Free Trade & Illegal Immigration: Part II
October 20th 2007 04:23
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is only the beginning of free trade agreements between the U.S. and other governments. The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), ratified by both houses of congress in 2005, would include the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. CAFTA is seen as a stepping stone to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas which would include every Latin American country (except Cuba) and the U.S. The FTAA itself is a stepping stone to the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) which would include the countries in the western and eastern hemisphere.
CAFTA does not contain worker or environmental protections. It ignores the standards set by the International Labor Organization, and requires only that participating countries enforce existing laws. In Central America, laws for workers are far from adequate. The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) CAFTA Policy Brief claims that, “The enforcement of labor laws in the region needs more attention and resources.” (p.2)
Central America and the Dominican Republic make up the second largest U.S. export market behind Mexico, and is the 10th largest U.S. market worldwide. There is an economic chasm between the U.S. and Central America the size of Texas. The combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Central America is equal to less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. GDP.
Central American farmers are concerned that they will not be able to compete with U.S. exports. Two/thirds of the Central American population rely on agriculture for employment.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates twenty-two percent of undocumented workers are from Central America. If NAFTA is any indication, the implementation of CAFTA will increase the number of immigrants from Central American countries, who will end up being exploited as cheap labor for both corporations and farmers.
Factories, called maquiladoras, were established along the border in order to create a “border zone” where protections are not in place for labor unions, health, safety, and environmental laws. In Bacon’s article he claimed that “By 2001, more than 2,000 such factories were employing more than 1.3 million people, and border cities like Tijuana and Juárez had mushroomed into industrial urban centers with over a million residents each.” 35% of all new employment in manufacturing was in maquiladoras, which pay low wages. A report by the Latin American Working Group reported that “the purchasing power of the minimum wage fell by 17.9% through 1999.”
Certain American industries benefit from the protectionism of NAFTA. In a speech at the University of Virginia in 1993 Chomsky said that one of the main goals of the American government in regards to NAFTA is “to increase protection for things in which the US has an advantage…intellectual property.” In other words, new technology, “the technology of the future” is what the U.S. wants to protect.
CAFTA does not contain worker or environmental protections. It ignores the standards set by the International Labor Organization, and requires only that participating countries enforce existing laws. In Central America, laws for workers are far from adequate. The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) CAFTA Policy Brief claims that, “The enforcement of labor laws in the region needs more attention and resources.” (p.2)
Central America and the Dominican Republic make up the second largest U.S. export market behind Mexico, and is the 10th largest U.S. market worldwide. There is an economic chasm between the U.S. and Central America the size of Texas. The combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Central America is equal to less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. GDP.
Central American farmers are concerned that they will not be able to compete with U.S. exports. Two/thirds of the Central American population rely on agriculture for employment.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates twenty-two percent of undocumented workers are from Central America. If NAFTA is any indication, the implementation of CAFTA will increase the number of immigrants from Central American countries, who will end up being exploited as cheap labor for both corporations and farmers.
Factories, called maquiladoras, were established along the border in order to create a “border zone” where protections are not in place for labor unions, health, safety, and environmental laws. In Bacon’s article he claimed that “By 2001, more than 2,000 such factories were employing more than 1.3 million people, and border cities like Tijuana and Juárez had mushroomed into industrial urban centers with over a million residents each.” 35% of all new employment in manufacturing was in maquiladoras, which pay low wages. A report by the Latin American Working Group reported that “the purchasing power of the minimum wage fell by 17.9% through 1999.”
Certain American industries benefit from the protectionism of NAFTA. In a speech at the University of Virginia in 1993 Chomsky said that one of the main goals of the American government in regards to NAFTA is “to increase protection for things in which the US has an advantage…intellectual property.” In other words, new technology, “the technology of the future” is what the U.S. wants to protect.
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