Costa Rica Walks Out of Talks for Central American Free Trade Agreement, Signaling Growing Opposition to Pact

Interview with Karen Hansen-Kuhn, coordinator of the Alliance for Responsible Trade, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Last week, the United States and four Central American nations -- Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua -- signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. Costa Rica, Washington's biggest trading partner in the region, walked out of the talks, citing fundamental disagreements over the treaty's control of parts of its public sector.

Negotiations were secret, but statements from the U.S. trade representative indicate that CAFTA is based on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the still pending Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty and the recent Chile-U.S. free trade pact. All of these accords drastically limit the ability of governments to implement national development policies. CAFTA must be ratified by the governments of all five countries before it takes effect, and opponents in the U.S. and in Central America are mounting an intense battle to defeat it.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Karen Hansen-Kuhn, coordinator of the Alliance for Responsible Trade, who explains why a hemispheric coalition of trade unionists, farmers, and social justice activists are working to block ratification of the corporate-inspired Central American Free Trade Agreement while promoting its own proposals for just and sustainable development.

For more information, call (202) 898-1566, or visit the group's website at www.art-us.org

Related links:

"Critics: CAFTA Trade Pact Will Cost US Jobs and Hurt Already Impoverished Central American Countries," by Emad Mekay, by Inter Press Service, Dec. 18, 2003

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