Yesterday, in Costa Rica, 100,000 people marched to protest the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). You thought that was a done deal, huh? Well, not as far as Costa Ricans are concerned, as a Reuters report tell us:

More than 100,000 Costa Ricans, some dressed as skeletons, protested a U.S. trade pact on Sunday they say will flood their country with cheap farm goods and cause job losses.

Chanting "No to the free-trade pact!" and "Costa Rica is not for sale!" demonstrators filled one of San Jose’s main boulevards to show their opposition against the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

"The trade deal is putting at risk our workers’ rights. We need an accord with the United States, but not this way," said Juan Chacon, a 50-year-old computer technician.

In the searing heat, some protesters wore masks of U.S. President George W. Bush and handed out fake dollar bills, lampooning U.S. trade policies.

A small contingent of pro-trade demonstrators turned out at the rally. A plane pulled a banner across the skyline reading: "Yes to the free-trade accord, for the benefit of the nation!" The drone of the plane’s engine drowned out some of the protest speeches.

A government official told Reuters that more than 100,000 people turned out for the demonstration, a huge protest in a country of 4 million.

    The emphasis above was mine. If the same proportion of the population in the U.S. has turned out for a demonstration, you would have seen 7.5 million people in the street. Think that would have gotten coverage? What struck me is this: the mainstream major newspapers–all of which have been avowed pro-so-called "free trade" advocates, buried this story in their back pages, relying only on the Reuters report–even though the Costa Rican demonstration had been planned well in advance. Clearly, The New York Times and The Washington Post could have dispatched their own reporters and done much more extensive coverage–not to mention the major television programs.   

    What is obvious is that the mainstream media either doesn’t really care what huge throngs of people think about the woeful trade policy being shoved down their thoughts or, worse, the media is simply allowing its own pro free-trade bias to prevent any critique from getting through. Or both. Pick your choice. It’s still pathetic.