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Friday, May 28, 2004

However, the Central American Free Trade Agreement faces stiff opposition in Congress because many Democrats contend it fails to do enough to protect American workers from unfair competition from low-wage countries.

Kerry Voted for NAFTA, but ...

The agreement is likely to become an issue in this year's presidential campaign. Presumptive Democrat nominee John Kerry has said he opposes the deal as negotiated by the Bush administration. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick made note of this opposition in his remarks at today's signing ceremony.

Zoellick said "opportunism and economic isolationism" were being used to attack efforts to promote democracy in Latin America.

The five Central American countries that participated in today's signing agreement were Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The ceremony was held in an ornate hall at the Organization of American States, while outside a small band of demonstrators paraded with signs saying "Make trade fair."

The island nation of the Dominican Republic reached agreement in March to join the Central American pact, but it could not participate in Friday's signing ceremony because of U.S. rules requiring a 90-day notice to Congress before the administration can sign trade deals.

When the pact is presented to Congress, it will include all six countries. It was uncertain, however, when the administration and Republican leaders would bring the pact up given strong opposition from Democrats and even some Republicans.

The administration is hoping that momentum generated by the Central American free trade deal will spur stalled negotiations to reach agreement on a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, which would create a free trade zone linking all 34 democracies in the Western hemisphere, excluding only Cuba. The FTAA is scheduled to be concluded by next January if wide differences over such issues as agriculture can be bridged by then.

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