President Bush sent the highly controversial Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress on April 7th. He did so without having reached a prior agreement with congressional leaders, breaking with long-established practice in handling trade agreements. The move, which came despite clear warnings not to do so, prompted the House of Representatives on April 10 to remove a “fast track” rule requiring congressional action within 90 legislative days of submitting the legislation. Congressional action may come later this year, if the Administration and Congressional Democrats reach an agreement on conditions for a vote. Pro-FTA supporters continue to lobby vigorously for the trade pact.
In the middle of this week's debate, the Escuela Nacional Sindical reported that 17 trade unionists had been murdered during the first quarter of 2008, far exceeding the 10 killed during the first quarter of 2007.
USLEAP has joined with others in producing materials rebutting claims that the Colombian government has made progress in addressing violence against trade unionists and impunity sufficient to considering a trade agreement. Continuing violence in Colombia is only one of many reasons to oppose the trade agreement but is the primary issue that USLEAP has analyzed and reported on.
In addition to our Colombia home page, see our regularly-updated USLEAP Colombia Fact Sheet on Murders and Impunity and an April 2008 set of "talking points" for activists to respond to claims of progress on violence and impunity.
The AFL-CIO has also set up a Colombia FTA web page with fact sheets, a January 2008 report, and video analyzing recent trends on violence and impunity.
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