On December 17, U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick announced that the Bush administration had concluded a "cutting edge" Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. "Step by step, country by country, region by region, the United States is opening markets with top-notch, comprehensive FTAs that set the standard," said Zoellick, referring to a bag full of trade agreements he has been crafting for the administration.

The battle to push CAFTA through Congress — which has been quietly underway for the past year — will formally commence in January, as soon as President Bush releases the text of the document and announces his intention to sign it. The administration and its pro-CAFTA corporate allies are claiming that it will provide an incredible boost to U.S. exports and jobs. Those are the same promises that accompanied previous FTAs, such as NAFTA and the WTO. The result has been a huge boost in imports and ever-higher trade deficits. Our main exports have been U.S. jobs and our market share and technological lead in virtually every industry.

A December 17 press release from Mr. Zoellick’s office notes that the agreement is part of a broader global agenda. "The culmination of a year of intense negotiations," says the release, "CAFTA fulfills a key U.S. objective of opening markets with free trade partners, while continuing to push trade liberalization hemispherically through the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and globally in the Doha talks in the World Trade Organization (WTO)."

However, the real agenda beneath the rhetoric about opening markets is discernible for those who understand globalese: It is about regional integration — that is, economic and political merger of the nations involved. Zoellick made this point clear when he announced the launch of CAFTA negotiations on January 8, 2003. He said: "This agreement will further the regional integration that the Central Americans themselves have begun, and complement our vital work on the Free Trade Area of the Americas." The administration sees U.S. adoption of CAFTA as an important step toward completing the larger FTAA, which envisions the ultimate merger of all nations of the Western Hemisphere under a European Union-style supranational government.