The farm La Esperanza (T h e Hope’) is located in San Isidrio, near Heredia city, to the north-west of San José. From 1985, this farm of 70 hectares, owned by INVU, was a disputed site. COPAN and others community groups demanded the government to build basic infrastructure to allocate thousands of families from the north-west of the AMSJ.
COPAN had suffered years of repression, because of its left-wing declarations, but from 1984 opted to do hunger-strikes and to negotiate with the government and candidates of the PLN. The government had offered 300 lots in La Esperanza since their hunger-strike of 1984 and had ratified the offer in May 1985 ®®. The presidential candidate of the PLN also committed this farm to COPAN in the electoral agreements of 1985.
In late 1985, La Esperanza was invaded by an independent community group (without links to the FDV or the FCV) after suffering a fraud from private developers and evicted from a previous invasion of a private farm After their eviction, this group was offered lots in an INVU small project, but that land was also invaded by another independent group. As a result, they demanded places in a future project that INVU expected to develop in La Esperanza, and invaded the farm to secure their tenure. COPAN denounced this new invasion and linked the families to the FDV, so its leaders mobilized hundreds of members and evicted violently the original invaders. There were not any police intervention, and both, COPAN members and original invaders, remained in the place, separated by an old road in two public farms owned by INVU. Both land invasions continued for months and were called with different names: Guararf, controlled by COPAN and Terranova which was independent, but later formally linked to FDV. In 1986, after the elections, new families linked to the group of Terranova, invaded land nearby, owned by the National University. The families developed rapidly a new shanty town and IMAS bough this land. Later the three invasions became CEV projects, but G uararf would be always controlled by COPAN.
In April 1986, after the invasion of Los Guido, the new government signed an ’agreement to avoid invasions’ with the directorates of the three main housing organizations the FDV, the FCV and COPAN. They ratified their previous agreements and committed themselves to prevent land invasions ^°. Months later COPAN denounces plans of invasions by FDV, which were denied, but other small independent community groups did not have any agreement with the government and the invasion was their alternative for secure tenure (LA NACION, 11-11-86:8A). In November 1986, the new Housing Minister negotiated with COPAN the control of the whole farm La Esperanza and CEV assumed the development of new projects in the other places. In December 1986 the Minister published and open letter with details on the final agreements for the development of a housing project under COPAN control:
T h e whole farm Guarari, located in Heredia will be given to COPAN, which agreed to include 400 families that had previous contracts with INVU. These families will be under the procedures and methodology used by COPAN in its self-help programmes"
This same agreement gave COPAN 65 millions colones to build 1,300 ’solutions’ in different places, including Guararf, to be developed during 1987. In 1987, new agreements between the Housing Minister and COPAN, promised 35 millions co/ones from CEV to build basic infrastructure in Guararf. COPAN assumed the lay-outs and buildings’ designs for 1,170 families and also agreed to use the norms defined by INVU for low-income sectors housing projects In April 1987, there were in G uararf ^5Q families members of COPAN and 30 in Terranova, which also included 41 families in a waiting list. The third group, called Palacios Universitarlos included 109 families (INVU-MIVAH; 1987). CEV developed a project called La Lucfa to relocate families from Terranova in a site nearby.
One year after the initial invasion, COPAN families had wooden and concrete houses with metal roof and traditional designs. There were not any scrap hut, but the families said there were ’provisional’, while waiting for the new project. Most of them had septic tanks and a few concrete latrines, individual water and electricity connections. All the buildings had good quality and COPAN charged a monthly fee for the services. The organization used collective metres to pay electricity and water. They also had bus service from Heredia city to the place of the community centre, at the entrance of La Esperanza. At that time, COPAN had finished the designs for a complete development of the 70 hectares, which included thousands of houses fully serviced, schools, community centres, CEN-CINAI, parks, libraries, play-grounds, and green areas. COPAN built a large community centre and offices for the central organization. The designs were prepared by staff and students from the School of Architecture, who also constituted a private company to work with COPAN and financial support by CEV **.
A member of COPAN directorate was living in the place to collect the payments and organize local activities with thousands of members from the zone, which also paid monthly fees to the organization and had weekly meetings in the community centre COPAN control over the whole farm obstructed the growing of Terranova and other land invasions. These families also had a poor level of organization and lacked of financial support to develop community services. The INVU-MIVAH (1987 survey found that there were only a few stand-pipes and wooden latrines, though they had electricity connections and a collective metre. There were not rubbish collection from the local Municipality, so they threw it in the low-lands near the river. They used the same bus of Guararf, which was essential because the nearest school, community or health services were more than two kilometres from the site.
In early 1987, began the construction of the first stage of 36 houses, which were finished and distributed by 1988. COPAN asked many families to work in the place to obtain the right for a house in the following stages and projects. Local leaders organized voluntary work during weekends with hundreds of families, cleaning the place and helping in the foundations’ building, but the houses were build by salaried workers.
