On March 10 of 2005, the Guatemalan Congress ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), an agreement between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the United States. This marked the spreading of neoliberalism in Guatemala and served as another tool to continue the unequal neocolonial tradition of extractivism in Guatemala, now orchestrated by the United States. Through neoliberalism, the US now has another way to infringe upon Guatemala sovereignty using economic racialized oppression, as measures like CAFTA disproportionately impact Indigenous and Black communities.
During the CAFTA negotiations, NISGUA mobilized our base to express their concerns regarding lack of transparency and more generally about the trade agreement. Later, we organized a speaking tour featuring Carlos Humberto Muralles, who spoke about the impacts of neoliberal policies like CAFTA and Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) on Guatemala.
📸 Flyer for NISGUA’s 2004 Speaking Tour, “People over Profit,” which featured Rudy Monterroso, Carlos Humberto Muralles, Arnoldo Yat, and Luisa Xinico Yos.