CAFTA draws jeers from Latino organizations
The League of United Latin American Citizens, the Central American Resource Center, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and the Salvadoran American National Network announced Feb. 8 their opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, calling it "exclusionary" and "racist" to Hispanics and Central American natives. Congressional hearings on the pact, which President Bush signed May 28, 2004, are planned for April. The groups charged that the principal framers of the pact neglected the social and human needs of the countries involved in the pact, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua. The treaty shows no concern for the negative effects the accord would have on farmers and workers, they said, stating also that it failed to deal with child labor issues. Overall, the agreement would exacerbate problems caused by mass migration of jobless workers to the United States, they contend. According to Angela Sanbrano, executive director of CARECEN, an organization based in California that works with Central American refugees, "CAFTA has been agreed upon behind closed doors with no debate and participation by Central American rights organizations." It gives too much power to foreign investors, she argues. The groups cited the failure of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico, signed by President Clinton in 1995, to improve conditions for Mexican workers. LULAC, the nation's largest Hispanic membership organization and former NAFTA supporter, now says that CAFTA will have a negative impact on those countries just as NAFTA has had on Mexico. [more]