ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the first decade of the implementation of the Dominican RepublicCentral American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) between the USA, five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, referred to hereafter as the CA-5), and the Dominican Republic. The free trade agreement (FTA) builds on historical integration and regional exchange within the CA-5 as well as on strong economic ties between the USA and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean (referred to hereafter as the CAC). CAFTA-DR is the first FTA to comprise a superpower and a series of small low-income nations. Preliminary impacts after the initial decade of the FTA demonstrate unevenness between and within countries as some peoples and places experience harm while others benefit.1
