US-CENTRAL AMERICAN TRADE PACT: NEW BANANA REPUBLICANISM

United States banana republicanism is alive and well, and coming back to Guatemala, the US\'s first banana republic, writes Raj Patel, Policy Analyst at Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy, based in Oakland, California. From May 12-15, United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick will be negotiating a new deal with Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua known as the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). In this analysis for IPS, the author writes that farmers in the region vehemently oppose the agreement. They recognize that they stand little chance of being able to compete against the massively -subsidized US agribusiness machine. The 2002 US Farm Bill apportioned USD 180 billion in new subsidies over ten years; the total GDP for all five countries last year was just under USD 140 billion. The loudest cries of protest have come from the agricultural sectors in these economies. But the luxury of dissent isn\'t one afforded to the five CAFTA countries: if they agree to CAFTA by the end of the year they will simultaneously commit themselves to the FTAA. At a time when criticism of US foreign policy is deemed \'\'giving comfort to the enemy\'\', the grievances of the least powerful are likely to be swept under the rug. Protests by farmers in Central America continue to be censored, ignored, or met with retribution.