Download Masters' Thesis on Coastal Tourism in Costa Rica and Social Conflicts
Abstract:
This work aims to contribute to the debate on social conflicts
generated by coastal development and the process of land tenure reform as a conflict
resolution mechanism. We will present the case of the Territorios Costeros
Comunitarios reform movement (TECOCOS) currently mobilized in Costa Rica and
integrated by over 60 coastal communities. This reform movement initiated in
reaction to a recent wave of planned evictions threatening specific coastal
communities on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, following a decade of aggressive
coastal tourism development. The TECOCOS movement has produced two historic
law projectsthat are currently in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica.
Since the majority of the social conflicts on the coasts of Costa Rica find their
roots in the legal and regulatory framework (which includes the coastal land tenure
system) and tourism policies, thisthesis will attempt to demonstrate how the legal and
institutional arrangements as well as the international trends in the tourism industry
have led to unsustainable coastal development triggering the creation of a unified
front of coastal communities demanding for social change and the recognition of their
economic, social and cultural rights.
Conclusion:
Tourism and Globalization continually attempt to create new markets in
remote areas of the planet and integrate them within the world-economy. Traditional
tourism and residential tourism are highly land and resource intensive and in order for
the global capitalist system to meet its need of continual growth within a finite planet,
the most remote places become areas of struggle in between those who traditionally
lived on the land and those who want to acquire it for development. As international
capital poursinto Costa Rica in the form of FDI and foreigners are encouraged by the
legal framework and agencies to buy land as well as build secondary homes, perverse
incentives build around the discrimination and exclusion of local communities. A
process starts, allowing certain groups to accumulate land while others are
dispossessed, redefining territory and leading to an increase in gentrification to the
degree where foreigner enclaves become common sightings and alien cultures,
dominant.
In Costa Rica, the tourism industry has gotten its grip upon a big proportion of
the coastal land with the backing of the ICT and the law No
6043. There are several models of development that have gained momentum on the coasts of Costa Rica following the international trends of the tourism industry and real estate speculation:
coastal resort tourism and vacation homes/residential tourism. Due to a substantial
increase in FDI inflows since 2002-2003, the creation of a second international
airport; Costa Rica, a country marketed as a safe investing environment by the many
foreign real estate corporations, has seen a boom in coastal real estate development
along with its many associated socio-environmental impacts. It is important to note
that this boom also coincided with the real estate speculative bubble in the United
States. With such precipitated growth, Costa Rica was not able to create orderly and
balanced development on the coast due to the inappropriate institutional arrangements
and legal frameworks.
The current tourism development is being justified or “touted” for the benefits
that are allegedly, directly and indirectly, benefiting locals, and by the amount of
export dollars the industry is generating. The downsides of tourism however, are
rarely discussed and the ICT appears to be shying away from an honest national
discussion about tourism, environmental degradation and the exponential use of
national resources by foreigners. The lack of an open discussion is a consequence of
the many antagonistic interests the ICT has with other members of the Costa Rican
society including the local coastal communities, environmental and Human Rights
NGOs. The lack of honest debates is best exemplified in the opinion article written by
ex-deputy and ex-first Lady Mrs. Penón in La Nación (Penón, 2011) disapproving the
fact that no government officials19 or ICT official participated in an international
conference held in Monteverde on global trends and sustainable tourism with a worldrenowned speaker and an international crowd in attendance.
The main area of contention is the law No 6043 and the power given to the Costa Rican Tourist Board (ICT). This law put in place a concession system
prioritizing the use of coastal land for tourism activities. The majority of land use
plans implemented are not tools for integral development of the coast but promote a
lopsided development favoring economic growth policies, foreigner enclaves and
foreign owned business. This lopsided development has created many conflicts
including conflicts related to the recognition of coastal culture and the right for
communities to live on the coast. The ICT, however, only recognizes coastal
communities to a bare minimum and doesn’t recognize the specificity of their culture
nor does it value their right to live on the coast. The tourism-related conflicts are
19 besides the minister of culture present at the closing ceremony
sustained by the lack of honest debates and transparency on important issues relating
to coastal development.
