REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES 1975711. 020 tzwy 63 eost QUOTINE GUISS77030 DEPARTMENT OF STATE DIVISION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS Mr. cabot: This is prostically the same as the Colombian Mr. Cabot: This is provlecelly Corb u nso Mr. Wright is ullam conden Mr. Bonsay: SUMMARY Influence of Manuel Mora in Costa Rican Politics; And the Labor Code Herewith a very interesting despatch from San José concerning the influence of Manuel Mora in Costa Rican politics, and commenting on the labor code recently introduced into Congress which, it is believed, is in large part due to his activities.
The labor code, containing 587 separate articles, was introduced into Congress on April 13 without having received any publicity regarding its preparation. The code not only includes many earlier labor provisions, but goes much farther in extending social guarantees to workers, such as the followas the following: two weeks vacation with pay; a severance fund of thirty days pay for each year of work for every worker; the determination of minimum wage scales by a commission representing labor, capital and Government on the basis that a minimum wage must provide for the material, moral and cultural necessities of the worker.
FW 818. 00 1755 (818, 00 1755 The United Fruit Company and other large companies are greatly disturbed. The code, if a dopted and enforced, would greatly increase labor costs, possibly by as much as 38. Mr. Hamer of the United Fruit Company has already told President Calderon Guardia that his company would not be able to stand the additional costs envisaged by the code, and pointed out that the Fruit Company had curtailed and even abandoned many of its projects in Colombia because of the adoption of similar legislation in that country. Moreover, the secrecy in drafting, the obvious intention of the Administration to curtail congressional ossible to secure passage before May 1, are further indications of the dependence of the present Administration upon Manuel Mora and his party.
The despatch then reviews extensively the growth of Mora influence in Costa Rican politics, and attributes his power to his own clever and astute political maneuvers.
Although Mora has for the most part kept himself in the PS VGG background