CAFTA Heightens Poverty in Guatemala

Guatemala, Jan 10 (Prensa Latina) A year and a half after signing the
Central American Free Trade Agreement, poverty has worsened in
Guatemala and there is greater concentration of wealth in the few, farm
leader Helmer Velasquez denounced on Thursday.

The leader of the coordinated NGOs and cooperatives warned that far
from the advertised advantages of CAFTA-DR, the popular sectors have
become depressed, employment has not increased and there are no serious
predictions of improvement for 2008.

The cost of food has risen and grains, seen as fuel today, threaten to
remove the daily food from family tables, said Velasquez.

He recalled that the increase of exports to the United States continue
focused on sugar, fruits and minerals, increasing the income of the
national oligarchy and the transnationals, which plunder the country's
natural resources.

Others who benefited are the large importers, who increase their
profits, but do not pay taxes, due to CAFTA.

At the threshold of a new government, with a social democrat tendency,
Velasquez believes the authorities should consider the Mexican crisis
with corn, beans and dairy products, caused by NAFTA.

In that respect, he championed intensifying grain production,
concentrating investments in the poorest areas and increasing credits
to foster rural development.

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PL-26
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