The ICT’s main stance contends that the coastal zone needs to contribute to
the “tourism heritage” of the country and serves to complement Costa Rica’s tourism
product by offering the 3S (Sea, Sun, Sand) to tourists. The ICT often reaffirms its
legitimacy given, although contested by actors of civil society, from the legal
framework established by the law No 6043 of March 2nd 1977. This is the reason why the law No 6043 and the institutional goals of the ICT are central to the debate of the
preservation of coastal communities and their cultural heritage.
The TECOCOS reform movement started in 2008 with the creation of Frente
Nacional de Comunidades Costeras Amenazadas por Políticas de Extinción. This
group of coastal communities decided that the legislative process was the best
solution towards protecting the interests of the coastal communities. Since 2008,
coastal communities have combined their resources to stop the wave of coastal
evictions taking place in the Terrestrial and Maritime Zones (linked to residential
tourism and conventional beach tourism) by partnering with deputies of the legislative
assembly and many associations from Costa Rica’s vibrant civil society. They have
formulated rational goals which can be found in the two law projects that entered the
legislative assembly in 2009. These law projects are the Ley de Territorios Costeros
Comunitarios No 18.148 (formerly 17.394) and the Ley de Refugio Nacional de Vida
Silvestre Ostional No 17.512; they were drafted using an open and participatory
methodology involving over 30 communities at the time. The aim of the project is to
protect over 50’000 families living on the coasts and the +60 coastal communities
included in the law project. This conflict group represented by the TECOCOS
movement has been able to remain mobilized for over four years.
The two law projects have been slowly advancing within The two law projects have been slowly advancing within the legislative
process due to the efforts and actions of politicians attempting to archive the law
project. The TECOCOS law project is an innovative and forward thinking piece of
legislation and includes many future policies and programs promoting sustainable
local development (including sustainable tourism initiatives). The law project seeks to
put in place local decision making mechanisms, stimulate and encourage a diversified
local economy, assure the implementation of community-based tourism and
community-based environmental conservation programs. With respect to culture, it
seeks to create a legal framework recognizing and fostering coastal culture through
education, training and legal rights.
The Territorios Costeros Comunitarios conflict represents, in a broad sense, a
clash in between two world-views and visions for coastal development. On the one
hand, we have the supporters of the TECOCOS bill who recognize coastal culture,
believe in the preservation of coastal culture and aim to accommodate their
collectivistic values and lifestyles. Communal property and participatory decisionmaking in development and territorial planning hold a privileged position in this bill.
On the other hand, we have actors desiring to maintain the current legal framework
that promotes a liberalized land market for the coast and has, until now, benefited
exclusively tourism development, foreigners and wealthy nationals. The current land
tenure system gives the right to individuals and businesses to be in the ZMT solely on
a financial basis and only minimally recognizes the rights of local coastal
communities.
In the case of Ostional and other natural reserves, we can also witness a
dichotomy in between a western view of nature conservation that consists of
delineating natural reserves and removing all human activity, and another view of
conservation that recognizes that the presence of native communities can contribute to
successful conservation efforts. As the Agenda 21, chapter 17 states, there are
situations where the best scenario to promote the conservation of an area is to rely on
the knowledge of local communities who have the ability to manage in a sustainable
fashion the natural resources of their area. In Costa Rica, the Ostional community
serves as an example, they have led a successful community-based environmental
protection program along side the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the Ministry of
Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET).
The conflict dynamics have been quickly centered on the legislative process
and the approval of the bill. With respect to the TECOCOS opponents (ICT, certain
deputies and economic interests), it is unclear how much influence and veto power
they hold in order to meet the objective of archiving the law projects. We can only
speculate that most of the discussions and plans made by the opposing side of the
TECOCOS movement are held behind closed doors and exert substantial pressure on
the current deputies. As we have seen earlier, the ICT entertains certain relationships
with deputies, Carolina Delgado Ramírez and was one of the three deputies who
voted against the law project being debated in the extraordinary sessions; she held
positions within the ICT. She also promoted a competing law project in the
Legislative Assembly’s tourism commission that offers no tangible solutions to
resolve the socio-environmental conflicts on the coasts.
