CAFTA is also a step backward for labor rights. Under CAFTA, Central American countries are only obligated to uphold their own labor laws, which have been judged inadequate by the International Labor Organization in more than 20 ways. What's more, the enforcement of these deficient laws cannot be encouraged through the use of dispute settlement, fines or trade sanctions. Even putting labor conditions aside, CAFTA is bad the health of people of co south of the U.S. border. The countries of Central America have high rates of infection of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, rates that go up even more if you look at just the Afro-Latino communities. Provisions in CAFTA would actually delay or limit the introduction of cheaper, generic drugs to combat or cure many diseases and other health conditions. The result? Many of the 275,000 Central America living with HIV/AIDS will not be able to afford antiretroviral drugs. This impact will hit especially hard on Afro-Latinos, who make up a third of Latin America's population but represent 40 percent of Latin America's poor Maybe that's why Doctors Without Borders, the American Public Health Association and many others have come out strongly against CAFTA.
The best pieces of good legislation can be hijacked and used against the very people it is supposed to be benefiting. As a result, you may buy clothes that say "Made in Kenya" or "Made in Nigeria," but the reality is that the cotton was grown and processed in China. The textile industry in nations such as Nigeria and the cotton farmers from Kenya and other nations have been devastated. The United has, in effect, laid the environment to bring economic devastation to villages and towns throughout Africa. Why Haiti? It's simple. They can cram China cotton into Haiti and block any textile business in the CAFTA nations. Keep in mind that millions of people of African descent live and work in CAFTA nations. More than any place else, the Dominican Republic is 60 percent Black. It is quickly developing textiles under CAFTA via business with the United States. It also employs many Haitians who border the nation.
Lauderdale Lakes City Commissioner Hazelle Rogers has been named the new president of the Broward League of Cities. She was nominated by her peers to head the organization, comprising representatives from all of Broward's municipalities. "We try to identify issues affecting municipal government in Broward. I wanted to be a part of the planning that will shape what Broward, and my city, will be in 15 years," Rogers told The Broward Times. "We are living in a global world now. Broward needs to create partnerships with Caribbean countries. I want to organize trade missions and impress upon people how important the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries are to us, as far as trade is concerned," said Rogers, a native of Jamaica.
