McCain Visits Colombia, High-Profile FARC Hostages are Freed, and Violence Against Workers Continues

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. Meanwhile, murders of trade unionists in Colombia continue to soar above last year's rates, with 31 killed so far this year.

McCain Promotes Free Trade Agreement in Spite of Continued Concerns

John McCain was criticized this week by the US and Colombian labor movements for his unflinching support of the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in spite of ongoing violence and little progress on impunity. While in Colombia, McCain met with President Uribe in Cartegena, and expressed his support for the Uribe government and the beleaguered agreement.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney wrote in a statement about the visit that McCain was demonstrating his loyalty to corporate lobbyists and showing that he is out of touch with American workers.

15 Hostages Freed

Just after Senator McCain left Cartagena on Wednesday, the Colombian government announced that in a secret military operation, 15 FARC hostages had been freed, including Ingrid Betancourt, three US contractors whose plane had gone down during an anti-narcotics mission, and 11 members of the Colombian police and military.

USLEAP welcomes news of their release, and encourages the FARC to release all of the many more hostages it continues to hold captive in the jungle.

Perpetrators Anti-Union Violence in Colombia Undeterred

The number of trade unionists murdered in Colombia in 2008 has reached 31, according to recent reports from the Escuela Nacional Sindical. Paramilitary forces are considered responsible for the majority of anti-union violence, supporting widespread reports of unabated paramilitary activity.

In an effort to earn votes of Congressional Democrats for the trade agreement, Colombia has attempted to show some progress on impunity for anti-union violence in recent months. The level of violence continues to be so high, however, that the backlog of cases is only growing. In addition, intellectual authors are rarely cited in the cases, making it difficult to establish that any real progress has been made.