Fair, not free, trade

I applaud John Edwards for taking the right stand on free trade policies ("Edwards jabs Clinton on trade," news story, Aug. 7).

Free trade agreements have devastated communities not just here, but also particularly in the economically weaker countries involved. Last year, the United States passed CAFTA as another free trade agreement besides NAFTA, and its overwhelming effects are already being felt in Central American countries like Nicaragua.

I was in Nicaragua two weeks ago, sharing the homes of families who struggle to survive under trade regulations like CAFTA, as part of a teen delegation with the organization Witness for Peace. One of my host mothers had an unfortunately common story to share: Her husband's small farm could no longer support their family of four, and she had been forced to find work in one of the sweatshops that thrive under free trade. CAFTA has opened up the Nicaraguan market to agricultural imports from the subsidized farmers in the United States, meaning that crop prices drop and these small, local farmers suffer.

Trade policy needs to be a major issue under the next president -- and should be already. I am glad to see a candidate standing up for the fair, rather than free, trade market.

Vera Cecelski

Durham