US-DR-CAFTA
The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement, commonly referred to as “CAFTA,” was signed in December 2003 after twelve short months of negotiation. The negotiations involved the US, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Costa Rica at first refused to join the agreement, then changed its position in late January 2004. The US separately negotiated a bilateral treaty with the Dominican Republic, with a view to folding the deal, and the country itself, into the US-CAFTA scheme.
The US-CAFTA was signed late May 2004, and the Dominican Republic became an additional party to it in August 2004. Since then, the accord has been officially renamed the “United States-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement” or US-DR-CAFTA. But the overall agreement — which a lot of people continue calling just “CAFTA” — still needs ratification by all parties to go into force.
CAFTA is a wide-ranging agreement covering many areas: agriculture, telecommunications, investment, trade in services (from water distribution to gambling), intellectual property, the environment, etc. It essentially serves US business interests by giving them a concrete and high-level set of rights to operate in Central America. Some US sectors, such as sugar producers, feel threatened by the treaty. But by and large, the threats are mainly against the Central American countries which signed on, as it opens the depths of their economies — public and private — to the interests and power of US companies.
In July 2005, US Congress approved the DR-CAFTA and Bush signed it into law in early August. The Central American parliaments eventually also approved it. For the Dominican Republic, the treaty took effect in 2006.
Costa Rica was the Central American country with the strongest resistance to DR-CAFTA. There were large public demonstrations and information campaigns, and a broad grouping of civil society organizations, from trade unions to small farm organizations, signed on. This coalition successfully pushed for a referendum on ratification, which was held on 7 October 2007. The result: 51.62% in favour and 48.38% opposed. The result was considered binding since more than 40% of the electorate voted. In view of these results, CAFTA was ratified.
On December 23, President Bush issued a proclamation to implement the DR-CAFTA for Costa Rica as of 1 January 2009.
last update: May 2012
La Embajada de Estados Unidos en San José participó en la definición de la estrategia policial, entrenó y supervisó el adiestramiento de oficiales de la Fuerza Pública y rentó buses para trasladarlos en las marchas de protesta contra el TLC, según se desprende de varios cables diplomáticos obtenidos por WikiLeaks.
The government of Oscar Arias knew, in advance, when and how the Constitutional Court would vote on the bill to implement CAFTA, after being challenged in a first review by the judges, according to Wikileaks
The US Embassy in San Jose put pressure to encourage the adoption of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the US and Costa Rica, according to Wikileaks cables released today by the newspaper La Nación.
Five years after the entry into force of CAFTA-DR, several international bodies declared this trade treaty made little or no contribution to El Salvadoran economy.
The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Commission held its first meeting last week in El Salvador and approved several changes to CAFTA-DR rules of origin
Central American countries are filing a complaint against Dominican Republic before the World Trade Organization for violating CAFTA
The country’s cell phone market was opened to private competition with the entry into force of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the US (CAFTA) on Jan.1, 2009.
The Obama administration announced Friday that it would file a complaint against Guatemala claiming labor law violations under the Central America Free Trade Agreement, the first time Washington has pursued such a case against a free-trade partner.
US president Barack Obama modified the provisions in the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) to allow imports of sugar from Costa Rica starting today.
The last link in the free trade agreement with the United States passed through Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly
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De pie, Costa Rica de pie!!!
Publicación del Partido Frente Amplio para informar sobre la resistencia al TLC en Costa Rica -
DR-CAFTA Tratado de Libre Comercio de las Américas
Temas relevantes acerca del tratado de libre comercio, República Dominicana, Centroamérica y Estados Unidos. -
Sin pelos en la lengua: NO al TLC
Espacio alternativo a los medios de (des)información tradicionales que dice las verdades sobre el TLC sin pelos en la lengua -
US-CAFTA-DR website
By the US government -
USTR Trade Advisory Committee reports on CAFTA
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USTR Trade Advisory Committee reports on US-Dominican Republic FTA
