By: David Morera Herrera

There is no doubt that the mass mobilization and sit-in last Thursday, August 6, both in San José and in other cities—especially in the west—is evidence of a healthy instinct among those masses (particularly the middle class) against the authoritarian drift of Laura Fernández’s government – Rodrigo Chaves.

Without overlooking that very progressive aspect, we must immediately clarify that we in the PRT believe it is wrong to join that sit-in as the tail end of the opposition bloc, which includes capitalist parties such as the PLN, the CAC, and the PUSC (responsible for nearly 50 years of neoliberal austerity), and the left-wing party (similar to social democracy): the Frente Amplio. Even less so will we mobilize under the slogan that called for the protest: the defense of democracy in the abstract, of a fictitious separation of powers, and in defense of a bourgeois state apparatus—the judiciary.

We can cite hundreds of examples of the judiciary ruling against the interests of the working class and the people, ranging from the attack on collective bargaining agreements, to the Constitutional Court’s (Sala IV) endorsement of Oscar Arias’s unconstitutional reelection, the approval of the unconstitutional Free Trade Agreement with the United States, to the labor courts’ continuous rulings in favor of employers. Furthermore, we must not ignore the privileges within the hierarchy of the judiciary, such as the secret election of judges—who effectively serve for life—by the Legislative Assembly; this practice must be eliminated, and their election must be subject to a popular vote.

It is quite another matter to defend democratic freedoms, starting with the freedom of association, which does not exist in the country—a situation exacerbated by the anti-strike law passed during the PAC administration (now the CAC) with the support of all the bourgeois parties with which the Frente Amplio has formed the Costa Rican Patriotic Pact. It is also right to advocate for due process in the face of the government’s repressive and authoritarian security measures.

But if we want to go further in addressing the demands and needs felt by the people, we must raise the slogans for fair wages, price controls, decent housing, quality health care and education, progressive tax reform, and opposition to the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank, calling for a moratorium on foreign debt to address these urgent needs of the people. Obviously, with the FA’s temporary allies, that program will never be put forward.

In fact, it remains to be seen whether the newly formed Costa Rican Patriotic Pact will be divided over the legislative debate on the bill to increase the workweek to 4 x 12.

We know that our position goes against the grain within so-called “progressivism,” which is based on the assumption that class independence is unnecessary today, since the urgent priority is to defeat homegrown “fascism.” First of all, despite its obvious authoritarian tendencies—which certainly must be curbed—the government is not strictly speaking fascist, since it has not eliminated every vestige of democracy or crushed all workers’ and popular resistance by force. Second, confronting the government’s dangerous drift toward authoritarianism—which is indeed very real—can only be effective if we organize and mobilize independently of the multi-class bloc and with a program specific to the workers’ and popular movement.