Jimmy Carter is a CAFTA fan.

Former President Jimmy Carter wants Congress to approve the Central America Free Trade Agreement. "Some 80 percent of Central America's exports to the U.S. are already duty free, so they will be opening their markets to U.S. exports more than we will be for their remaining products," Carter wrote in a letter dated June 8 to Sen. Charles Grassley. "Some improvements could be made in the trade bill, particularly on the labor protection side, but, more importantly, our own national security and hemispheric influence will be enhanced with improved stability, democracy and development in our poor, fragile neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.

Carter says Central America has been a focus of his attention since he created The Carter Center and that the countries covered by CAFTA now have democratically elected governments. "In negotiating this agreement, the presidents of each of the six nations had to contend with their own companies that fear competition with U.S. firms," Carter writes. "They have put their credibility on the line, not only with this trade agreement but more broadly by promoting market reforms that have been urged for decades by U.S. presidents of both parties. If the U.S. Congress were to turn its back on CAFTA, it would undercut these fragile democracies, compel them to retreat to protectionism and make it harder for them to cooperate with the U.S.

"For the first time ever, we have a chance to reinforce democracies in the region. This is the moment to move forward and to help those leaders that want to modernize and humanize their countries. Moreover, strong economies in the region are the best antidote to illegal immigration from the region."