BANGOR – Members of Bangor’s Peace through Interamerican Community Action organization want Maine’s senators to take a closer look at the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA is a regional trade agreement between the United States, five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. Congress is likely to vote on the agreement after the November elections.

“Like NAFTA, CAFTA was negotiated without broad citizen input,” Bjorn Claeson of PICA said Wednesday at a press conference.

PICA members presented a letter from Bangor’s sister city, Carasque, El Salvador, and more than 700 petition signatures from Central American organizations calling on Maine’s congressional delegates to reject the agreement.

The group claims the agreement would hurt Maine workers and businesses, undermine democracy and sovereignty, jeopardize public services, and hurt the majority of Central Americans.

“CAFTA is a bad deal for Central America, a bad deal for youth, and a bad deal for workers and small businesses,” Claeson said.

The agreement would allow big businesses to sell their products in Central American cities, jeopardizing small-business owners, PICA representatives said.

“Small businesses have suffered and more will suffer,” PICA Director Stefano Tijerina said.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our communities.”

CAFTA also would negatively affect laborers,

Claeson said, because the agreement does not require companies to comply with international fair labor laws, only their own country’s labor laws.

Companies participating in fair trade will get unfair treatment under CAFTA,

Claeson said. Those companies “cannot get low tariffs under CAFTA,” as opposed to a sweatshop that is violating international labor laws, he said.

PICA representatives presented the petition to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe on July 27. They plan to meet soon with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

“I would ask senators to look into their hearts and look at how important it is to vote against CAFTA,” Tijerina said.

Two Bangor High School students, Isabelle Herbold and Thom Barrows who are involved in Youth Adelantando, a youth-led group affiliated with PICA, spoke about their experiences at the Boston Social Forum July 23-25, during which young people from around the country attended workshops to learn about and discuss global issues.

“You must educate yourself, especially in the area of globalization,” Herbold said.