How did NAFTA influence the Central America Free Trade Agreement?

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) served as a foundational model for broader hemispheric integration in the Americas. Following its implementation in 1994, NAFTA was intended to act as a hub around which a larger free-trade zone would be constructed.1

In this context, the Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) functioned as an expansion of the NAFTA framework. By incorporating five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic into a trade pact with the United States, CAFTA-DR further integrated the region into global markets using principles similar to those established by NAFTA. Additionally, these agreements were negotiated with the long-term view of being incorporated into a proposed, though ultimately unrealized, Free Trade Area of the Americas, which sought to create a continent-wide free-trade zone modeled on the integration seen in North America.231