After 6 years of CAFTA, growing poverty in El Salvador — including for workers producing for export to U.S. companies.
While data recently released by the Salvadoran Government point to improvements in several “social indicators,” the country is experiencing increased poverty levels, including among workers in factories producing for export to the U.S. under the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
On the positive side, between 2000 and 2011, the percentage of homes with electricity has increased from 80.53 percent to 83.12 percent. The percentage of homes with running water also increased from 72.6 to 84.3. And illiteracy has decreased from 17.5 percent in 2000 to 12.7 percent in 2011.
But, according to the Salvadoran Government Office of Statistics and Census, the number of households living in poverty increased from 34.8 percent to 40.6 percent between 2007 and 2011. Continue reading
Central America Notes 