CAFTA

[Almighty Colin]

The United States completed a free trade agreement with five Central American nations plus the Dominican Republic by signing accords promoting environmental protection and sustained development.

But the nations involved in the deal, except for El Salvador, have yet to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Several opposition Democrats in the US Congress are against the seven-nation pact.

Officials praised the accords reached Friday.

"It is a compromise reached in favor of the environment," said the Dominican Republic's ambassador to the United States, Flavio Espinal.

In addition to El Salvador, the United States and the Dominican Republic, the pact includes Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.

The CAFTA- Dominican Republic area is a larger US export market than Russia, India and Indonesia combined, according to the US Trade Representative's office. The United States exports more than 15 billion dollars in goods to the region every year.