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Thursday, July 28, 2005 CAFTA Passage in U.S. Congress Mirrors Vote in Salvadoran Assembly The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) narrowly passed in the House of Representatives early this morning by a two-vote margin, 217-215*. Yesterday, President Bush made a rare visit to Capitol Hill to persuade the Republican rank-and-file to vote for the agreement, and Vice-President Cheney set up an office to meet with representatives. Once the Republican leadership secured enough support, the vote was finally held shortly after midnight. According to the Associated Press, “The House vote, supposed to take 15 minutes, dragged on for an hour as negotiations swirled around the floor among GOP leaders and rank-and-file members reluctant to vote for the agreement. In the end, 27 Republicans voted against CAFTA, while 15 Democrats supported it.” The last-ditch efforts by the Bush Administration were a culmination of weeks of wheeling and dealing, which included a pledge of $160 million in aid to CAFTA countries over the next four years for labor-enforcement and environmental programs. "CAFTA helps ensure that free trade is fair trade," President Bush said in a statement following the vote. "By lowering trade barriers to American goods in Central American markets to a level now enjoyed by their goods in the U.S., this agreement will level the playing field and help American workers, farmers and small businesses." Bush also insisted CAFTA would pay big dividends for security, stability and freedom in the Western Hemisphere. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, called CAFTA “a step backward for workers in Central America and a job-killer here at home." Pelosi also told reporters the House floor turned into an episode of “Let’s Make a Deal” and that for days leading up to the vote Members had “offers made” to them. Some Republicans could not be persuaded. "I told President Bush that my late mom was a textile worker," said Rep. Howard Coble, a North Carolina Republican. "And when textile workers ... plead with me to vote against CAFTA, I said to the president 'it's my momma talking to me and I cannot turn a deaf ear to those pleas’." North Carolina Republican Walter Jones said: “CAFTA is not going to help the people of Central America, and it certainly won't help those American workers who will lose their jobs...If CAFTA becomes the law of the land, this country is setting itself up to become a second-rate manufacturing country.” CAFTA in the Salvadoran Assembly CAFTA’s passage in the U.S. Congress mirrors the vote in the Salvadoran National Assembly held on December 17, 2004, which also lasted through the night. The session, originally scheduled for 9 a.m., was delayed due to protest. When the session reconvened at 4 p.m., the trade agreement was not on the agenda. Nonetheless, at 3:20 a.m., more than 11 hours into the session, ARENA moved to modify the agenda to include CAFTA. Deputies of the FMLN and CDU protested that a decision of this magnitude should not be voted on while the majority of the population was sleeping. As the debate became heated, ARENA proposed a “fast track” vote on the agreement, allowing the assembly to override the normal legislative procedure of assigning a committee to study and debate proposed legislation and make recommendations. While CAFTA had been assigned to a committee after its presentation 16 days earlier, the committee had not as of yet presented its observations and recommendations to the legislative plenary. With 45 votes, “fast track” was approved. At 11:06 a.m., CAFTA was ratified with 49 votes. Protests in the streets outside intensified until anti-riot police were sent to disperse the crowd. Several people were injured in confrontations with the police. Read More… The legislative assemblies of Nicaragua and Costa Rica have yet to vote on CAFTA. Where do we go from here? To see how your representative voted, click here. Even though the vote is over, you can still call your Congressperson to thank them for voting "no" under the intense pressure or say why you're disappointed they voted "yes". While the outcome of the CAFTA vote is a disappointing manipulation of the democratic process, the four-year struggle against CAFTA should not be dismissed as a failure. This morning’s vote was the closest ever for a so-called free trade agreement because of the work of the solidarity network in the United States and Central America involving citizens, civil society organizations, elected officials and churches. Despite support from powerful economic interests, unbridled misinformation from the U.S. government and other member governments, and in some cases, violent government repression, CAFTA had to be forced through in the middle of the night in order to be passed. Free trade proponents see CAFTA as another step towards the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would extend the NAFTA neoliberal model to all of South America. We must remain vigilant to prevent this from becoming a reality. Elizabeth Hernandez, a CRISPAZ staffer and member of the Salvadoran Sinti Techan Citizen’s Network on Trade and Foreign Investment, says: “We should always take a position of resistance, even if it’s already passed, we have to try in some way with social organization to find alternatives that mitigate the impacts of the free trade agreements. We have to find alternative paths where the negative effects are a little less damaging to the whole population… we cannot give up the battle as lost, we have to continue and try to see what we can improve in the agreement.” *The “No” vote of Representative Charles H. Taylor of North Carolina’s 11th District, was not recorded, reportedly due to an error. This would make the tally 217-216, but would not change the outcome of the vote. See statement from Representative Taylor See links to articles used as sources
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