Cool Cafta Quotes

Last Thursday George W. Bush welcomed to Washington the presidents of Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic.

It was a photo-op born of mounting desperation. As the vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) looms ever nearer, it is becoming increasingly clear that it faces serious resistance from both sides of the Congressional aisle.

Why does CAFTA face such opposition from politicians, labor unions, churches, famers, health organizations, and human rights defenders (amongst others)?

I'll let the qoutes speak for themselves:

"While it's impressive for presidents to come and say hello, at the end of the day, with all due respect, the first order of business for me is protecting my constituents." [Rep. Mark Foley, R-Florida.]

"All the teary-eyed arguments about how this is good for democracy and prosperity -- none of that will happen if all the agreement does is enrich multinational corporations, cost good jobs here in the United States and create sweatshop jobs in Central America." [Thea M. Lee, chief international economist for the AFL-CIO.]

''DR-CAFTA poses a serious threat to farmers in my country who won't be able to compete with highly subsidized U.S. producers.'' [Victorio Valerio, president of the Dominican Republic's National Federation of Rice Producers, which represents 30,000 small-scale rice farmers.]

"This is going to displace the poorest of the poor without any international development plan for what to do with these people." [Jeff Vogt, a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America.]

"Mr. President, the workers of Central America and the Dominican Republic do not enjoy the freedoms in the workplace that permit them to advance the cause of economic stability in their own families, and importantly, in their countries." [Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat, and three colleagues in a letter to Mr. Bush.]

''CAFTA says to these countries with woefully inadequate laws and practices, just enforce your own laws. This is a double standard not accepted in any other area of international trade.'' [Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives trade subcommittee.]

"There has always been a certain attitude among some economists and trade advocates that the issue is simply trade: Reduce the barriers and move forward. What we've discovered in the last 10 or 15 years is that, yes, that's a part of it, but if you want to reduce poverty and move people to the middle class, you need more than that. You need an emphasis on workers' rights. A balance must be struck between the short-term needs of business and the needs of workers." [Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington state.]

"In essence, CAFTA is a way to enable American corporations to move jobs overseas, exploit cheap labor in the developing world and import products back into the United States." [Rep. Robert Wexler D-Florida.]

"Cafta -- We Don't Hafta." [A.F.L.-C.I.O. slogan.]

"Generic competition has lowered HIV drug costs. If Bush gets his way, CAFTA will lock countries into tough new patent rules that will drive the cost of life-saving drugs up and delay or obstruct generic competition." [Asia Russell, of the nonprofit organization Health GAP.]

"I believe CAFTA is where Congress draws the line on America's failed trade policies." [Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.]

"Free trade agreements must abide by certain core principles: they should foster closer economic cooperation among and within countries and raise standards of living, especially for the poorest and most abandoned; there should be broad debate about their content and impact in all countries involved; and they should be part of a broader agenda of sustainable human development and closely linked to aid and migration policies. Unfortunately, the Central America Free Trade Agreement falls significantly short of these principles." [Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini of San Marcos, Guatemala]

Just to be fair, I'll end with a quote from a government official, published this evening, that reflects the Bush administration's openness to listening to these varied voices and hearing their compelling concerns:

"We don't feel the need to renegotiate anything." [Carlos Gutierrez, U.S. Commerce Secretary]

Sources:
[ The Washington Post, The Washington Post (2), The Sun Sentinel, The World Peace Herald, NewsFactor, IPS News, The NY Times, The Nation, Reuters ]