Colombia Free Trade Agreement

[Bala]

April 07, 2008

Pres. Bush expected to send Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress shortly for a required "fast-track" vote in 90 days. You may want to get ready to contact your Congressman and Senators to express your views in advance of any vote in Congress.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23995096/

[LastLion]

Originally Posted by Bala

April 07, 2008

Pres. Bush expected to send Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress shortly for a required "fast-track" vote in 90 days. You may want to get ready to contact your Congressman and Senators to express your views in advance of any vote in Congress.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23995096/

Gary How do you put your 2 cents in with your congressman?

http://www.house.gov/pelosi/


LL, not sure if you were asking Gary specifics or if it was a general question. I attatched a link for you to your fine congress woman/speaker of the house.

Dont know your politics but please do me a favor and vote for the other guy next election.

I would be interested to see her form letter response on this issue.

Recon

[LastLion]

Ok I wrote Pelosi and Eshoo! Eshoo is mine I am outside the city limits! Thanks fellas! We will see if I get a response or anything!

[DCNUPE/Eddie]

Thank you for bringing up this interesting topic Gary. Many of you know that I’ve been around awhile and have seen Colombia at its worst and now witnessing it mature and improve. Personally (selfishly) this has it good points and bad for me. Anyhoo, if Congress passes this legislation (which by many accounts will be slim to none), I may find myself in Colombia more than I ever imagined.

If by case this is passed, the Government of Colombia (GOC) must first make sure to guarantee that the benefits derived from a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) can spread to different geographical regions and different economic sectors, the GOC must undertake several measures: (i) integrate all the regions of the country in economic unity. This implies the construction and improvement of transportation infrastructure; (ii) increase the share of skilled workers in labor supply. This implies better efficiency and more government spending of vocational education.

It is obvious that the agro sector of Colombia will suffer. This will be a boost for the American agro market. The GOC may negotiate within the FTA special clauses that will devalue the American agro and maintain the Colombian agro. I hope this is not the case.

Without these guarantees the FTA will fail!

Next discussion: How the FTA will interfere with the ongoing efforts of Plan Colombia.

[LastLion]

Here is my response from Congresswoman Eshoo, after I asked her very eloquently to consider the Free trade agreement! ANd not just deny something becuase President Bush has his name on it! I asked her to look at the growth and the decline in kidnapping, murders and the great strides Colombia has made in the security and safety of the people!


Dear Mr. XXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting me about the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.



On February 27, 2006, the U.S. and Colombia concluded the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA), and finalized the text of the agreement on July 8, 2006. The agreement was signed on November 22, 2006 by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau and Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry, and Tourism Jorge Humberto Botero. The proposed CPTA is a bilateral free trade agreement between the U.S and Colombia which, if ratified, would eliminate tariffs and other barriers in goods and services between the two countries. On August 24, 2006, President Bush notified the Congress of his intention to sign the CTPA. The text of the agreement has yet to be introduced as legislation in the House. Once introduced, the agreement would need the approval of both the House and Senate before it would become law.



The continuing murders of union members in Colombia are deeply concerning to me. While the number has gone down from 197 in 2001 to 72 in 2006, these murders are almost never prosecuted. 98% of crimes against trade unionists remain unsolved and death threats are a fact of life for people organizing and working in unions. The agreement should address the low prosecution rate of these murders.



I think the agreement should also address core environmental and labor standards. Key provisions of the agreement should include a fully enforceable commitment that Colombia will adopt, maintain and enforce their labor laws and practice the five basic international labor standards. The agreement should also include provisions that mandate Colombia to adopt, implement and enforce their environmental laws and practice obligations under the seven common major multilateral environmental agreements.





I shall keep your thoughts and views in mind should this agreement come to the floor for a vote.



If you have any other questions or comments, let me hear from you. I always appreciate hearing from my constituents and ask that you continue to inform me on issues you care about. I need your thoughts and benefit from your ideas.



If you'd like to receive information on other issues, I've created an e-newsletter to keep constituents informed on a variety of topics. If you'd like to receive it, go to my website at http://eshoo.house.gov and click on "E-Mail Sign-Up."



Sincerely,

Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress

[LastLion]

Well it is a done Deal!!! Pelosi shut it down today!!!! Unfortuantely it seams all political and nothing to do with what it was all really about!

LL,

If President Bush were to say water is good to drink the Dems would argue. You are very correct that it is not what is good for the people but how they can posture themselves for election 08.

SAD!!

Recon

[LastLion]

Originally Posted by ReconDallas

LL,
You are very correct that it is not what is good for the people but how they can posture themselves for election 08.

Recon

You know who the best person for President is! I am gonna fill you all in on a secret!!!!!!!!
????


???



???



???


VOTE URIBE!!!!!!!!!!!

now here is a person who has made a big change in country! URIBE por presidente!!!!!!!!!!

[JMitch1959]

I think a free trade agreement would be a bad idea for Colombia.

Food security is extremely important for any nation.

What happened with NAFTA is interesting. When Mexicans lost their jobs in agriculture as a result of cheap imports, many of them out of desperation began flooding into the United States. Of course there were alot of other factors including employers in the U.S. who were more than happy to employ undocumented workers to satisfy their cheap labor needs.

Many of the people who supported NAFTA are some of the most ardent opponents of illegal immigration, which is interesting because it was their support of this economic policy that contributed greatly to the problem.

A more enlightened approach would be to help Mexico to build up their agriculture through water projects etc., so that their would be more jobs for Mexicans in their own country.
What NAFTA got Mexico was cheap labor sweat shops on their border, similar to fascist work camps. Loss of 100s of thousands agricultural jobs. The U.S. lost 100s of thousands of manufacturing jobs to Mexico. With Globalization everyone loses.

The Colombian government should continue to protect and encourage food production in their own country through tarriffs and infrastructure improvements. Tarrifs are part of the American System of Political Economy. Lincoln helped build the great power the U.S. began by promoting Tarrifs to protect native industries, National Banking, and internal improvements.

Free trade is a system of looting favored by the British Empire as a way to loot their colonial holdings. We fought the Revolutionary War to establish sovereign nation state based on American System of Economy against the Brutish Empire who wanted to use free trade to loot their American Colony. Thank God our founding fathers weren't as stupid about what was known as the liberal doctrine of Free Trade as preached by Adam Smith. We used tarrifs, national banking and internal improvements to promote the general welfare or common good of our population as addressed in the Preamble to our Constitution.

Free trade is an imperialistic, fascist, form of looting a nation state.

The present bankrupt world financial system is a direct result of the application of insane Free Trade policies to the world economy.