Thank you very much for the question.
One of the main risks that CAFTA entails is the privatization of public services. Everybody knows that as of 1989, there have been privatization processes in El Salvador, mainly concerning public enterprises, which have become transnational companies that act as monopolies.
Regarding trade with the United States, specifically chapter IX, which deals with public hirings, this chapter allows tendering for central governments, for municipal governments, for local governments, at the same level, and with the same requests, as the local Salvadoran companies. This is very discriminatory toward the Salvadoran companies, because the only criteria is to grant the business to the lowest bidder.
The network of public hospitals is licensed to American companies. Therefore, there are concessions of private health that are given to the American companies.
This also happens with some commercial services that are public. For example, the postal service is staying liberalized.
One of our greatest concerns is the privatization of water and of related services. In the case of CAFTA, the Salvadoran government has no exclusion, and this includes the topic of water. This is complemented by a loan given by the Inter–American Development Bank in order to create a market for commercial water and also for drinking water. Our greatest concern is that public services such as health, education, and water are inalienable rights of our population. Our own constitution considers those rights as free rights. When all the services are commercialized, then we are actually denying access to more than half the population that lives in poverty.