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CAFTA


Anti-mining activists killed in El Salvador
For the second time in a week, a prominent anti-mining activist has been assassinated in El Salvador.
Costa Rica: March against impacts of CAFTA
On 6 October, two years after the fraud that ordered the adoption of the FTA with the US, there was a People’s Walk for Dignity in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica.
Falling out and falling apart?
The June coup d’état in Honduras was a body blow to political integration in Central America. The old idea of a protected and privileged trade area does not make any sense now in the light of globalisation, "so the concept of open integration was adopted. But that needed to be translated into concrete terms and this was not done."
Suspend Honduras from CAFTA, Dominican Leader Says
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez said on Wednesday that Honduras should be suspended from the U.S.-Central America trade accord until the de facto regime in Tegucigalpa agrees to reinstate ousted President Mel Zelaya.
Dominican president rejects Honduran accusations
President Leonel Fernandez requested the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP) to condemn the coup d’état against Manuel Zelaya and support democracy, and rejected the statements from Honduran businessmen who called his proposal as "dirty and opportunistic."
A Trade Agreement’s Impact On Access To Generic Drugs
The Central America Free Trade Agreement has kept some generic drugs from Guatemala even though they’re available in the United States.
Project helps Guatemalans learn about international trade, agricultural marketing
Through its Food for Progress efforts, the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture is helping farmers, agribusiness people and others in Guatemala make the most of producing, marketing and exporting a variety of agricultural products, said a project coordinator.
Study: Free trade spreading obesity
An influx of US junk food into Central America as part of relaxed trade rules has led to Central American obesity and related illnesses, a study said Monday.
Nicaragua’s Peasant Movement achieves milestone on the road towards Food Sovereignty
tThe new law establishes a legal framework to regulate the participation of transnational companies and help local organizations and governments to restore local food culture and peasant agriculture despite the CAFTA-DR "free" trade agreement
US Ambassador to Guatamala reports CAFTA boosting free and open trade
In the first 11 months of 2008, for example, total US agricultural and food exports to CAFTA-DR countries hit $34 billion, which is up nearly 36 percent from the same period the previous year.
Bush deals last-minute insults to workers’ rights
In Bush’s final hours in office, he implemented a trade agreement with Peru despite calls by Congress, unions, environmental and human rights groups to delay action to ensure that Peru’s laws meet its commitments before the agreement enters into force. At the same time, the Bush Labor Department’s Office of Trade & Labor Affairs rejected a petition, the first of its kind, under the labor provisions of the Central America Free Trade Act (CAFTA).
Canadian company threatens El Salvador with CAFTA lawsuit over mining project
A Canadian mining company intends to sue El Salvador’s government for several hundred million dollars if it is not granted permission to open a widely unpopular gold and silver mine that scientists warn would have devastating effects on local water supplies.
El Salvador warned of CAFTA-DR lawsuit by mining company
A Canadian mining company and its American subsidiary have threatened the government of El Salvador with a lawsuit after it failed to receive regulatory approval to begin digging for gold and silver in an area some 65 km from San Salvador. The proposed mine has drawn intense opposition from civil society and church-based groups, although the mining company maintains that it enjoys broad public support in El Salvador.
Dealing with a bad deal: Two years of DR-CAFTA in Central America
Two years have now passed since some Central American countries implemented DR-CAFTA’s mandates, and governments, farmers, and workers across the region are beginning to suffer the consequences of an unfair deal.
Ending 4-year battle, Costa Rica approves CAFTA
Costa Rica is finally ready to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Costa Rican economist says CAFTA is a bad deal
Costa Rican economist and former presidential candidate Ottón Solís spent the spring at the University of Florida as the Bacardi Family Eminent Scholar, teaching a course on free-trade agreements in the Americas at the university’s Center for Latin American Studies.
Go Ahead Given For Approval Of Remaining TLC Bill
The Sala Constitucional (Constitutional Court) resolved in record time the appeal by legislative members of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) and Frente Amplio parties on the constitutionality of the Intellectual Property bill, the last of the "complimentary" laws that is required to be passed by the Legislative Assembly to ratify the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States.
Mood Shift Against Free Trade Puts Republicans on Defensive
The U.S. has led the way in efforts to lower barriers to global trade since World War II, despite opposition from unions and voters hurt by foreign competition. This election could put trade-liberalization on ice for a while.
Guatemala forum decries FTA with US
The free trade agreement between Central American and the US has failed to accomplish all the supposed fairness and pledges advocated by its promoters, participants at the Social Forum of the Americas stated here this week.
Costa Rica given more time to ratify free trade deal
October 1 was the deadline for Costa Rica to ratify and join the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). However, Costa Rica now has until January 1, 2009, to ratify the trade deal.