Trade deal with Dominican Republic, Central America will boost Florida's e

[Judi Lynn]

Trade deal with Dominican Republic, Central America will boost Florida's economy

By William E. Gibson
Washington Bureau Chief
Posted July 29 2005


WASHINGTON -- Florida's trade promoters celebrated House passage of a free-trade pact with the Dominican Republic and Central American countries on Thursday, predicting it will create thousands of jobs in the state's big export and service industries.

Opponents, after barely losing a suspenseful late-night vote, warned that the trade agreement instead would send more U.S. jobs overseas and allow companies to exploit cheap labor amid poor working conditions.

After an evening phone call from President Bush, South Florida Rep. Mark Foley cast a decisive vote for the controversial treaty, which passed 217-215 Thursday morning just after midnight.
(snip)

The economic impact of this treaty on American consumers and businesses will be relatively slight, but DR-CAFTA means big business for Florida. About half of U.S. goods exported to those nations are made in Florida or pass through its ports and airports, according to Enterprise Florida, the state's trade promotion group.
(snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-acafta29jul29,0,1063859.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

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Isn't it heart-warming _{Jeb Bush's} kingdom will benefit heavily?

[IndianaGreen]

1. CAFTA is a death sentence for people with HIV/AIDS.

This is from a Catholic pro-life website:

CAFTA WORKS AGAINST THE CULTURE OF LIFE

CAFTA is a death sentence for people with HIV/AIDS. If passed by Congress, The Central American Free Trade Agreement would make it much harder for the 275,000 HIV-infected people in the region to get access to the medicines they need to live. Thousands of lives are at stake.

“The situation for access to medicines in Guatemala is awful, it is terrible. Regarding HIV/AIDS, there are approximately 1,500 people receiving antiretroviral treatment in Guatemala at present, MSF is treating almost one-third of them. We buy quality generics. If there is any compromise on the possibility of buying such generics, then it will become almost impossible to treat HIV/AIDS patients in Guatemala. If only originator ‘brand-name’ drugs are available to treat HIV/AIDS, virtually no patients will receive treatment.”

Luis Villa, Médecins Sans Frontiéres
head of mission in Guatemala,

From a moral perspective, it is clear that CAFTA fails John Paul II’s test that those who can intervene to safeguard the dignity of the person must do so. Instead, CAFTA intervenes to preserve the profits of pharmaceuticals, at the expense of human life itself.


“YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND WEALTH.” – Matthew, 6: 24

CAFTA IS A RIGHT TO LIFE ISSUE.


www.catholicsforfaithfulcitizenship.org

© 2004. Catholics for Faithful Citizenship. All Rights reserved.

http://www.catholicsforfaithfulcitizenship.org/CaftaLife.htm