Appears that CAFTA has hit a snag with one of the US closest allies in the region. OOPS!


SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - More than 100,000 Costa Ricans, some dressed as skeletons, protested a U.S. trade pact on Sunday they say will flood their country with cheap farm goods and cause job losses.

Chanting "No to the free-trade pact!" and "Costa Rica is not for sale!" demonstrators filled one of San Jose's main boulevards to show their opposition against the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States.


LINK

We have a member on the RSD site from Costa Rica. I'll ask her if she has a costume.

With our dropping dollar they may have a point.

NAFTA was a big mistake and now they are pushing CAFTA. It will benefit only the larger corporations, just as it did in Mexico.

Dems are afraid they could lose another "ally" in the region, so they are massaging.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democrats sought to reassure Costa Rican voters on Friday their country would not lose U.S. trade benefits if they rejected a free-trade agreement with Washington, following a Bush administration warning they could be at risk.

"Congress is constitutionally responsible for regulating international commerce. As such, we reiterate our longstanding position that preference programs should not be conditioned on a country entering into a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States," two senior Democrats in the House of Representatives said


LINK

I'd rather we took a more moderate approach than the hardline statements made by Bush

Sounds good, but the Dems are terrified that they will have to deal with Central America as well as Iran and Iraq. They are not equipped to handle that much diplomacy.