At 12:03 am on July 28th, the House of Representatives narrowly approved the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA. CAFTA, which would expand NAFTA to Central America and the Dominican Republic, has been predicted to devastate farmers, privatize essential public services, and accelerate the race to the bottom on wages in the US and all over Central America. CAFTA opponents predict that people in Central America and the US will be facing decreasing living standards, falling wages, eroding environmental protection, and the loss of family farms. Some 275,000 HIV-positive Central Americans will be denied access to generic medicines because of CAFTA.

CAFTA advocates repeatedly brought up fears of an imminent takeover of Central America by alleged communist forces. “We can send free trade to Central America today, or we will be sending troops tomorrow” was the way they phrased their warnings. Venezuela’s Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) was brought up on the House floor and portrayed as a radical attack on America rather than a political and economic program that embodies a different vision of economic integration for Latin America. The Bush Administration has recently been negotiating the expansion of NAFTA to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia through the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). Anti-CAFTA organizers have encouraged opponents of "free trade" to write to Congresspeople to let them know if they approved or disapproved of their CAFTA votes.

Democracy Sold Out- CAFTA Approved by Pork and a Hill of Beans, by Deborah James | Read more about CAFTA on Indybay's Global Justice News Page