By Amanda Roberson and Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff

Back for round two of protests yesterday, opponents of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) returned to the streets to make their opinions against the controversial trade pact heard.

Though yesterday’s crowds were notably smaller than Monday’s, anti-CAFTA protestors, including union members, students and environmentalists, maintained their steam, meeting at points around the city and converging on the Legislative Assembly downtown, where the agreement is being discussed.

However, in a departure from the generally peaceful tone of the two-day protest, a group of demonstrators, mostly university students, chose to skip the march and instead form a road blockade, just outside the University of Costa Rica (UCR) Law School. Using tree branches, metal chair frames, cardboard and even a sofa, they blocked the divided highway and then used the space for speeches, dancing and even an impromptu soccer game.

The protestors covered their faces – because of “police repression in this fascist country,” one student told The Tico Times – and piled rocks on the ground and in a shopping cart, throwing a few of them at journalists who tried to approach.

Though a group of National Police officers in riot gear appeared to be preparing to break up the blockade at around noon following an appearance by Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal, the minister returned shortly after and told reporters the police would not react.

“It’s a provocation, and we’re not going to fall for it,” he said, exiting the neighborhood Taco Bell with a soft drink in hand.

At a press conference later at Casa Presidencial, Berrocal explained that police had received word that those in the blockade – who, by mid-afternoon, had grown in number – had Molotov cocktails and planned to set the whole area on fire if the police approached, thanks to gasoline doused near the barriers.

Berrocal said he and Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias would continue monitoring the situation in San Pedro to decide if a police response is needed – no such action had taken place at press time – and that overall, the two days of protests had gone smoothly.