Washington ? Hispanic lawmakers and interest groups are of one mind in desiring prosperity and democracy in Central America, but they are divided over a free trade agreement facing a tough test in Congress.

Hispanic business groups are pushing hard for approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, the most consequential trade deal since the U.S.-Canada-Mexico NAFTA agreement of a decade ago. They say it will open up new markets for American exporters and provide economic and political stability to a region with close ties to many Hispanic Americans.

But many Hispanic labor, human rights and immigration groups, as well as some Hispanics in Congress, are working equally hard to see it defeated.

“There should be a CAFTA, just not this CAFTA,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., who worries the agreement will worsen the rich-poor divide, both between the United States and the region and within the participating nations — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

A House vote on CAFTA could come as early as this month, depending on whether the Republican leadership can find the votes to prevail.

House Democrats, including the 19 Hispanics, are generally unhappy with labor and environmental provisions in the agreement that they say will do little to correct abuses. The four voting Republican Hispanics are more likely to support the deal, although three are from Florida, where the sugar industry is mounting a vocal campaign against it. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., says she will vote for CAFTA and is optimistic the sugar issue can be resolved.