Environmental Pact Aims to Strengthen CAFTA

Tico Times ^ | February 25 - March 03, 2005 | Katherine Stanley

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Representatives to the Organization of American States (OAS) from Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States signed an agreement Feb. 18 creating an Environmental Commission designed to complement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

Supporters of the trade pact say the commission will help strengthen conservation efforts and allay the fears of environmentalists in the United States and other CAFTA signatory nations.

Environmental groups argue the trade pact weakens Central American countries' ability to enact new environmental legislation and defend local resources against multinational companies.

The new agreement will “address some of the concerns people have raised” about CAFTA's environmental impact, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Elaine Samson told The Tico Times this week.

According to Andrea Borel, an environmental specialist for the U.S. Regional Environmental Office for Central American and the Caribbean, headquartered at the U.S. Embassy in San José, the agreement will “establish a framework for cooperation to build capacity” for environmental protection, including “strong public participation.”

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The internationalist's game plan:

USA-->NAFTA-->CAFTA-->FTAA-->"United States of the Americas"-->World Government

You can see from this article, it's not just about "free trade" anymore. Now it includes "environmental" regulation. Tomorrow it will include "labor" regulation. Then there will be a push to use a single currency throughout the Americas, perhaps to be called the "Amero."

[Ben Ficklin]

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