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- Holosiren, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This is an important story to read even if you don't know Spanish. Free trade and foreign aid isn't high on the minds of most Americans, but down south of the Equator it's an explosive issue.
[My translation]
"When Carolina Barco, daughter of a Columbian ex-president, was called to take charge of the Columbian Embassy in Washington DC a year ago, the job seemed relatively simple. Barco, 57 years old, was to support a bilateral trade agreement in Congress and mantain foreign aid from the US to Columbia. Simple.
That was until Democrats took hold of Congress. Since then, compliments towards Columbian President Uribe have transformed into fiery criticisms of his position on human rights issues in Columbia. Free trade with Bogota has stopped, and democrats have lowered military aid to Columbia by millions of dollars.
According to analysts, the change has been drastic. Uribe has had to contend with critics, censuring them for not showing "respect" to their country and for criticizing his administration's foreign relations' lack of success in maintaining free trade.
"It is like a total collapse of relations between President Uribe and the United States", said Myles Frechette, ex-ambassador of Columbia.
"We have to understand that there is a new Congress in the US", declared Barco to the Miami Herald. "Relationships have changed."
The democrats, skeptical of free trade, have shown alarm at new revelations concerning connections between the Columbian President and paramilitary groups accused of violating human rights. The Supreme Court of Columbia has ordered the arrest of 13 Columbian legislators - mostly supporters of Uribe - for alleged links with such groups.
Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the AFL-CIO have claimed that Cogress should reject free trade agreements with Colombia due to unsolved assassinations of Union Leaders.
Uribe suffered a humiliating defeat this past week. On June 29, one day after Columbia signed an signed a treaty that would have opened the road to increased free trade if approved by Congress, the democrats declared their approval of free trade agreements with Peru and Panama, but not Columbia.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi; the majority leader, Steny Hoyer; and other key representatives Charles Rangel of New York and Sander Levin of Michigan, cited "worry in Congress over the level of violence in Columbia, the lack of investigations of crimes, and papers on paramilitary activities."
They refuse to approve a free trade treaty until there is "concrete proof of sustained positive efforts in Columbia."
The next day, an irritated President Uribe assured Columbia that "for our dignity and democracy", he would not permit the relationship between the US and Columbia to become of lord and vassal.
Uribe also stated that United States legislators were ignoring progress in Columbia, and asked that a transcript of his speech be distributed in Congress. He blamed his chancellor, Fernando Araujo, for not reacting quickly enough to the democrats' declaration, and promoted Sandra Suarez to the position in order to secure new free trade agreements.
Barco has brought and assembled an unprecedented number of high ranking officials to Washington to explain Columbia's perspective and need for free trade, including Uribe on occasions. She has arranged for visits by Union Leaders in favor of free trade, and frequently invites Columbian rights activists critical of Uibe to meetings at the embassy.
In a recent meeting of the Senate, Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey declared himself in favor of the Columbian Plan, but admitted that after six years and five billion dollars, the cultivation of cocaine in the country has not reduced according to previous agreements, despite a tenacious program of fumigation funded by the US to do so.
Patric Leahy, Presient of the Committee of Senate Allocations, has withheld $55 million of aid to Columbia due to human rights issues.
The past month, the House proposed to cut 10％ of the planned $600 million in military aid and reallocate in social aid. A similar proposal is working through the Senate.
The republicans have not renewed special trade preferences with Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, and Bolivia for eight months in order to maintain pressure of democrats and force them to consider pending free trade agreements."
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