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CAFTA

For the love of water: El Salvador’s mining ban
3-Sep-2015 Counter Punch
Over 90 percent of El Salvador’s surface water is contaminated with industrial chemicals, making it unsuitable to drink even if the water is boiled, chlorinated or filtered beforehand. A new action plan for passing a nationwide ban has begun to unfold, as Salvadorans await the outcome of the Pacific Rime ICSID case.
CAFTA’s 10th anniversary spotlights TPP’s threat to affordable life-saving drugs
31-Jul-2015 The Hill
Ten years ago today, in the dead of night, Congress passed the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement by two votes. Lessons learned from the actual effects of CAFTA on access to affordable life-saving prescription drugs provide a vivid illustration of the impact of TPP-like rules on people and their health.
El Salvador: “Arbitration with Pacific Rim has cost the State $12.6 million”
28-Jul-2015 El Salvador
Luis Parada, a lawyer with the law firm Foley Hoag, is optimistic that the company, Pacific Rim, will not prevail in the proceedings.
Bringing community perspectives to investor-state arbitration: the Pac Rim case
27-Jun-2015 IIED
Civil society organisations can play an important role in carrying and strengthening community voices in arbitration processes, by making submissions to arbitral tribunals.
Report: US trade and migration policies feed crisis in Honduras
28-Jan-2015 National Catholic Reporter
Failed trade and migration policies of the United States have exacerbated political problems in Honduras, leading to greater poverty and violence, says a recent report by the AFL-CIO.
ISDS cannot be fixed
12-Dec-2014 Public Citizen
The European Commission’s claim that threats posed by the investor-state dispute settlement system can be fixed by “improving” ISDS provisions in trade pacts has already been proved false, says Public Citizen
What “free trade” has done to Central America
25-Nov-2014 FPIF
Ten years after the approval of DR-CAFTA, we are seeing many of the effects that citizens who opposed the deal cautioned about., write Manuel Perez-Rocha and Julia Paley.
Guatemala sets up a commission to defend the US claim
9-Nov-2014 Prensa Libre
The Government of Guatemala set up an inter-agency commission to support its dispute settlement process. The Commission will support Guatemala’s defence in the labour proceedings initiated by the United States.
Guatemala and the United States commence arbitration
4-Nov-2014 Prensa Libre
45 days after putting into motion an arbitral panel for violation of labour rights, the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) will today present the basis for its claims against Guatemala under CAFTA-DR.
Honduras near ’failed state’ status due to free trade agreement, says labor and Latino leaders
21-Oct-2014 Latin Post
Labor leaders say CAFTA-DR has had a negative impact on Honduran farmers and resulted in displaced workers, "total break down of public services" and "forced migration" of youth, while the US spends billions to deport "hundreds" back to the Central American country in shackles.
The carrot, the stick, and the seeds: US development policy faces resistance in El Salvador
16-Sep-2014 CIP Americas
While the seeds dispute was an effective rallying point, social movements must confront the elephant in the room – CAFTA.
Guatemala: activists defeat ’Monsanto Law’
10-Sep-2014 World War 4 Report
The law was originally passed to comply with an intellectual property requirement in the 2004 Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), and it was unclear whether Guatemala might now be excluded from the US-promoted trade bloc.
Guatemala repeals plant breeder rights law
5-Sep-2014 EFE
The Congress of Guatemala has repealed the controversial "Monsanto Law" which legalised property rights on plant varieties in accordance with CAFTA.
Guatemala: Under pressure from social movements, Justice temporarily suspends part of the "Monsanto Law"
3-Sep-2014 ADITAL
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has suspended the so-called "Monsanto Law" which was support enter into force, as an obligation under the US-Central America free trade agreement (CAFTA), on 26 September 2014.
Guatemalan court suspends "Monsanto Law"
2-Sep-2014 La Voz
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has provisionally suspended the entry into force of the controversial "Monsanto Law" required by CAFTA to legalise property rights over plant varieties
Guatemala: People reject "Monsanto Law" for threatening food security
29-Aug-2014 Servindi
Guatemalan civil society has strongly rejected the country’s new plant breeders’ rights law imposed through the free trade agreement with the US (CAFTA).
US trade officials give Guatemala more time to install labor overhaul
26-Aug-2014 The Hill
US trade officials on Monday said they would give Guatemala more time to implement a labor rights enforcement plan under CAFTA.
CAFTA investor rights undermining democracy and the environment: Pacific Rim mining case
23-Aug-2014 Public Citizen
Pacific Rim Mining Corp., a Canadian-based multinational firm, sought to establish a massive gold mine using water-intensive cyanide ore processing in the basin of El Salvador’s largest river, Rio Lempa.
Progress made on El Salvador deal
3-Jul-2014 Politico
Washington and El Salvador moved closer to agreement on a $277 million U.S. aid package Tuesday after the Obama administration took steps to defuse a contentious trade dispute over a modest Salvadoran program to buy seeds for poor farmers.
US tying aid to agribusiness in El Salvador, groups warn
3-Jul-2014 Mint Press News
The US State Department stands accused of conditioning development aid to El Salvador to benefit and boost foreign agribusiness in the Central American nation.