Due to the social and cultural importance of the law project, as well as the
urgency of the matter at stake, direct confrontation with the TECOCOS is not a wise
political move. The competing law projects do not offer long term and targeted
solutions but lack a critical and holistic view of the current land tenure system and
ideas on how to best achieve consensus when it comes to coastal development
planning. The most recent law project No 18.440 advanced within the legislative process with the support of the three deputies from the Liberación Nacional Party in
the Tourism Commission of the Legislative Assembly (composed of seven deputies).
This law project offers a two-year moratorium to individuals at risk of eviction on the
coasts and the border regions. This law project, although offering no real solutions to
the plight of the coastal communities, appears to achieve its aim of creating confusion
while at the same time appearing to be working for the coastal communities. In two
years however (2014), another 57 deputies will start a new term in the legislative
assembly and the election process for the 2014 presidential election will soon begin;
the timing of this law project should be considered suspiciously strategic. The
TECOCOS supporters consider it as a way to garner the vote of coastal provinces
with empty promises.
Many political and business elites are and have benefited from the current
status quo. When looking at the previous and current administration, it becomes
apparent that many politicians have benefitted from direct or indirect discriminatory
actions against coastal communities and destructive forms of coastal development.
Within the previous administration lead by Oscar Arias (2006-2010), there have been
many top officials directly or indirectly implicated one way or another in the moral
and socio-economic oppression of coastal communities including Oscar Arias
himself. Several of these politicians have been denounced by investigative NGOs and
activists such as Juan Figuerola, Gadi Amit, Ronal Vargas and deputy Claudio
Monge.
Several decades ago, Oscar Arias and his brother became owners of coastal
lots in el Jobo beach, Guanacaste. The sale transaction created a conflict because the
land was claimed by a group of landless farmers who considered it abandoned.
During their opposition, the leader of the group Gil Tablada was assassinated by, it is
suspected, the previous “owner” of the land. This occurred on November 18, 1970 but
Gil Tablada is still remembered and a local school is named after him (Vargas Araya,
2009). Jorge Woodridge, former Minister of Competitiveness, along with Viviana that showed very little consideration for the local communities. The two were also
involved in the development of a resort “Mar Serena” accused of environmental
degradation (Monge, 2011). A more recent case has garnered media attention due to
alleged irregularities; the case involvesthe Minister of the Presidency’s mother in law
and the possibility that she may receive concessions in the island of Plata (Isla Plata)
(Salazar Fernández, 2012).
These instances should not be generalized but should contribute to our
understanding on why coastal communities have been so easily excluded, morally,
socially and economically. When the individuals who have accessed key positions of
power have also directly or indirectly benefitted from the destruction of the
environment and the dispossession of land from coastal communities, we should not
be surprised at the difficulties that the TECOCOS movement is currently facing
within the legislative process.
Martín Salazar, former Minister of Justice and deputy, were involved in the
purchasing of land in Isla Caballo and the development of a self-serving land use plan that showed very little consideration for the local communities. The two were also
involved in the development of a resort “Mar Serena” accused of environmental
degradation (Monge, 2011). A more recent case has garnered media attention due to
alleged irregularities; the case involvesthe Minister of the Presidency’s mother in law
and the possibility that she may receive concessions in the island of Plata (Isla Plata)
(Salazar Fernández, 2012).
These instances should not be generalized but should contribute to our
understanding on why coastal communities have been so easily excluded, morally,
socially and economically. When the individuals who have accessed key positions of
power have also directly or indirectly benefitted from the destruction of the
environment and the dispossession of land from coastal communities, we should not
be surprised at the difficulties that the TECOCOS movement is currently facing
within the legislative process.
By Kevin Haddock
Download Masters' Thesis on Coastal Tourism in Costa Rica and Social Conflicts