San Vicente Farmers Postpone Merger Vote

The Cooperative Council in San Vicente announced yesterday that the proposed consolidation of the Río Esperanto Valley Cooperative and the Smallholder Coffee Alliance will not proceed to a member vote until mid-July. The delay stems from incomplete registration filings at the federal office, where applications have been stalled for nearly four months.

The merger would unite 2,400 member-farms across Tierra Verde and Costa Mar, creating a combined entity with annual coffee and yerba mate exports valued at approximately 8.2 million florins. Both cooperatives had scheduled the member vote for next week, with ratification expected by autumn.

Federal Civic Affairs Minister Beatriz Coelho's office did not respond to requests for comment by press time. The Cooperative Council's chair, Marta Ferreira, described the delay as frustrating but manageable. What remains unclear is whether the federal office's workload reflects a broader processing crisis or a specific gap in how cross-regional mergers are reviewed.