Opportunity to earn honest day's wages

By Manuel Valdes

Special to The Seattle Times

ALAJUELA PROVINCE, Costa Rica — Mauro Zelaga has been coming to Costa Rica from neighboring Nicaragua for 20 years to pick coffee beans. Last December was his sixth time coming to Rodrigo Vargas' farms.

Harsh economic conditions in his country have fueled a massive migration to the more stable and prosperous Costa Rica. A guerrilla fighter in Nicaragua's civil war as a teenager, Zelaga spent seven years in jail after being captured by government forces.

"It's nice making a living in an honest manner," Zelaga, 46, says as another coffee picking day came to a close.

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