The labor unions announced the strike will continue for an indefinite period of time, they separate from the acts of violence that took place in some areas this week stating that the same are carried out by outsiders that take advantage of the protests and have nothing to do with the movement (police authorities confirm they cannot link protesters to these acts and most likely they are carried out by criminals taking advantage of the circumstances); union leaders also deny (despite the existence of videos proving so), that some groups blocked the transit of the independence torch in different points of Guanacaste and Puntarenas and accuse the Government of “putting on a show”.

This Saturday the protests will continue in some areas of San Jose, Limon and Puntarenas. A group will gather at 9 a.m. in the Garantias Sociales Park behind the Social Security Building in San Jose, no additional information has been provided of other points of meeting.

The President of Costa Rica, insisted yesterday, that the doors are open for dialogue, and accepted the proposal of the Episcopal Conference and the deans of public universities to act as facilitators for a “preliminary reconciliation”.

The protests began on Monday, September 10 and have extender for 5 days so far, labor unions protest against the fiscal plan and demand that it is withdrawn from the Legislative Assembly where it is currently being discussed and that their proposals are taken into consideration.

The government has stated that they will not and cannot withdraw the fiscal plan, they affirm that the majority of the funds generated by the fiscal plan will come from the 10% of homes with higher income, no jobs are being cut from the public sector, and measures are included to cut expenses and limit privileges; “we will not discuss the base of the project”.

The Catholic Church proposed that “a preliminary meeting is called without conditions, for interested parties to agree in points of consensus that can lead to a formal dialogue to discuss the topics and fundamental proposals that have the best interest of the country and population at heart and resolve the public finances from ethical principals and not just economic bases”.

“If we do not have a reform, which we have delayed for many years, we will not have gas or fuel not because of blockages but because we wouldn’t have the resources necessary to buy them. We would not have the strength at schools, not because of the lack of teachers but because we wouldn’t have the income as Government to pay these salaries (…)”, affirmed President Alvarado.

Labor Unions stated they had still not received the afternoon of this Friday an official communication inviting them to a first attempt of dialogue.