Free Trade Agreements and Trade Policy

Colombia returned to the headlines this week with John McCain's visit and the surprising rescue of 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

In this season's review of maquila struggles in Central America, workers face more factory closings, continue to push for negotiations, and fight against economic hardship.

According to a report released this spring by the Escuela Nacional Sindical, Colombia’s leading source for data on anti-union violence, there was a notable increase in murders of trade union members

The status of the highly controversial US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement was in limbo as of mid-May, following an April furor when, in an unprecedented move, the Bush administration submitted the bill

Violence against trade unionists in Central America has surged this year, with at least four trade union-related murders and a gang rape in Guatemala since the beginning of 2008, a top union leader