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]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.