{"article":{"id":109662,"heading":"Who Will Stop CAFTA Contest","author":"Quixote Center","created":"2004-05-07 16:23:32","modified":"2013-11-11 00:29:38","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:29:38","article":"
What would you trade<\/span>
to save 50 cents on a tee-shirt?<\/span>

Democracy?<\/span>
The environment?<\/span>
Human Rights?<\/span>
Family farmers?<\/span>
<\/div>
10\r\nyears ago a new kind of trade agreement was created: the North American\r\nFree Trade Agreement (NAFTA) granted new rights to corporations in\r\nexchange for weakened labor and environmental protections. Since 1994\r\nthe track record is clear. In the United States, Mexico and Canada:
  • More people live in poverty….<\/li>
  • More farmers have lost their lands….<\/li>
  • More workers have lost their jobs….<\/li>
  • More environmental laws have been overturned….<\/li><\/ul>Yet the bottom line for big business has improved.

    Based\r\non this track record, the Bush administration is moving quickly and\r\nquietly to secure an expansion of NAFTA to Central America. The Central\r\nAmerica Free Trade Agreement is another NAFTA disaster.

    CAFTA<\/span>
    <\/div>
    • Expands\r\ncorporate rights to sue governments over environmental laws if they\r\nlessen profit, while denying individual citizens the right to\r\neffectively petition for environmental and labor rights concerns.<\/li>
    • Expands\r\nfailed agricultural policies that feed biotech firms and agribusinesses\r\nat the expense of family farmers in the U.S. and Latin America.<\/li>
    • Expands the race to the bottom, for lower wages and lower environmental standards.<\/li><\/ul>Cosponsored by:<\/span>\r\nCampaign for Labor Rights, Network in Solidarity with the People of\r\nGuatemala (NISGUA), Nicaragua Network, Committee in Solidarity with the\r\nPeople of El Salvador (CISPES), U.S. \/ El Salvador Sister Cities,\r\nNicaragua\/U.S. Friendship Office, Witness for Peace, Chicago Religious\r\nLeadership Network on Latin America, U.S.\/Labor Education in the\r\nAmericas Project (U.S. LEAP), The Share Foundation, Oxfam America,\r\nResource Center of the Americas, International Labor Rights Fund.

      \n","contact":"caftaactivist@yahoo.com","link":"www.quixote.org\/cafta","address":"PO Box 5205 Hyattsville, MD 20782","phone":"301-699-0042","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Quest for Peace of the Quixote Center will run a full-page, New York Times signature ad in opposition to CAFTA- the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The 44,000 dollars and 2,500 signatures it takes is being raised from engaged citizens like you, who wish to proudly and publicly say "No" to CAFTA. The state with the highest number of signers<\/b> (as a percentage of the state's total population) will be specifically acknowledged in the New York Times Ad.<\/b> Show the country and Mr. Bush that your state will not tolerate CAFTA! See ad text below. ","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/05\/109662.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}