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CAFTA

A new environmentalist playbook
24-Mar-2021 The American Prospect
An improbable victory in El Salvador offers lessons for grassroots activists worldwide.
Mining injustice through international arbitration
25-Aug-2020 Earthworks
El Tambor is a controversial gold mining project in Guatemala. After years of local protests and litigation, it was halted in 2016 for lack of prior consultation with Indigenous people.
FTA partners continue to buy more than half of US grains
20-Apr-2020 Feedstuffs
FTA partners purchased 55% of total US grains in all forms exports in 2018-19 marketing year.
Guatemalan water protectors persist, despite mining company threats
27-Mar-2020 Inequality.org
The hard work of protecting water and land from the long-term harms associated with gold and silver mining takes place daily on the frontlines of tenacious struggles throughout Latin America and around the world.
Central American nation Costa Rica seeks Preferential Trade Agreement with India
25-Nov-2019 Financial Express
Recognising the huge potential and opportunities in trade and investments, Central American nation Costa Rica seeks Preferential Trade Agreement with India.
Report: US free trade pact means junk food for developing nations
15-Nov-2019 The St Kitts & Nevis Observer
The US is exporting ever-more processed foods, as well as meat, to the region, while making it harder for farmers there to supply healthy foods for the local market.
Trans-local mining activism connects Nevada and Guatemala in growing movement of resource nationalism
29-May-2019 Nevada Capital News
In December of 2018, KCA filed a $300 million-dollar arbitration claim against the government of Guatemala under CAFTA-DR.
Climate change, CAFTA and forced migration
25-May-2019 IATP
Climate change and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have destabilized the economies and lives of many in Central America and are driving migration.
Over 200 organizations denounce multimillion dollar suit brought by US mining firm against Guatemala
25-Apr-2019 YubaNet
The company filed the suit in December 2018 for alleged violations of the Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).
The battle for Latin America: How the US helped destroy the “pink tide”
23-Apr-2019 Counter Punch
After sponsoring juntas until well into the 1990s, the US went after Central and South America with “free trade” deals before once again working with extremists.
The “push” factor: Central American farmers, free trade, and migration
18-Apr-2019 New Security Beat
Landless, subsistence, and small-scale farmers bear the brunt of the influx of competitive crops and price shocks that came with trade liberalization through CAFTA.
After NAFTA fight, Trump threatens another trade battle with Central America
9-Jan-2019 McClatchy
Now that the Trump administration has revamped the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is taking a look at kicking key countries out of its sister pact, the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Costa Rica wins case against investors’ beach front property
21-Sep-2018 TeleSur
ICSID tribunal rules Costa Rica was in its right to stop a tourist construction project on the Pacific coast that violated environmental laws.
Miner planning US$300mn Guatemala arbitration
24-May-2018 BN Americas
Exmingua is planning to launch arbitration proceedings against Guatemala following the suspension of its Tambor gold project.
USDA trade undersecretary bullish on Central America
5-Mar-2018 Feedstuffs
Trade mission to Guatemala yields fruitful meetings with conservative estimates of $30 million in new sales.
Washington may draw a bull’s-eye on Central American trade pact
16-Feb-2018 Stratfor
US trade negotiators could move to renegotiate aspects of the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement by 2019.
Being a trade unionist in Guatemala will get you killed
19-Oct-2017 Upside Down World
A chapter on labor issues within CAFTA was to provide an improved environment for labor rights. But the Guatemalan state has consistently failed to implement these protections.
US wants to update Latin America pacts next after NAFTA
5-Oct-2017 Just Style
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer pointed to the need to modernise agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and Chile, as well as the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
U.S. trade policy fails workers
6-Jul-2017 AFL-CIO
This decision drives home the fact that U.S. trade deals do not protect workers. In truth, this failure is by design—labor chapters were not meant to work efficiently or effectively.
After nine years, arbitrators bounce AFL-CIO complaint on Guatemala labor conditions
3-Jul-2017 People’s World
“The panel’s decision flies in the face of common sense. Guatemala’s failure to protect its workers and enforce its own laws is apparent to nearly everyone except the arbitrators.”