On April 10th, family members of the Cuban Five imprisoned in the United States have an appointment in the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, to request their visas.

Though actions blocking imports of subsidized US grains ended Wednesday, rejection of the North American Free Trade Agreement keeps growing in Mexico.

Job losses due to CAFTA-style policies are a major concern, but a larger problem with free trade is lower wages. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), most US jobs will be negatively affected by reduced pay. In fact the losses in pay, despite claims by CAFTA’s supporters, will likely outweigh lower prices that may occur as a result.

After a shaky start for President Bush’s pet trade project, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the much-criticized treaty moves to the House of Representatives for a vote later this month. CAFTA, is a "free trade" agreement modeled on NAFTA and would remove tariffs and regulations on trade between the US, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Despite public opposition, the Bush administration and the congressional Republican leadership plan a big push to pass the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in the next few days and weeks. The trading partners governed by CAFTA would be the United States, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and possibly the Dominican Republic.

The Bush administration intends to exert maximum political pressure to produce a win because it fears if a high priority agenda item like CAFTA goes down, it will signal that the Lame Duck phase of Bush’s presidency has really begun.Also, the defect of CAFTA would dissipate the already flagging momentum behind the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), signifying that the President’s trade efforts (a huge chunk of his legislative “must list”) are dead in the water.

Experts who have tracked the outcomes resulting from NAFTA’s policies have described it as a disaster for small farmers and working people in all three countries. US workers lost 879,280 jobs and real wages in Mexico have fallen as a result of NAFTA in the past 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute.

While the Bush administration claims that CAFTA will help secure and strengthen democracy throughout the hemisphere by promoting growth and reducing poverty in Central America, economic indicators convincingly establish that U.S. agribusinesses and multinational corporations will be the pact’s overwhelming beneficiaries as a result of cheap labor and easily penetrable and non-competitive local markets.

Workers denounce CAFTA(CENTRAL AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT) 'CAFTA... does not include protections for (a) workers’ right to form a union or (for) safe work conditions...'

The Bush administration and at least one business owner are warning U.S. jobs would migrate to very low-paying Chinese firms, unless Congress approves the controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement.

On March 9, 2005, police forces in Guatemala City fired tear gas and beat demonstrators who were protesting the ratification of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).