The conflict dates back to May of this year, when the Costa Rican government decided that only transporters who made direct border-crossings would enter its territory, arguing that this measure was intended to mitigate the spread of covid-19. On that occasion, most countries decided to apply reciprocity policies.

At the end of September, Costa Rican authorities decided to eliminate most of the restrictions that had been maintained, and now trucks with license plates from other countries are allowed to load and unload directly in the warehouses of the companies, without prior authorization.

See "Freight Transport at Borders: Endless Problem"

Although the restrictions were removed, Costa Rican pilots claim that they are treated unequally in most Central American countries.

Marjorie Lizano, president of the Costa Rican Chamber of Unitary Transporters (CCTU) told Nacion.com that despite the fact that Costa Rica relaxed the restrictions "... trucks with Costa Rican plates are required to unload the merchandise in fiscal warehouses in the rest of the countries, except Guatemala, which lifted the measure on Tuesday, June 7."

Lizano added that "... the closure of transporters in Paso Canoas, on the border with Panama, joined the demonstrations of the population against the government. At that border point the action of the community is more visible, because they even put land and other materials on the road."

Also see "Central America: Disruption of the Logistics Chain"

In an attempt to justify that the border crossings are not closed, Duayner Salas, Minister of Foreign Trade, explained on the afternoon of October 8 that government authorities are maintaining services in Paso Canoas and Penas Blancas.

Salas admitted that the flow of cargo transport is interrupted by Costa Rican pilots.

Source: Nacion.com

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