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CAFTA

Guatemala ratifies free trade pact with United States
10-Mar-2005 San Diego Union Tribune
Shrugging off rowdy protests in the streets, Guatemala’s Congress voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to ratify a Central American free trade agreement with the United States.
Guatemala set to quash FTA protests with troops
10-Mar-2005
Protesters blocked access to the legislature to prevent a vote on a trade pact with Washington, and lawmakers who ventured outside were chased for blocks.
Letter to reject environment chapter of CAFTA (Eng/Esp)
8-Mar-2005
We are enclosing a letter in English and Spanish proposed by different Central American and USA organizations to be delivered in our respective Congresses. We are protesting the contents and consecuences that the US-DR-CAFTA will bring in general to the society and the environment, but especially in this case Chapter No. 17 related to environment.
Guatemala postpones ratification of FTA with US
6-Mar-2005 Angola Press
The Guatemalan Congress on Wednesday postponed for at least one week the ratification of the country`s free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, following massive protests Tuesday by thousands of demonstrators.
Honduras ratifies CAFTA
3-Mar-2005 Forbes
Honduras on Thursday became the second Latin American country after El Salvador to ratify a free trade agreement with the United States. Lawmakers immediately fled Congress following their decision, however, to avoid 1,000 government employees who were protesting the measure outside.
Clash continues on US-Central America trade deal
2-Mar-2005 IP Watch
Protection of pharmaceutical patents may not be the biggest reason the Bush administration is struggling to line up congressional votes for a free trade agreement with five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, but it remains critical to its passage.
Central American Ombudsmen propose referendum to FTA
24-Feb-2005 Prensa Latina
Central American Ombudsmen will end a three-day meeting in Guatemala urging regional governments to put to popular referendum the Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States.
NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state cases: Lessons for the CAFTA
23-Feb-2005 Public Citizen
A new study by Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch analyzes 42 NAFTA investor-state challenges and illustrates how the proposed CAFTA would extend the threat.
We must lead the way on free trade
22-Feb-2005
Free trade is one of the critical components of U.S. efforts to develop enduring, stabilizing influences in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa — key regions for our work to thwart the rise of terrorism and illiberal government.
Trade pact proposal has US upside
25-Jan-2005 NWAnews
A proposal to liberalize US trade with six Central American and Caribbean nations has received broad support from US agricultural groups. But the fate of the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement remains uncertain.
Sub-region integration a challenge to FTAA
19-Jan-2005 IPS
The fifth annual World Social Forum will take place Jan. 26-31 in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre amidst an upsurge in Latin American sub-regional integration efforts, bolstered by the obvious failure of the project to create the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
El Salvador: Congress approves FTA
13-Jan-2005
The Legislative Assembly on Dec. 18 ratified the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), signed in May by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua with the United States. El Salvador was the first country to ratify the accord.
Trade agreement hits snag on Guatemala law
10-Jan-2005 Houston Chronicle
The USTR’s Office said Friday that Guatemala violated the terms of a pending Central American trade agreement with a new pharmaceutical data law the United States objects to.
Labour: The spread of bilateral trade agreements
14-Dec-2004 GURN (135kb PDF)
This report looks at major Customs Unions, Free Trade Areas, and economic association agreements around the world, with particular attention to any clauses covering social issues, core labour standards and trade union participation.
The proposed US-SACU FTA: Comparison with FTAA, CAFTA, US-Chile and US-Singapore
11-Dec-2004
Many civic organizations in the SACU region and the US, especially the labor unions, as well as other governments within Southern Africa note many possible disadvantages to the proposed US-SACU FTA.
SPS issues and free trade agreements
25-Nov-2004
While the main US goal on agriculture in many FTA negotiations often is to secure non-SPS related concessions such as lower tariffs, the foreign partners often see the FTA as an opportunity to resolve outstanding SPS issues with the US as well as seek accelerated new market access to the US for their animal and plant products.
Dominican Republic excluded from CAFTA
19-Nov-2004 DTN
The Bush administration has decided to exclude the Dominican Republic from the Central American Free Trade Agreement because the Dominican Republic has adopted a tax on products containing high fructose corn syrup, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said.
Dominican tax risks trade pact
8-Nov-2004
The Bush administration is working to strip the Dominican Republic out of a wider free trade pact if the Caribbean nation does not repeal a recently implemented tax on soft drinks that affects U.S. exporters.
Central America is Not for Sale
5-Nov-2004
A call for organizational sign-ons from the Central America is Not For Sale Coalition
Area sugar farmers see pledge as victory for industry
14-Oct-2004 The Forum
US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has promised to scrap the controversial US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) if elected president November 2.