Costa Rica And Dominican Republic Still Wait to Join CAFTA
Now that Guatemala has implemented the Central American Free Trade Agreement, it leaves only Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic as the only two signatories to the trade agreement still to ratify it.

CAFTA or Tratado Libre de Comercio (TLC) as it is known in Costa Rica, is designed to reduce trade barriers between the United States and the five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala have all ratified and implemented their agreements.

According to the White House, CAFTA will further open a market of 44 million consumers of U.S. products and "strengthen our security at home by promoting democracy and prosperity in our hemisphere."

In Costa Rica, president Oscar Arias Sanchez is in favour of the agreement negotiated by the former administration and is calling for support from all sides of the argument, including appealing the to the Vatican for the support of the Catholic church in Costa Rica.

There is no definite timetable when the agreement will be voted on by the Legislative Assembly. Former president Abel Pacheco sent the agreement to the Legislature late last year, defending his stalling by saying that U.S. President George W. Bush told him to all the time he needs.

Opposition to the trade agreement argue that the deal is bad for Costa Rica and rallying support on the basis that the TLC is a way of selling off the country.

Those in favour of the agreement say that it will bring jobs and more investment to the country, something that all Costa Ricans will benefit.