GUATEMALA: Two die, CAFTA ratified

Guatemala's president ratified the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement on March 15, hours after police killed two activists in a violent attempt to break up a protest calling for a referendum on the trade agreement. By lowering US tariffs, CAFTA is likely to threaten the livelihoods of small farmers and increase unemployment and may exacerbate the country's food shortages. In the week before the vote, Guatemala was racked by some of the biggest protests in the country's history, occurring simultaneously in the country's cities and rural areas. The shootings happened in the north-

eastern province of Huehuetenango, as police opened fire on the dispersing protest. Across the country, water cannon loaded with dye and tear gas were used against protesters. El Salvador and Honduras have also ratified the agreement, which leaves Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the United States yet to do so.

From Green Left Weekly, March 23, 2005.

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From GLW issue 620