Posted by Rachel on May 23, 2005 @ 1:44PM

This photo essay from East Tijuana, Mexico illustrates why Mexicans aren't exacty jumping for joy over the Central American Free Trade Agreement, a NAFTA South that would expand the North American Free Trade Agreement to other Central American countries and expand its reach in Mexico.

CAFTA's proponents argue that it will bring more jobs to both the United States and Mexico, but as Judy Connor points out, NAFTA isn't working, so why expand it. "By flooding the market with highly subsidized U.S. agricultural products, NAFTA destroyed 1.7 million farming jobs, forcing small farmers to migrate away from their collapsing communities in search of work. Meanwhile, the real wages of Mexican factory workers actually declined," she says.