Bush hits House for stalling trade pact

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Bush hits House for stalling trade pact
Sunday, April 20, 2008 3:35 AM
By Deb Riechmann

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, ahead of his trip this week to a summit with North American leaders, said yesterday that the House's decision to block a vote on a free-trade agreement with Colombia was a "serious error" and urged Congress to reconsider.

The Bush administration has insisted that the deal would be good for the U.S. economy because it would eliminate high barriers that American exports to Colombia now face. Most Colombian products already are entering the United States duty-free under existing trade-preference laws.

"The situation is completely one-sided," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "Our markets are open to Colombian products, but barriers that make it harder to sell American goods in Colombia remain. If the free-trade agreement were implemented, however, most of Colombia's tariffs on American goods would be eliminated immediately."

Democrats, however, have cited the continued violence against organized labor in Colombia and differences with the administration over how to extend a program that helps U.S. workers displaced by foreign competition.




Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2008/04/20/Bush_0420.ART_ART_04-20-08_A7_4O9VR3F.html?sid=101

[Judi Lynn]

1. Labor killings in Colombia become issue in U.S. trade deal

Labor killings in Colombia become issue in U.S. trade deal
By Simon Romero Published: April 13, 2008



Lucy Gómez and Luis Humberto Ortiz talk about the killing
of her brother, Leonidas. (Scott Dalton for The New York Times)

BOGOTÁ: Lucy Gómez still shudders when speaking of the killing of her brother, Leonidas, a union leader and bank employee who was beaten and stabbed here last month. His death was part of a recent surge in killings of union members in Colombia, with 17 already this year.

"I want those who did this to pay for their crime," said Gómez, 37, a seamstress, clutching a faded photograph of her brother, an employee of Citigroup's Colombian unit, who was 42. "But I feel in danger myself. This is not a country where one can express such a wish without fear of being eliminated like my brother."

Gómez's fear, and the dread felt by union members and their families throughout Colombia, has long been a feature of labor organizing during this country's four-decade internal war. More than 2,500 union members in Colombia have been killed since 1985, and fewer than 100 cases have a conviction, according to the National Labor School, a labor research group in Medellín.

Now these killings are emerging as a pressing issue in Washington as Democrats and Republicans battle over a trade deal with Colombia, the Bush administration's top ally in Latin America. The Colombian government is already struggling to recover from the latest salvo in the fight, a vote by U.S. House Democrats on Thursday to snub President George W. Bush and indefinitely delay voting on the deal.
(snip)

In recent weeks, a new wave of threats has emerged, from groups identifying themselves as a new generation of private armies, against human rights activists and labor organizers, many of whom have opposed the trade deal, raising the specter of still more anti-union violence to come.

The 17 union killings so far this year represent a 70 percent increase from the same period last year.
(snip)

Carlos Burbano was a vice president in the hospital workers' union of the municipality of San Vicente del Caguán, in southern Colombia, who disappeared March 9. His body was found four days later in a garbage dump in an area considered paramilitary territory. Burbano, who had received threats before from paramilitaries, had been stabbed multiple times and burned with acid.

Like Burbano, Gómez, a member of the Bank Workers' Union in Bogotá, was an outspoken critic of the paramilitaries. He had traveled throughout Colombia to speak out against the U.S. trade deal, which he expected to raise salaries of senior Citigroup executives while eroding the benefits of employees, said Luis Humberto Ortiz, a fellow union official and Citigroup employee.

Last seen at a meeting with leftist politicians on the night of March 4, Gómez was found dead in his apartment on March 8, with multiple stab wounds and his hands tied behind his back. Missing from his apartment were his laptop computer, USB memory sticks and cash from his pockets, his sister said.

More:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/13/america/bogota.php?page=1

[Lasher]

2. Wah wah wah.

Whatsa matter, didn't Georgie get his way?

:nopity:

[Judi Lynn]

3. He'll compensate by having the "interrogators" at Guantanamo torture a teenager extra hard. n/t

[saigon68]

14. Yes the Chimp needs violence to obtain sexual arousal

[onehandle]

4. Little Lord Pissy Pants wants his pockets lined.

Poor little blue blood Connecticut Yankee dry drunk.

[ShockediSay]

17. We don't need no stinkin fascist empowering "free" trade agreements.

And speaking of serious errors, there were two:
Both resulted in a four year term for BushCo.

