Home > Washington DC, September 12, 2006: Members
of Congress, solidarity organizations, leaders of the DC-area Salvadoran community,
and student and faith-based groups held a press conference to announce the
release of a report monitoring the effects of the US-Dominican Republic Central
America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
appeared and made a statement challenging the Bush administration’s
current trade policy. The 45-page monitoring report "DR-CAFTA in Year One"
details the problems that have thus far been encountered during the implementation
of CAFTA, as well as trends that are emerging related to textiles, agriculture,
labor and other issues that were at the center of the CAFTA debate. According
to the executive summary of the report: "The US Trade Representative
has insisted on new concessions from Central American counterparts that go
beyond items negotiated during CAFTA discussions", while "the process
of rolling implementation has had negative consequences for the region and
for the United States." Many of the grassroots groups are members of the Stop CAFTA
Coalition and the Alliance for Responsible Trade, which were active in 2004
and 2005 in raising awareness about the effects of "free" trade
during the debate over CAFTA in the US Congress. Said Katherine Hoyt of the
Nicaragua Network, "There has been no improvement of the human rights
situation in Central America under CAFTA. Indeed, there is evidence that CAFTA
and other neo-liberal reforms are increasing social conflicts and, in El Salvador,
Guatemala and Honduras, the state is responding with increased violence." Groups Release Monitoring Report Assessing
Impact of CAFTA
