Dealing With a Bad Deal: Two Years of DR-CAFTA in Central America
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), Washington D.C.
Critics argue that for over a decade, the United States has been striving to create commercial inroads into Latin America by way of bilateral free trade agreements that benefit U.S. economic interests to the detriment of those of Latin America. A recent example of this trend was the passage of the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), a pact designed to promote trade and foreign investment between the U.S. and its Caribbean Basin neighbors. ..When it was being negotiated, advocates of DR-CAFTA repeatedly assured skeptics that the agreement w as a “win-win” situation, arguing that it would economically benefit all countries involved…However, two years have now passed since some Central American countr ies implemented DR-CAFTA’s mandates, and governments, farmers, and workers across the region are beginning to suffer the consequences of an unfair deal. ..
