has been promoting the book. As a result, sale of the book in the province has soared.
Individuals. The reactions from individuals have been overwhelmingly supportive of the project. So far we have encountered only one negative reaction. It is from two women, very socialist but interested in Limón, whom I had asked to read the project and make suggestions. Because I put their names in the acknowledgments section, they wrote an article in La Nación to publicly declare that they were in disagreement with the project. We used this opportunity to present the idea to a broader public. Even this exchange in the country´s major newspaper did not elicit any negative official reactions.
Although we intended to offer investment opportunities at later stages of the project, mainly as a fund raising mechanism, it became apparent to us that, at this stage, a number of investment opportunities exist, and we would like to encourage Libertarians to take advantage of them. They include hotels that are for sale, reforested land, co-investment in banana plantations.
Libertarian Community. During our search for a place to set up headquarters, we saw properties that are ideal to form Libertarian communities in the province, now. These are large in area (300 to 600 acres), relatively secluded, nice landscape, affordable prices, some with basic services (electricity, water, telephone, sewage) others without. The idea is to form a community by selling lots (presumably of 5 to 20 hectares) to Libertarians. One approach is for the community to provide itself most of the necessary services. The price of the lots will be relatively low, especially for the initial buyers.
Asociación Limón REAL
P.O. Box 27-7200, Siquirres, Limón, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Tel (506) 438-0639
Fax (506) 438-2444
e-mail: stewart@racsa.co.cr
The mandate of this association is to promote the Limón REAL Project, which will allow the Limonenses to achieve the highest levels of material, intellectual and spiritual well-being.
Name _____________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Marital Status _____________________________________________________ Profession _____________________________________________________ Tel & Fax _____________________________________________________ E-mail _____________________________________________________ Nationality and Passport Number _____________________________________________________ Signature _______________________ Date ________________________
| Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? | ||
| Thomas Jefferson | ||
We make our own these words from the United States Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed ... with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
From colonial times to the present, we the Limonenses have suffered a long train of abuses and usurpations that have ranged from the most crushing direct slavery to the most offensive indirect slavery through taxes and multiple payments for services never rendered. We have been the object of lies, mockery, discrimination, pillage, violations of our rights, usurpations of our property, and restrictive governmental policies expressly designed to keep us in poverty.
a) The government appropriates our resources and then neglects the Province, leaving it deficient in infrastructure, housing, health care, education and other basic services, all the while maintaining exclusive monopolies so that we cannot provide these for ourselves.
b) Property rights, which are the foundation on which any edifice of prosperity must be built, have been kept ambiguous and even denied outright to some of the people of Limón. For many years the black Limonense was forbidden to own land, and later when it was permitted, the land was often snatched away with the complicity of government officials. The indigenous people of Talamanca have suffered the same fate.
c) Besides holding back the people of Limón from exploiting the region's comparative advantage, discriminatory tariffs and other foreign trade policies have raised the cost of food and manufactured goods, impoverishing ordinary citizens while enriching members of the political class.
d) Like other Costa Ricans, we Limonenses have no Bill of Rights. Not only does the Costa Rican Constitution not guarantee basic individual rights, but it violates many of the most elementary of them. For centuries, ignorance of individual rights in Limón permitted the direct enslavement of blacks, Indians and Chinese and the plundering of the wealth of the province. This same situation continues today in less obvious forms.
e) Government officials have taken over our economy, dictating and controlling every aspect of the operation of every firm. The suffocating blanket of imposed regulations frustrates the generation of capital wealth and ensures the continuation of poverty.
f) We have been kept in bondage by oppressive and confiscatory taxation. Money forcibly taken from us is used to enrich politicians, feed a growing bureaucracy, and subsidize privileged business enterprises including even multinational corporations.
g) Our politicians have destroyed our financial security by taking control of the banking system, falsifying the money, and plundering the economy. They have crushed us with fiscal mismanagement and created a public debt that will enslave generations to come.
h) Those who hold the public trust have corrupted our system of justice, creating untold numbers of technical crimes against the State and crimes without victims. By turning vices into crimes and sensuality into perversion, they have confiscated fortunes in properties without due process, manipulated the courts, and imprisoned thousands without trial. They have made true justice under the law impossible.
We maintain that the national government has broken its sacred promise to protect the life, liberty and property of the people of Limón and has instead become the greatest single threat to our peace and freedom. Far from acting as public servants, those in power have established themselves as our masters. We hold the restoration of our rights as persons to be essential to our safety and happiness. With Franciscan patience, albeit sometimes with desperation, we have awaited changes in conduct toward our Province, changes in the impoverishing policies. But matters have only worsened. We cannot and will not wait any longer. We must be recognized as human beings; our rights must be recognized and respected by all. We the Limonenses wish and aspire to live in a region with freedom and individual sovereignty where at last each person will be the owner and maker of his own destiny.
Specifically we want:
In view of all of the foregoing, and in order to give substance to our consuming desire for freedom, justice, peace, and prosperity, we the citizens of Limón hereby declare the political control of the Province by the government of Costa Rica at an end. As of today, we declare the Province to be a politically autonomous region with its own government and laws and having all the rights and attributes of an administratively independent territory of Costa Rica.
This declaration is made and signed in Limon City on this first day of January of the year 2004.
Asociación Limón REAL
P.O. Box 27-7200
Siquirres, Limón
Costa Rica
Tel (506) 438-2464
Fax (506) 438-2444
United States fax and voicemail number: 1-646-365-3155 (New York City)
e-mail: riggo@attglobal.net