The lead editorial in El Caribe, as well as the commentaries of economists Bernardo Vega and Frederic Emam-Zade, takes on the upcoming negotiations with Robert Zoellick’s team of trade negotiators. El Caribe warns the Dominican negotiators to be careful and, hopefully, fulfill the expectations that have been placed on the possible Free Trade Agreement. Vega, the dean of Dominican economists, is more pessimistic, starting his article with the Roman cry of “Ave Zoellick!” Vega flatly states that the best thing that could happen would be for US Congress to reject the deal. He does not think that it would pass given the pressures from unionists, protectionists and environmentalists and says it is one thing to negotiate with Washington within the WTO, with help from the great Asian trading nations, or negotiate with the support of Argentina and Brazil in the FTAA, the Americas free trade agreement. But it is a whole new deal to negotiate backed only by the frail support of a Central America that had to open its economies to the highly-subsidized American farm production. The former ambassador also points out that it is not a good thing to negotiate during an election year, since legislators pressured Zoellick to defend the interests of the domestic producers. In his opinion, it would be a better idea to negotiate beginning in 2005. Vega goes on to describe how weak agricultural countries like Honduras have to open their markets to American suppliers of rice and beans. He also mentions how the ten-year review of the NAFTA agreements shows that Mexico has not greatly benefited, losing more agricultural jobs than were gained in the industrial free zones and modern agricultural operations. Feeling the same thing would happen here, Vega finally mentions the USAID study that showed that after 2005 the Dominican textile industry would lose 39% of its jobs, which under a Free Trade Agreement would become 24%. The worst of this is that if the US Congress were to pass the agreement, we lose more than if we are on the outside.