CAFTA (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) barely grew its EU trade last year - 0.2 percent to 8.6 billion euro.

Three of the six CAFTA members decreased their trade with the EU last year. Nicaragua posted the best performance, expanding its EU trade by 20.9 percent.

El Salvador accounted for the worst results - a 15.9 percent decline in EU trade. Nicaragua's strong increase was largely related to its ethanol exports, which has gained a market  in Europe relatively fast, according to Cohen.  
 
Despite the overall weak CAFTA performance, it wasn't the trade group with the worst results  when it came to EU trade last year. That honor went to ALBA, the political-economic group that includes Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. ALBA's EU trade fell by 4.1 percent to 12.1 billion euro.

08 April 2008 - Latin Business Chronicle