Bush signs Dominican Republic-CAFTA trade pact

(L-R) Special Envoy to the US from Honduras Norman
Garcia, Rep. Norm Coleman (R-MN), Rep. Clay Shaw
(R-FL), Ambassador Flavio Dario Espinal of the
Dominican Republic, Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), and
Ambassador Tomas Duenas of Costa Rica applaud as
US President George W. Bush signs the Central
American Free Trade Agreement 02 August 2005, at
the White House in Washington, DC. Ambassadors and
dignitaries from countries in Central America and the
Dominican Republic, administration cabinet members
and members of the US Congress were on hand for
the signing of the bill. AFP PHOTO CHIP SOMODEVILLA 

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): US President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed a hotly contested US trade pact with Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA), saying the move would bolster economic growth and democracy in Latin America.

"Two decades ago, many of the CAFTA nations struggled with poverty and dictatorship and civil strife. Today they are working democracies, and we must not take these gains for granted," Bush said at a White House signing ceremony.

After a late-night round of arm-twisting of Republican lawmakers led by Bush himself, the House of Representatives passed the agreement late last week by the razor-thin margin of 217 votes to 215.

"These nations still face forces that oppose democracy, seek to limit economic freedom and want to drive a wedge between the United States and the rest of the Americas," said Bush.

"The small nations of CAFTA are making big and brave commitments, and CAFTA is a signal that the United States will stand with them and support them," said the president.

Bush also said that the agreement would curb illegal immigration into the United States because "the more opportunity that Central Americans have at home to provide for themselves and their families means it's less likely that someone looking for a job will try to come to this country illegally."

Although accord's economic impact is widely considered slight, defeat would have left Bush weakened as the administration tries to forge a global deal at the World Trade Organization.

At 15 billion dollars a year, US exports to the countries covered by the pact -- the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala -- are meagre.

But the symbolic value of the deal to the White House, in a year when the WTO's "Doha Round" of talks on trade liberalisation will climax, was plain to see.

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