‘The author directed a field work with students of the National University in Guararf \n early 1987.
The precise number of families living in the place or taking part in activities cannot be determined because COPAN, relocated some families in others of its projects and allocated or evicted families from G uararf without control from any official institution. Many residents in 1990 did not know about the original process and only came to the place after the first 36 houses were finished. Other local families had contradictory figures because there were many changes in the waiting lists controlled by GORAN officials
Together with the project of Guararf, COPAN began other five projects in 1987 but continued its conflictive relationship with INVU and its pressure through hunger-strikes By mid 1988 COPAN also criticized the government because of its false report to the Legislative Assembly and develop an extensive field-work to establish the exact amount of houses actually built until May 1988. Particularly, in Guararf \he government reported 1100 houses, but only 36 had been built in the pilot-scheme (Trejos; 1988, Iglesias and Amador; 1988). In addition there were 263 houses in process. This meant that only 3% had been finished and other 24% of the whole project of 1,107 was in construction (Revista RUMBO, 11-10-88:10).
COPAN agreement with INVU included details about the costs of houses and, therefore, the financial conditions and the income stratum of the families that could be allocated. As a result, many families who worked during months would not be allowed to obtain a house because of their reduced family income. Most of the families of the original invasion in Guararf, for example, did not get any of the 36 first houses finished in 1988, and continued in waiting lists, together with thousands who worked and paid monthly fees for years. CEV officials said that the lists given to them by COPAN officials changed many times, because after CEV socio-economic studies many families in the original lists did not qualify, so CEV had to ask COPAN officials to give new lists of members with enough family income and stability *. The agreement between INVU and COPAN of August 1987 established:
"The beneficiaries of COPAN must have the same financial conditions than the INVU ones, according to the internal procedures and regulations of INVU. Families without the qualifications must be excluded from the project. COPAN must allow INVU to develop socio-economic studies in any moment.
COPAN must report to INVU and CEV the number of lot assigned to each family and the costs of each particular 'solutions'. The families would sign a mortgage contracts and receive financial support from BANHVI to pay COPAN and CEV".
Most of the families did not know about this agreement. Since early 1989 there were denounces from families that had paid COPAN for years and did not have the basic qualifications to receive a house in the project, so they organized independent groups to demand solutions. This groups worked in the place undercover and some of their members suffered from direct repression from COPAN officials, some were also evicted and their shelter seme-destroyed or assigned to other families. Many others were removed from the waiting lists, which were unofficial
and only under COPAN officials’ control *. From mid 1989 this confrontation grew and became an open dispute through the media:
"We had to do raffles every two weeks which gave COPAN 75,000 colones monthly and some times 200,000 colones. We had to be involved in public collects, political demonstrations and meetings organized by the directorate, before and after the electoral campaign" (LA PRENSA LIBRE, 07-06-89).
From July 1987, some former leaders of COPAN had made similar accusations, but this organization continued in control of various projects due to the political agreements between the Housing Minister and COPAN directorate after the enormous involvement of the latter in the electoral campaign supporting President Arias
By mid 1989 only the original 36 were finished (the pilot-scheme, known as G uararf Uno). Other 260 houses {G uararf Dos also known as E l Carao) continued in process of construction after delays in the provision of building materials. In March 1990, 75 of these houses were also finished and also were finished a new school and a new health centre and CEN-CINAI. There were also an asphalt road with concrete sidewalks and proper drains from the entrance to the pilot-scheme throughout the farm. Local private constructors planned to begin new five stages in May 1990, with the beginning of the new government **.
In December 1989, the CEV director report that their only agreement with COPAN was for 1300 solutions for the whole projects of the Arias Administration, but they would not fulfil that amount because of lack of resources. He said that the new stages, after E l Carao would be responsibility of the new government, so COPAN had to negotiate everything with the new Housing Minister ***. At the time, the whole 70 hectares continued almost empty, protected by the families living in the pilot-scheme and in the original ’provisional’ invasion. COPAN leaders continued organizing big meetings in the old community centre with thousands of families annotated in the waiting lists.
In early 1990 the Executive President of INVU declared that COPAN had ignored the agreements, because in their projects were living many families which did not have capacity to pay. He also said that COPAN changed the families of original lists in the only project where CEV was signed mortgage contracts (LA NACION, 05-03-90:5A). In late 1989, CEV obtained control over some barrios originally under COPAN, after public confrontations and intervention of new local groups and high level officials from INVU (MAPU, 1989).
COPAN continued during the last year of the third administration with its traditional demonstrations and pickets, particularly against INVU and CEV, but always maintained a friendly relationship with the Housing Minister. COPAN accused INVU of extreme bureaucratic procedures and demand the right of the families to began repayments immediately. COPAN leaders said that
T he author interviewed families from a group controlled by MAPU -a new housing group organized by the Trotskyist party- and visited the site to participate in a meeting with sehora E.Castro, their leader.
