Washington has an El Salvador headache

While Washington ponders a break in relations with Cafta in the cases of Nicaragua, because of its bad human rights record, and the Dominican Republic, along with El Salvador, because of their break in relations with Taiwan and embrace of China, the problem of El Salvador is a bigger headache.

Thus says the influential Fusades think tank. It ways that Washington is also concerned because of El Salvador's friendship with the governments of Nicaragua and Venezuela.

El Salvador's economy grew last year by 2.3 percent. But growth in Venezuela and Nicaragua was negative.