At 12:03 am on July 28th, the House of Representatives narrowly approved the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. The final tally was 217 to 215, with 15 Democrats voting in favor of CAFTA, and 25 Republicans voting against it. This treaty, which would expand NAFTA to Central America and the Dominican Republic, has been predicted to bring decreasing living standards, falling wages, eroding environmental protection, and the loss of family farms to Central American nations, as well as the US.

Deborah James of Global Exchange said of the vote, "...money values of big corporate interests trumped human values of worker’s rights, fair trade, and environmental protection," and "The passage of CAFTA is a serious blow to our movement for global justice. But the vote also seals the fate of the future of NAFTA expansion," due to the thin margin by which CAFTA was passed. The Bush Administration has also been negotiating the expansion of NAFTA to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia through the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), AFTA negotiations have stumbled over crucial chapters on agriculture and intellectual property. Now AFTA may be seen as unpopular amongst Americans.

James continues, "(We must) fight even harder next time. That means the current negotiations on the World Trade Organization, which has a key General Council meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland. And it means stopping the expansion of NAFTA to the Andes through AFTA." Opponents of "free trade" have been invited by several organizations to write to Congresspeople to let them know if they approved or disapproved of their votes. Read more on Indybay's Americas News Page

Democracy Sold Out- CAFTA Approved by Pork and a Hill of Beans, by Deborah James | Public Citizen | Citizens Trade Campaign | Global Exchange's CAFTA Page | Stop CAFTA