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As Pact is Signed, Diverse Opponents of Peru NAFTA Expansion Pledge to Monitor Outcomes, Hold Proponents Accountable

Dec. 14, 2007

As Pact is Signed, Diverse Opponents of Peru NAFTA Expansion Pledge to Monitor Outcomes, Hold Proponents Accountable

Statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch Division

Today’s signing of a NAFTA expansion pushed by U.S. oil, gas and other large corporations but opposed uniformly by Peru’s unions, farmers, indigenous peoples and faith leaders will further damage U.S. relations in Latin America, where the devastating outcomes of similar agreements are fueling anti-American sentiment.

The spectacle of another NAFTA expansion agreement is an insult to Americans’ demands for a new trade policy made vivid in the 2006 midterm elections, where candidates nationwide won by campaigning against more-of-the-same NAFTA deals.

We will carefully track the outcomes of this NAFTA expansion agreement so those who supported it are held responsible for the damage it will cause. The Peru trade deal includes the same NAFTA agriculture rules that displaced 1.3 million Mexican farmers, dramatically increased hunger and immigration to the United States, and caused economic and political instability. It also includes investment protections that will empower big oil and gas corporations to ravage Peru’s pristine Amazon region.

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