Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Congresswoman Hooley is the only Democratic House Member from the State of Oregon who has failed to oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Congressmen Peter DeFazio, David Wu and Earl Blumenauer all oppose it. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both oppose it. Senate candidates Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick both oppose it. Why would Congresswoman Hooley stand alone with the Bush administration in support of such a heinous policy?

The Bush administration and corporate lobbyists continue pushing Congress to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement -- a NAFTA-style trade deal that ignores Colombia's atrocious human rights record and that will undoubtedly cost Oregon jobs. Despite successfully blocking it from being forced to a vote under "Fast Track," there is increasingly talk of a deal that could allow it to reach the floor this year. Opposing the Colombia trade agreement should be a no brainer, but Congresswoman Hooley remains "undecided."

Is Rep. Hooley really indifferent towards death squads? Trade cannot be "free" when workers are denied their basic freedoms of speech and assembly. Corporate-funded death squads roam the streets of Colombia, forcing millions to accept the country's sweatshop working conditions.

Since 1991, over 2,300 Colombian labor advocates have been murdered, and the rate of impunity for the murder of trade unionists remains over 97%. Is Rep. Hooley really indifferent towards local job loss? Approximately 70,000 Oregon jobs have been shipped abroad to take advantage of lower labor costs since NAFTA was enacted in the mid-1990s. The Colombia Free Trade Agreement will continue this trend by requiring Oregonians to compete for jobs with workers who are literally forced to accept poor labor standards under the threat of death.

Is Rep. Hooley really going to stand alone on this issue?«

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• free
• trade
• nafta
• colombia

[agustino25]

PUTOS GRINGOS...

[dianybeth]

thank u USA . we Colombia dont need u in our country recruiting people for no wages no benefits and abuse. make your campaigns against your multinationals which spread sweatshops all over the world. Colombian deaths thanks to ur companies.. and their great ideas..

american will never do.. the jobs that inmigrants take.. so dont worry.. and study first...

thanks US for M ur own B..

[andrescalisful]

fuck u USA, colombia dont need you we have all the things to be a big potency fuck go out and fuck you TLC .l.

[MrChemistalex]

si ome bobo..........you are stilll an stupid.....such a loser¡¡¡¡¡¡ that`s why the whole world hate the americans........ sorry.

Don`t blame me , Blame yourself......

[MJ4ever911]

I'm afraid to go to the USA because maybe my plane can be crashed into a tower 0.0 idiots.

[Twheater]

I wonder if these people realize that this is a trade agreement, not an infiltration of the economy.

[ka0t1ka]

saben más ellos de los problemas colombianos ke nosotros mismos....

komo aká la ignorancia manda...

puto será usted..

[k4n3]

The US has no business in the US. First Colombia must work out their own problems in their country. Second, they should not bow down to the US. The US is only using Colombians for their resources which belong to the people of Colombia.

[maggot89]

Colombia is talking the right steps toward human rights but the difficulty is that Colombia is at war. It has been for 50 years now and in almost all wars some human rights are violated. It is the reality must face as do all nations such as the United States and what we are doing in Iraq and guantamino bay. Yes Uribe must take all the nessesary in securing human rights to his ability and has been doing.He has denounced paramilitares and to protest this countries advanced efforts is insulting.

[Caleno98]

shut the fuk up,,,,,have u been to colombia,,,,no so dnt talk and your satistics are like from the 50s...come on and the trade will happin