[truthisfreedom]

5. They obviously must be doing something right.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Couple of good LTTE's on the subject from the S.F. Chronicle:

Pelosi was right to stall Colombia trade deal

Monday, April 14, 2008

Editor - Your editorial on fast-tracking the U.S.-Colombia trade pact ("Trade pandering," April 11) was a little hasty. Much as I support bilateral trade agreements, I also agree with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to put the brakes on this treaty's confirmation. In the past, fast-track trade processes were preceded by consultation and negotiation between the White House and Congress. This time, the administration left Congress out of the loop, and reverted to "our way or the highway" - its all-too-familiar version of ripping up the rules.

It would be naive to deny that politics played some part in the Democrats' decision. But I support their concern for matters like human rights in Colombia, including the assassination of union organizers. Once signed, trade treaties are extremely hard to renegotiate. Slow down and get it right.
(snip)

Wrong on free trade
Editor - The Chronicle editorial board is completely wrong on free trade and the proposed agreement with Colombia. Though you have made your stance clear, the editorial board neglects to explain why requiring labor rights and living wages should not be a standard component in all trade agreements.

It is either naive or deceptive to pretend that the benefits of free trade are evenly distributed across the financial spectrum and benefit the entire nation on balance. The clear result of more than a decade of trade under the current policies is massive job loss, declining wages and crippling indebtedness.

As to the necessity of standing up to Hugo Chavez, we would be wiser as a nation to befriend him. He is after all a democratically elected leader who has done more for his people than any Venezuelan head of state in history. By contrast, Columbia's Alvaro Uribe is one of the worst violators of human rights in Latin America.
(snip)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/13/ED2O10433H.DTL

[Lasher]

9. Well thank God for LTTEs!

Of all the many articles I've seen in the newspapers on this subject, almost all of them condemn Democrats for not rolling over on this one. And of the few that say Pelosi and the other Congressional Democrats are justified, all of those cite only the interests of Colombians - with nary a peep about the impact of free trade agreements on middle class Americans.

Thanks for sharing, Judi. :thumbsup:

[Judi Lynn]

11. It's good to see the signs that there ARE Americans out there who are able to recognize the truth

hidden under the load of spin we get, isn't it? Our corporate "watchdogs" go to such lengths to obfuscate, too.





Message to our corporate media!

[Thickasabrick]

16. Excellent!!! n/t

[grahamhgreen]

7. The headline is so biased, how bout "bush whines about his failed trade deal"

Freaking right wing media sucks

[no_hypocrisy]

8. "one-sided"

It's been one-sided since 2001, always in *'s favor up 'til now.

[Dr.Phool]

10. Don't block it.

Kill it.

[Peace Patriot]

12. I agree with Dr. Phool! nt

[Q3JR4]

13. One thing that congressional leaders don't get is that they

are a co-equal branch of government. That means that no matter how much the current administration occupying the white house whines, there is nothing that can be done about the whole situation until congress agress.

Second, I admire the House for doing the right thing. If Colombia refuses to deal with trade unions and is complicit in the murder of union leaders, then they should expect this outcome. That's the only logical message that can be sent....unless one doesn't care about the plight of the working class. In that case all bets are off.

Q3JR4.
If the workers took a notion they could stop all speeding trains;

Every ship upon the ocean they can tie with mighty chains.

Every wheel in the creation, every mine and every mill;

Fleets and armies of the nation, will at their command stand still.

-Joe Hill

[Thickasabrick]

15. LOL....it's only going to get worse for him....powerless to do anything

I love it!!!

[nwliberalkiwi]

18. If bush Wants It

I don't!!!

[Judi Lynn]

19. Something for Uribe to think about, waiting for Bush to get that FTA to him!

Ecuador boosts force on Colombia border
11 hours ago

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador will install electronic surveillance equipment and boost its military presence along its border with Colombia.

President Rafael Correa says his government will modernize its aging air force with modern planes, radars and electronic equipment to enforce its border. He gave no further details in his comments Monday.

The move follows a Colombian cross-border military raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador's jungle that killed 25 people, including a top guerrilla commander and an Ecuadorean citizen, on March 1.

Correa says Ecuador will "never again" allow a foreign attack on its soil.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hbNVl90aqKmPE2vkjCuVRB6I6y-gD906GDCG0

[AzDar]

20. " Every step you take, Every move you make, Every war you fake, we'll be blocking you...".

Should be the Congressional theme song until January 20, 2009.