CAFTA Passes

The controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) passed the US House of Representatives early Thursday morning in an extremely close vote of 217-215. The FTA has already passed in the Senate and now moves to the desk of President George W Bush, who has promised to sign it. The bill, which will lower trade barriers between the US, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic faced ferocious opposition from the powerful sugar and textile industries and passed with few Democratic votes. Bush argued the FTA would strengthen the economies and governments of Central America and the Dominican Republic, thereby improving the national security of the United States.