FTAA: A Risk for Latin America
             All pregnant women deserve the right to keep a job in safety conditions, but this is not the case for Laura Martinez, A 19 year old single pregnant women who lives in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Laura already has a one year old child. In order to feed herself and her child she must work overtime. She works in a well- known sweatshop in the border of Nogales, Sonora. In this factory she has been exploited by her employers since they make her work more than eight hours per day for less than six dollars. The working conditions are intolerable because she is exposed to dangerous chemicals with no protection. A free trade agreement with the United States sounds excellent for the economy of a country in Latin America. This is because these agreements offer tariff reductions in the exchange of goods, natural resources and services, which will enhance commerce in these countries. The business that is been recognized as one of the most important in these kinds of trades is agriculture, which commercially is known as agribusinesses. These businesses are greatly benefited by increasing profits; however the income for farmers and laborers in factories declines and the environment becomes polluted. This is the case of the so planned Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) that the United States is organizing to enact with all the 34 countries of the American continent excluding Cuba. FTAA is a continuation of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which covers Canada, Mexico and the United States. These two agreements consist of obtaining "common standards and some tariff cuts" in the exportations made among these countries (Between rivalry). This sounds great to most South American countries, because who would not like to have this kind of agreement with the superpower country in the world? The economy of all these countries may benefit. Yet, the truth is that all these economic benefits go mostly to the United Sta...