Guatemalans say US free trade costly
Guatemala, Jul 18 2007
Guatemalans Say US Free Trade Costly
Prensa Latina — One year after CAFTA-DR took effect in Guatemala, the Guatemalan Social Organizations Collective (COS) presented evidence on Wednesday that its alleged benefits are deceptive and false.
COS analyst Carlos Barreda explained to Prensa Latina that the 29 percent increase of traditional exports claimed by Assistant Economy Minister Sigrido Lee for CAFTA, is really due to the revaluation of coffee and sugar on the world market, and the true increase is 5.6 percent.
However, even this small increase does not impact the national economy since the profits are concentrated in a very few transnational monopolies, Barreda said.
On the negative side and contrary to what was promised when the agreement came into effect, the cost of living increased last year particularly for basic products like corn, beans, chicken and bread.
CAFTA has not changed either Guatemala’s constant increase of poverty and extreme poverty or the accumulation of wealth by a small business group, Barreda assured.
A real economic increase that will provide jobs and raise the standard of living for the majority is not achieved with CAFTA but with improvement in education, health, infrastructure and security, said the COS leader.
