Why the Free Trade Agreement With Colombia is Still a Bad Idea

[Judi Lynn]

Why the Free Trade Agreement With Colombia is Still a Bad Idea
Sunday 5 June 2011
by: Diane Lefer, New. Clear. Vision.

For five years, the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiated between the administrations of George Bush and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe was stalled in the US Congress because of violence against Colombian workers, including 51 union leaders assassinated in 2010 alone.

On April 7, President Obama and current Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced they had reached an agreement that would smooth the way for passage. Under this plan, actions that violate labor rights would be criminalized (as though assassination isn’t already criminal); investigators would be assigned to look into abuses, and leaders could request protection. I do wonder how Colombia will be able to provide this protection given the extent of the violence. In the past months, I’ve received word almost every week of new murders: not only union organizers but small farmers and the honest judges who hear these cases, while the perpetrators too often are members of or linked to the security forces.

The attack on labor matters, of course, but the US Congress needs to understand it’s not the only problem with the FTA. Nothing stands in the way of our countries negotiating specific trade deals while the plan for so-called “free trade” actually restricts the parties’ freedom, taking away the freedom to negotiate and the freedom to set national economic policy.

To consider just a few troubling provisions:

What’s “free” about delaying the introduction and production of generic drugs in order to protect the profits of Big Pharma in Colombia where at least 50% of the people live in poverty?

More:
http://truthout.org/why-free-trade-agreement-colombia-still-bad-idea/1307316382

Editorials:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=606336&mesg_id=606336