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Date: 21 July, 2005

Protesters march against the Central American Free Trade Agreement - CAFTA, (TLC in Spanish), during the Global Week of Action in April 2005 photo: Christian Aid / Moises Lopez
‘It’s like an insect that competes with an elephant.’

The rich will get richer and the poor even poorer as a result of a snap decision by the Honduran government to join the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

With the lifting of trade tariffs Honduran workers will have to compete with cheap imports from the United States. Christian Aid partner COMAL (the Alternative Community Marketing Network), believes this is unfair.

DR-CAFTA is an agreement between the US, five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. The six countries will open up their markets to US products in return for freer access to sell their own products in the US.

COMAL, is an association of 42 organised and grassroots groups of small producers. It supports peasant farmers to successfully market and get the best prices for their produce.

They are worried about the unfairness of this agreement on peasant farmers. For example, the US produces enough maize to supply the whole of Central America.

‘This is going to compete with our maize’ says Luisa Reyes from COMAL ‘It’s like an insect that competes with an elephant.’ says Julian Mendoza an anti-CAFTA campaigner.

COMAL also works to find alternatives to liberalisation agreements like CAFTA, such as fair trade cooperatives and building trade links between Central American countries that benefit the poor.

Feliciano Martinez from COMAL points out that the agreement allows Honduras to export products such as computers, tractors and cars to the US free of tariffs. ‘This makes me laugh, or actually makes me sad, as they are all goods that Honduras does not produce.’

Despite the enthusiasm of the Honduran government to push through DR-CAFTA, COMAL and many others across Central America continue to campaign against the agreement. Demonstrations took place across Central America before and during the Global Week of Action in April 2005.

So far, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have ratified DR-CAFTA. This leaves Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic to make their decisions

The concerns are not all one-sided, some people in the US are also opposed to DR-CAFTA. US sugar producers complain that lifting restrictions on sugar imports will leave them unable to compete with Central American sugar producers. The powerful sugar industry sees CAFTA as a chance to fight to protect their interests by removing sugar protections from the US trade agenda once and for all.

The members of COMAL and other campaigners across Central America vow to continue to spread the word about the dangers of DR-CAFTA. ‘The more we inform, the more people join us in the fight against CAFTA’.