Nathab Newman details just how countries are plundered by Us companies in the name of “free trade”:
So when did “free trade” come to mean the US dictating to other countries whether they can have publicly-owned utilities?
That’s what the US means by “free trade” now, and under the just negotiated Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Central American countries must let US companies take over telecommunications, electricity and insurance companies that might now be public hands. Essentially, they must allow the price-gouging and potential chaos of the telecom meltdowns and California electricity blackouts as a condition of trade with the US.
And Costa Rica said no.