CAFTA may be a done deal in the U.S. but not necessarily down south

U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on Tuesday, touting it as a personal political victory, after it barely squeaked through the U.S. House of Representatives on Jul. 28 with a 217-215 vote.

[...]

But opposition to the trade deal is stiff in Central America. Although the business community, keen on gaining access to the huge U.S. market, has largely celebrated the U.S. passage of the accord, social organisations are threatening to step up their mobilisations against it.

CAFTA has yet to be ratified by the legislatures of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. Ninety days after they inform the Organisation of American States (OAS) that the agreement has been approved, it will go into effect in those countries.

But El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have already completed the ratification process.

[...]

Omar Salazar, director of the non-governmental regional Services and Labour Promotion Association [said] . . . guarantees are needed to ensure that there will be no further deterioration of labour standards or protection of workers in the subregion under the free trade accord.

Although the countries of Central America have labour laws, they are generally not enforced, said Salazar.

[...]

CAFTA could drive up the cost of essential medicines like those needed to treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria, because it states that pharmaceutical patents must be respected, warned the France-based Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders.

message: if you wanna play in the global economy, here's the rule book... rule #1: the u.s. makes the rules... rule #2: see rule #1...

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