Rice: Colombia needs free trade pact to overcome problems
1:00 AM
Posted: Friday, January 25, 2008
MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday the challenges facing Colombia will only get harder if a trade deal with Washington doesn't pass, as she met with union members during a visit to try to revive the pact.
Rice arrived in Colombia along with a delegation of U.S. Democratic lawmakers to lobby for the free trade deal, or FTA, which was first signed in 2006, but has not yet been passed by the U.S. Congress. The delegation met late Thursday in Medellin with unionists who oppose the deal.
Rice told reporters she was in Colombia "to say very strongly that whatever the challenges facing Colombia they are not going to be easier if this FTA does not pass. In fact they will be harder."
Selling the trade pact will not be easy for Rice, especially in the middle of a presidential campaign during which Americans are feeling recession jitters. All three Democratic front-runners have come out against eliminating trade barriers for Colombia.
"Coming here doesn't mean the lawmakers' favorable vote is automatic," said Carolina Barco, Colombia's ambassador to the United States, who was accompanying Rice. "What we want is for people to have more information about what's happening on the ground -- something that's difficult from Washington."
The White House is pushing for approval of the agreement over the opposition of the majority Democratic leadership in Congress, who say President Alvaro Uribe hasn't done enough to curb violence against trade unionists.
More than 700 union members have been killed in Colombia since 2001, according to the government, regularly exceeding the total number murdered annually in the rest of the world combined.
"The dramatic situation of murdering unionists continues," said Carlos Gutierrez, president of the Workers' Central Union, one of seven groups opposing the deal who took part in the meeting with Rice, which lasted about an hour. "There is no country in the world where the martyrdom of union leaders is more evident than in Colombia."
President Alvaro Uribe's government has argued that such cases have diminished in recent years. Statistics for 2007 have not yet been made available by the government, but Gutierrez said 40 unionists were killed.
"That shows a crack in democracy in Colombia," he told reporters after the meeting -- Rice's first during her 24-hour visit to this city to convince congressional Democrats that conditions are improving in Colombia.
Rice and her aides did not comment on leaving the meeting, which was closed to the media. But minutes later at a reception Rice said she had taken note of the unionists' concerns.
Ahead of Rice's visit, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America said Wednesday that as Washington's staunchest ally in a "tough region" and caretaker in the war on drugs, Colombia deserves strengthened support.
"We see the free trade agreement not just as a trade policy with Colombia," the official, Thomas A. Shannon, told reporters in Washington. "We see it as part of a broader social and economic development policy and as necessary for consolidating the democratic gains that Colombia has made."
As in seven visits of U.S. lawmakers led by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and other high-ranking administration officials since June, the focus of this mission is the city of Medellin -- which has seen a dramatic turnaround under Uribe after decades of drug-fueled violence.
After meeting with unionists, Rice and the 10 lawmakers -- all of them Democrats -- are to tour a flower farm that would be among the biggest beneficiaries of permanent free trade status. On Friday, they will meet with Uribe.
Despite the full-court press, there's no indication a trade deal is imminent.
The U.S. Congress did ratify a free trade pact with Peru last year, but it didn't get a majority of House Democrats' votes.
Goods from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia already enjoy duty-free access to the United States under the Andean Trade Promotion Agreement, which was implemented 17 years ago to wean their economies off the drug trade.
But those trade privileges expire next month and Shannon on Wednesday refused to say whether the administration would seek renewal for all four countries or only the two -- Peru and Colombia -- that signed free trade pacts with Washington.
U.S. officials have argued that Colombia should be awarded for pursuing pro-market economic policies at a time when they're under attack in other countries in the region, especially by oil-rich Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Rice arrived in Colombia along with a delegation of U.S. Democratic lawmakers to lobby for the free trade deal, or FTA, which was first signed in 2006, but has not yet been passed by the U.S. Congress. The delegation met late Thursday in Medellin with unionists who oppose the deal.
Rice told reporters she was in Colombia "to say very strongly that whatever the challenges facing Colombia they are not going to be easier if this FTA does not pass. In fact they will be harder."
Selling the trade pact will not be easy for Rice, especially in the middle of a presidential campaign during which Americans are feeling recession jitters. All three Democratic front-runners have come out against eliminating trade barriers for Colombia.
"Coming here doesn't mean the lawmakers' favorable vote is automatic," said Carolina Barco, Colombia's ambassador to the United States, who was accompanying Rice. "What we want is for people to have more information about what's happening on the ground -- something that's difficult from Washington."
The White House is pushing for approval of the agreement over the opposition of the majority Democratic leadership in Congress, who say President Alvaro Uribe hasn't done enough to curb violence against trade unionists.
More than 700 union members have been killed in Colombia since 2001, according to the government, regularly exceeding the total number murdered annually in the rest of the world combined.
"The dramatic situation of murdering unionists continues," said Carlos Gutierrez, president of the Workers' Central Union, one of seven groups opposing the deal who took part in the meeting with Rice, which lasted about an hour. "There is no country in the world where the martyrdom of union leaders is more evident than in Colombia."
President Alvaro Uribe's government has argued that such cases have diminished in recent years. Statistics for 2007 have not yet been made available by the government, but Gutierrez said 40 unionists were killed.
"That shows a crack in democracy in Colombia," he told reporters after the meeting -- Rice's first during her 24-hour visit to this city to convince congressional Democrats that conditions are improving in Colombia.
Rice and her aides did not comment on leaving the meeting, which was closed to the media. But minutes later at a reception Rice said she had taken note of the unionists' concerns.
Ahead of Rice's visit, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America said Wednesday that as Washington's staunchest ally in a "tough region" and caretaker in the war on drugs, Colombia deserves strengthened support.
"We see the free trade agreement not just as a trade policy with Colombia," the official, Thomas A. Shannon, told reporters in Washington. "We see it as part of a broader social and economic development policy and as necessary for consolidating the democratic gains that Colombia has made."
As in seven visits of U.S. lawmakers led by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and other high-ranking administration officials since June, the focus of this mission is the city of Medellin -- which has seen a dramatic turnaround under Uribe after decades of drug-fueled violence.
After meeting with unionists, Rice and the 10 lawmakers -- all of them Democrats -- are to tour a flower farm that would be among the biggest beneficiaries of permanent free trade status. On Friday, they will meet with Uribe.
Despite the full-court press, there's no indication a trade deal is imminent.
The U.S. Congress did ratify a free trade pact with Peru last year, but it didn't get a majority of House Democrats' votes.
Goods from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia already enjoy duty-free access to the United States under the Andean Trade Promotion Agreement, which was implemented 17 years ago to wean their economies off the drug trade.
But those trade privileges expire next month and Shannon on Wednesday refused to say whether the administration would seek renewal for all four countries or only the two -- Peru and Colombia -- that signed free trade pacts with Washington.
U.S. officials have argued that Colombia should be awarded for pursuing pro-market economic policies at a time when they're under attack in other countries in the region, especially by oil-rich Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
