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CAFTA

Costa Rica: Dominican Republic will respect pact “in a nice way or not”
13-Oct-2010 Dominican Today
Central American countries are filing a complaint against Dominican Republic before the World Trade Organization for violating CAFTA
11 companies apply to provide cell phone service in Costa Rica
9-Sep-2010
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.
World Bank approves mining company suit against El Salvador
11-Aug-2010
In a decision with implications for the national sovereignty of member states under US trade pacts, a World Bank tribunal has approved a Canadian mining company’s controversial lawsuit against the government of El Salvador.
US plans trade complaint against Guatemala
31-Jul-2010 NY Times
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.
Dominican Republic gets a new rival in sugar exports to the US
16-Jun-2010
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.
Costa Rican legislators approve final piece of CAFTA
4-May-2010 Tico Times
The last link in the free trade agreement with the United States passed through Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly
El Salvador’s misfortune in gold: Mining, murder, and corporate malfeasance
19-Apr-2010
The recent turmoil over the efforts of Pacific Rim, a Canadian corporation, to carry out a gold-mining project in El Salvador is a catalyst for reviving the deep-seated divisions that go back to the Central American country’s bloody civil war from 1980 to 1992.
A prescription for failure: Health and intellectual property in the Dominican Republic.
23-Mar-2010 Georgetown Law
A group of nine Georgetown Law students have written a report, "Prescription for Failure: Health and Intellectual Property in the Dominican Republic," which finds that U.S. efforts to increase intellectual property protections in the Dominican Republic may lead to sharp increases in the cost of lifesaving drugs and, as a result, the declining health and even deaths of those who may be unable to afford them.
In Costa Rica, CAFTA hits a snag
19-Jan-2010 Tico Times
While the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States technically has been in effect in Costa Rica for more than a year, one piece of it still languishes in the Legislative Assembly awaiting approval: changes to Costa RIca’s copyright rules.
Anti-mining activists killed in El Salvador
30-Dec-2009 Democracy Now!
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
12-Oct-2009 Infoshop
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?
2-Sep-2009 IPS
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
29-Aug-2009
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
29-Aug-2009
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
26-Aug-2009 Health Affairs
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
17-Aug-2009
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
28-Jul-2009 UPI
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
21-Jul-2009 Grassroots International
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
10-Feb-2009 GRAINNET
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
29-Jan-2009 AFL-CIO
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).