Bright Spot

With so much of the rest of Central America ablaze last week in a fast-spreading Communist-sparked brushfire, there was one bright spot in an area where orderly democratic processes snuffed out any chances of incendiary violence. In Costa Rica, three United Fruit Co. spokesmen and three government negotiators wound up four weeks of old-fashioned give & take bargaining for a new basic agreement. The signing is set for this week, and waits only for a few minor changes to be made by United Fruit's Boston headquarters.

Terms: the company will pay a 30% income tax (twice the current rate), surrender its present exemption from customs duties on about half of its supply imports, and turn over to the state its 70 hospitals, schools and other social-service centers, with the state to support them in the future. President Jose Fugueres, well pleased, calculates that the government will get 42% of the company's Costa Rican profits under the new deal. Central Americans believe that the company may now offer much the same terms to Honduras and, for the record, Guatemala.

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