"Author’s interview with the architect in charge of El Carao in March 1990. " ‘Author’s recorded interview with Oscar Madrigal, December 1989.
INVU’s delays would cause increasing costs, so they took legal action against INVU. INVU replied was that the insistence on immediate payments was absurd because of previous agreements (of January 1987) gave the families several years free of payments after the signature of mortgage contracts, and only in 1990 the mortgage contracts had been formalized. In fact, the agreements established ’four years free of payments from the signature of mortgage contracts’ *. At the end of the administration, COPAN established new negotiations with the new housing minister, but for thousands of families G uararf was only a hope.
Conclusions
In the late 1970s many land invasions and community struggles produced dozens of new shanty towns in the Metropolitan Area of San José. During Carazo administration ’sites and services’ programmes were few in number and were too expensive for most of the homeless families. The number of ’solutions’ in state projects of ’sites and services’ were always incomparable with the demand, thousands of families were on official waiting lists. Many of these families used land invasions as a way to get priority in state projects. Unfortunately, even when they obtained a plot in a ’sites and service’ programme, the repayment terms and interest rates were too onerous for poor families sharing or renting rooms. Many families could not afford to repay their loan while building a basic shelter. The result was that most of these projects became legal tugurios. Many families who had acquired debts that they could not pay, stopped their payments and tried to avoid eviction through political negotiations and pressure. Others sold their lots, subdivided or shared them, or rented part of their shelter so that they could repay the original loans. Many of these families launched new land invasions of public land, normally near the state projects where they had been relocated from previous tugurios. Garabito is an example of the ’sites and services’ schemes started during the Carazo administration and finished during the Monge government. Its population launched a series of small land invasions during the electoral period of 1986.
In the way up to the 1981 election, hundred of families had begun to organize housing community groups to develop collective activities. Some left-wing parties and the PLN organized their housing community fronts to transform the housing problem into an electoral issue and to win support from the homeless. The Monge government had a commitment to thousands of families all over the country to introduce the ’integral housing policy’ which the PLN had promised during the electoral campaign. President Monge was also committed to the FDV leaders who had become PLN deputies and councillors. His government continued with the ’sites and services’ projects, but began also allowed the FDV to relocate hundreds of families to publicly owned land. Los Cuadros was the first example of this practice. This allowed the President to bypass the demands of international agencies with respect to cost-recovery in low-income housing programmes. The government used emergency funds to build more houses, and to build basic
infrastructure in some of the new ’informal’ state projects. This practice allowed the FCV to grow rapidly up to thousands of families and hundreds of community groups. However, the number of solutions was very little and during the 1985 electoral campaign the housing problem the main political issue.
There were small land invasions and agreements with the PLN candidates to develop new projects under control of the housing fronts, but internal disputes in the PLN led to the invasion of Los Guido by the FDV, which also organized the occupation of Metropolis. The new Arias administration had very specific agreements with the fronts and used extraordinary funds to develop dozens of projects. This allowed the continuation of Los Cuadros and the development
of Los Guido and M etropolis under control of CEV. Another electoral agreement allowed COPAN
to act as a building company. COPAN built hundreds of houses, but run into problems because it had a commitment with thousands of families, who had paid monthly fees for years without realizing that they would never be able to obtain a proper house under the financial conditions land down by COPAN. At the end of the period, CEV took over some COPAN projects, but other, such as Guarari continued under COPAN control.
In 1990, in Garabito \Nas complete finished, with normal infrastructure and community services, but the houses were self-help build, so they did not have the quality of the projects built through CEV by private companies; in Los Cuadros was incomplete, hundreds of houses were still in process of construction and there were not proper infrastructure some areas of the settlement; in M etropolis the CEV developed first the whole infrastructure but dozens of houses were still unfinished and the families still living in their original huts; in Los Guido both the houses and the infrastructure were in the last phase of their construction; and in G uararf COPAN developed basic infrastructures, including new schools and various community centres, and the two first phases were finished, but thousand of families were still only in the waiting lists.
Table 3.8 COSTA RICA: COMPARATIVE TABLE OF CASE-STUDIES:
FEATURES \ BARRIO GARABITO LOS CUADROS METROPOLIS LOS GUIDO GUARARI
LOCATION Leôn XIII, La Uruca, canton cl San José. Ipis, canton of Goicoechea. San Pedro, Pavas, canton of San José. San Miguel, canton of Desamparados. San Isidro, canton of Heredia.
FOUNDATION PROCESS In 1982 began distribution of lots with services’. Gradual allocation of families from precarios from south of the city. Individual families were relocated by INVU olficials. New land invasions on its boundaries -Bajo Garabito- which were relocated to CEV projects in 1987.
Invasions of Mozotal, Purral and Maiquotia in 1983. Relocation of families from precarios and FDV's community groups from all over the AMSJ. Arrival of individual families, relatives or small