Bush approves Peru trade pact, despite objections

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush put into effect a free trade agreement with Peru on Friday, despite concerns raised by Democrats and labor groups about whether Peru had fulfilled all of its labor obligations.

"Today's proclamation marks an important milestone in our relationship with Peru, one of our strongest allies in Latin America," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in a statement after Bush issued the order.

The action makes Peru the 17th free trade partner of the United States and the 14th country added to that list since Bush took office eight years ago. Two-way trade between the United States and Peru is about $9.4 billion annually.

Top Democrats on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee raised concerns earlier this week that Peru had backtracked on important labor commitments and asked Bush not to implement the agreement before he leaves office on Tuesday.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50F74G20090116

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Barracks Gold has a big gold mine in Peru. If anybody's interested in what's really going on. "Making money for my family right up to very last minute"

CHA CHING!

[Jefferson23]

1. Right up to the last second of his last fucking day in office, this man will

screw over the American people.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

2. and the knees jerk blind - the US has a growing TRADE SURPLUS with Peru

That means we EXPORT more to Peru than we IMPORT from Peru, so by all means lets give Lima a big fuck you.

[Judi Lynn]

3. By all means, we owe them! And don't forget pollution king, Ira Rennert,

who runs a poisonous company in a canyon in Peru which traps all the poisonous air and poisons the river running through it, who owns the largest private house in the United States, after a lifetime of pollution.

Here are photos of his house, and the Peruvian blighted town he has poisoned, in one of the 10 worst polluted areas in the world, La Oroya, Peru:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3558450

Live it up, Rennert, you asshole!



Where Rennert throws his hat.



Lucky, lucky poor people of Peru. What a life, working for Rennert.

The book cover says, "There's a place in the world where birds
don't fly, trees and children don't grow, and lead is the bread of
each day."
On edit, adding YouTube video:
"House of Lead: A story of greed" - La Oroya, Peru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpwu8DOmzoU

[Judi Lynn]

4. Bush go-ahead to Peru trade deal sparks criticism

Posted on Friday, 01.16.09
Bush go-ahead to Peru trade deal sparks criticism
By ANDREW WHALEN
Associated Press Writer

LIMA, Peru -- President George W. Bush signed off Friday on a free trade pact with Peru that U.S. officials say will foster economic growth, but which lawmakers in both countries complain does not meet environmental and labor protection requirements.

In a statement issued in Washington, where Bush signed a proclamation enacting the pact on Feb. 1, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab called trade expansion "a vital component of our effort to restore economic growth in the global economy."

Free trade agreements have been a hallmark of the Bush administration but the Democrat-led U.S. Congress only approved the Peru pact in December 2007 - 20 months after it was signed - following Peru's agreement to strengthen laws protecting trade unions and the environment.

Bush's move on Friday, four days before he leaves office, met with a chorus of complaints from both countries.

Opposition lawmakers in Peru complained chiefly that President Alan Garcia has failed to honor the stricter environmental standards, permitting legal loopholes that they say could endanger the country's Amazon rain forest.

Along with environmentalists, they say a newly amended forestry law backed by Garcia will allow large swaths of rain forest to be converted into biofuel projects if they are deemed "a matter of national interest."

"The new law means 70 percent of the Amazon runs the risk of deforestation," Roger Najar, who heads Congress' indigenous caucus, told The Associated Press. He said Garcia signed a January 2008 decree that deemed the development of sugar cane and bamboo plantations in the national interest.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/857652.html