What a difference a decade makes. In the early 1990s opposition to NAFTA was found largely in the United States and Canada. In Mexico the labor movement was largely silent thinking that the pact would result in job creation for Mexican workers. Only the left wing PRD was critical. Now, after a decade of experience with the Washington Consensus workers in the south realize that these trade pacts are a dead end. There have been large demonstrations in countries like Nicaragua against the proposed CAFTA. This is part of a general shift to the left in Latin America, even if some of that shift has been towards populist authoritarians like Chavez in Venezuela.

Trade Pacts to the South Losing Appeal – New York Times