This morning?s papers report the ?good news? that US ambassador Hans Hertell has formally announced to Dominican authorities that the United States will include the Dominican Republic in its negotiations of a Free Trade
Agreement with Central America. US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick telephoned President Hip?lito Mej?a, notifying him that the consultation process in Congress had started and would last 90 days. Hertell said that this represented an expression
of confidence in the Dominican Republic: ?I think this is a very important demonstration of the US?s opinion of the Dominican Republic, because there are many countries in the world that are interested in negotiating an agreement of this nature, and
the US selects very few?.