CAFTA was passed by the U.S. Congress late in the summer
of 2005 by one vote in the House. The mobilization against CAFTA
was one of the biggest trade fights we’ve seen. –
and we almost won. The agreement spells disaster for small farmers
in Central America, will continue to erode worker rights, and
creates new protections for transnational pharmaceutical companies
at the expense of the poor. Though the agreement passed our
Congress and has been ratified in most of Central America, there
is still a tremendous struggle underway against its full implementation.
On April 1 CAFTA was implemented with Honduras and Nicaragua,
only the second and third countries after El Salvador to implement
the agreement with the U.S. The Bush administration continues
to press other countries to change their laws, in most cases
clearly beyond what they agreed to during the negotiations,
as a prerequisite for implementing the accord. Costa Rica’s
legislature has yet to ratify the agreement, and the social
movement is ready for a fight if the new government attempts
to press for a vote.
The CAFTA struggle continues in South America as well.
The Bush administration negotiated nearly identical agreements
with Peru and Colombia. The Peru agreement may be signed during
the first week of April as well, which would mean that a vote
in Congress on the deal could happen at any time! Finally the
Bush administration is pressing the government of Ecuador to
adopt the same model in order to complete an Andean Free Trade
Agreement. The movements in Ecuador shut down the country for
ten days in March to protest the government’s negotiations
with the United State Trade Representative.
