Posted on 03/01/2006 6:39:24 PM PST by 1rudeboy
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - El Salvador on Wednesday became the first Central American nation to join a regional free trade agreement with the United States.
President Tony Saca inaugurated the pact in a ceremony at a food exporting company.
But about 3,000 people marched elsewhere in the capital, San Salvador, to protest the agreement, which they say will hurt local farmers, street vendors and organized labor faced with competition from cheaper goods or with tighter restrictions on sales of counterfeit goods.
"From this day on we can count on a much larger market for our exported products and services," Saca said. He predicted more jobs and better living conditions for Salvadorans.
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic have ratified the treaty but are still working on enabling legislation. Costa Rica's legislature is still debating the accord.
El Salvador already is Washington's closest political partner in the region. The country has made the U.S. dollar a domestic currency and is the only Latin American country with troops still serving alongside U.S. forces in Iraq.
President Bush signed the free-trade agreement into law in August, after it passed by only two votes in the House of Representatives.
U.S. critics contend the deal would expose U.S. workers to unfair competition from low-wage nations and move more manufacturing jobs overseas.
United States and Colombia Conclude Free Trade Agreement, February 27, 2006.Take that, Hugo!
Can the ban on vitamin supplements be far behind? [har]
I heard Costa Rica could be next. Vitamins will be banned the next day.
Apparently, the pro-CAFTA presidential candidate won in Costa Rica.
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