On Monday, August 11, the National Liberation Party (PLN – Partido Liberacion Nacional) legislative caucus declined to participate in a dialogue being brought together by various social sectors of coastal areas, which would bring the Coastal Communities Territories bill (TECOCOS – Ley de Territorios Costeros Comunitarios) before the plenary session.
The chief of the PLN faction, Juan Luis Jimenez, indicated that, before signing anything, he would prefer to review the new text that serves as the base for the discussion.
The dialogue group was made up of representatives from the majority of parties and will respond to the needs of coastal communities, which have once again reaffirmed their position that the bill must become law.
“As TECOCOS leaders, we proposed putting together an agenda that has to be approved and we are requesting that representatives fulfill an agenda that includes the Wildlife Law in Ostional, and that they also extend the moratorium because this is a law that will expand our rights and one that we would embrace,” stated Magdalena Vega, a communal leader and president of the Ostional Development Association.
The request is to avoid the extension of a moratorium on relocations, which expires in September, and to look for a definitive solution that would be the approval of the TECOCOS law, which would grant rights to live in those areas.
Gerardo Vargas, chief of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) caucus, indicated that, “What [the communities] requested from the party leaders is that we create a space for dialogue for a month, to produce a bill that’s viable for coastal territories.”
The original requests made by pro-TECOCOS groups focused on not extending the moratorium on relocations from the land, that the bill be approved, and that the executive announce the Ostional bill in an extraordinary session. But, according to Vargas, “The last two points involve the Presidential House and therefore I believe they changed the text.”
The discussion group will be made up of representatives that signed on Monday, who are hoping to start work as soon as possible.
The Coastal Community Territories Law, known as the TECOCOS law (Law 18148), recognizes rights to live in the maritime land zone for people who have lived in it for years.
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