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August 17, 2017

NAFTA Renegotiations Open as Mexican Farmers Protest
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In Washington, D.C., trade representatives of the U.S., Canada and
Mexico opened talks Wednesday to renegotiate NAFTA-the North American
Free Trade Agreement. The Trump administration is pressing Canada and
Mexico for concessions, claiming NAFTA is tilted against the United
States. Meanwhile, thousands of indigenous activists, workers and
campesinos marched in Mexico City Wednesday, calling for an end to
NAFTA. This is Mexican farmers' representative José Narro Céspedes.

José Narro Céspedes: "Until now, the effects of the treaty have been
negative for the country's indigenous people and for rural communities
and, above all, for the sector that's dedicated to small agriculture."

After NAFTA went into effect in 1994, an estimated 2 million
agricultural workers left Mexico's rural areas for cities, as subsidized
U.S. corn and other staples flooded the Mexican market.


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