Forgetting Colombia in Debate Over Free Trade Pact

[OhioChick]

Unproductive Reaction from Colombia's Left

WASHINGTON -- Anyone trying to figure out who has Colombia's best interest at heart in regard to the floundering U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement was at risk of being spun silly last week by developments in Washington and reactions in Colombia.

First, President Bush made the decision to send the trade deal to Congress knowing full well that the House leadership wasn't on board. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had already warned Bush that the measure would fail if pushed too rapidly and without accompanying legislation to address growing economic anxieties in this country. This demonstrated, Democrats claimed, that Bush was less interested in passing the pact than in scoring points in an election year.

After the bill arrived on Capitol Hill, Pelosi took the unprecedented step of postponing the vote indefinitely despite a law that requires the House to decide within 60 legislative days after delivery. This proved, Republicans argued, that Pelosi was more interested in catering to powerful U.S. labor interests that oppose the pact than in supporting Washington's closest ally in Latin America.

Both sides, of course, were putting politics ahead of their concerns for Colombia. That is expected behavior among politicians in an election year. What is strange, however, is to hear those who should be putting Colombia first -- i.e., Colombians -- applauding the impasse and using the occasion to bash free trade.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041701580.html

[Lasher]

1. Not a peep in the article about anybody putting the USA's best interest first.

Yet another article that cheerleads this FTA. Interesting, however, how Colombians are concerned about impact to their agricultural sector. I guess all they have to do is look to other countries like Mexico.