Guatemala: Devastating Impacts on Agriculture and Sovereignty
by jefe – 10 Mar 2005
http://austin.indymedia.org/newswire/display/19407As Mexico's closest neighbors, Guatemalans view the Mexican experience under NAFTA with grave concern, particularly the fact that some 1.3 million Mexican farmers have been displaced by imports of cheap U.S. agricultural goods. Agriculture makes up 23% of Guatemala's GDP and is the source of 50% of its employment.[1]
The Coordination of NGOs and Cooperatives (CONGOOD) carried out a detailed study of the potential impact of DR-CAFTA on Guatemalan agriculture, particularly on the export and import of 24 key crops. CONGCOOP concludes that the agreement could result in a net loss of between 45,000 and 124,000 jobs. The job losses among white-corn producers (who account for 38 percent of employment in the country) could be especially severe during the first year of implementation, when production could fall by as much as 80 percent.
Not surprisingly, family-farm and indigenous organizations have been at the forefront of demonstrations against the agreement. In a recent protest at the national Congress, Nery Barrios of Unity of Union and Popular Action (UASP) emphasized that, "campesinos won't be able to produce corn, beans, rice or grains, because those goods will come from abroad at lower prices. They will be genetically modified goods that will affect Guatemalans' health."[2] Indigenous groups assert that the agreement violates their rights under ILO Convention 169 (which Guatemala ratified in 1996), which states that they must be consulted on issues that affect their rights to land or livelihoods.
Over the past few months, a new issue has emerged: the Guatemalan Congress's right to establish laws regarding the production and marketing of generic medicines. The Congress approved legislation in December 2004 that eliminated a five-year ban on the use of test data on pharmaceutical products. Under the old ban generic producers were forced to conduct their own trials on the safety of medicines in order to gain marketing authority, which is prohibitively expensive. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative has threatened to remove Guatemala from DR-CAFTA unless the five-year protection on the use of test data is reinstated. Luis Velazquez of the Association of Pharmaceutical Industries of Guatemala (ASINFRAGUA) called this pressure "an abuse" and said that it violates the country's sovereignty.[3]
Guatemalan organizations have also protested the lack of public debate on DR-CAFTA and have insisted on a public consultation on the accord. The Mesa Global, a multisectoral coalition on trade and development, has, in working with other organizations, gathered 25,000 letters to legislators demanding that they convene a public consultation on the ratification of this accord. They urge the Congress not to rush through a vote but instead to carefully consider the potential consequences for the country's future economic and social development.
Guatemalan Demonstrations against CAFTA
12 October 2002: Mobilizations against CAFTA are held throughout Central America. A thousand indigenous Guatemalans block the Pan-American Highway at Huehuetenango, and 6,000 protestors block highways, airports and border crossings in Petén.
12 May 2003: Hundreds of farmers protest outside the site of the fourth round of official negotiations in Guatemala City. "We want to continue working without the threat of an invasion of subsidized U.S. products, as occurred in Mexico under NAFTA," the protestors announce in a press statement.
26 November 2003: 20,000 Guatemalan family farmers and indigenous people march to demand changes in the government's agricultural and land-tenure policies and to protest CAFTA, the FTAA and Plan Puebla Panama.
23 March 2004: Thousands of Guatemalan farmers, women, workers and youth march and block roads to protest CAFTA, Plan Puebla Panama and recent price increases on consumer goods.
31 March 2004: More than 10,000 indigenous Guatemalans organized by the Mayan Wagib'Kij march to demand that the government cancel permits for mining on their lands and that it review CAFTA, the FTAA and PPP and initiate a process to redefine those agreements in consultation with indigenous peoples.
8 June 2004: Thousands of Guatemalan farmers, workers and indigenous peoples block highways and border crossings, protesting violent land evictions, proposals for regressive taxes and CAFTA (now known as DR-CAFTA after the addition of the Dominican Republic). The government agrees to a series of commitments in response to the protests, including a promise to hold public hearings on DR-CAFTA throughout the country.
12 October 2004: Nearly 12,000 Guatemalans, led by indigenous and campesino organizations, march in Guatemala City against DR-CAFTA. "The FTA will only bring more poverty to our country," said Daniel Pascual of the National Coordination of Campesino Organizations (CNOC, quoted in La Prensa).
11 January 2005: Several hundred representatives of the National October 20 Coalition protest at the U.S. Embassy against pressure by the U.S. government to rescind legislation on patent protections to make the Guatemalan law consistent with DR-CAFTA.
11 February 2005: More than 300 representatives of unions and family-farm and other civil-society organizations demonstrate at the national Congress to demand that the legislators authorize a popular consultation on the agreement rather than ratify it.
1 March 2005: More than 8,000 Guatemalans march to the Plaza of the Constitution to demand that legislators vote against DR-CAFTA and mining concessions to foreign companies.
[1] Trade Policy Review: Guatemala, World Trade Organization wt/tpr/s/94, 14 December 2001.
[2] "Consulta popular, exigen en Guatemala antes que ratificación TLC," Prensa Latina, 10 February 2005.
[3] "Rechazan presión de EU en Guatemala para ratificar TLC," El Sol de México, 29 December 2004.
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