The U.S. and Colombia signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2006. House Democrats announced in the summer of 2007 that Colombia would need to make concrete progress against violence against trade unionists and on impunity before Congress would consider a vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The Bush Administration and the Colombian government have been lobbying vigorously for a vote in 2008. In April the House voted to remove the requirement that the agreement be acted on within 90 days of submission after President Bush submitted the pact without the support of congressional leaders.

The Colombia FTA (Read the full text at the USTR website [1]) is especially controversial because of the high level of violence against Colombian trade unionists. For years, more trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia each year than in the rest of the world combined. Virtually no one has been prosecuted for these murders. The Colombian trade union movement and large sectors of civil society are opposed to the FTA, as is USLEAP. USLEAP was opposed to even initiating negotiations until significant progress had been made on violence and impunity.

Other reasons to oppose the Colombia FTA are its projected negative impact on farmers, health care, and the environment. RECALCA, the Colombian Action Network in Opposition to Free Trade and the FTAA, gives a good summary of the key problems with the agreement from a Colombian perspective in this January 2007 letter to Congressman Rangel [2].

Visit our Trade Resources page [3] for more information about the Colombia FTA and other free trade agreements.

Congress is not expected to take up the Colombia FTA before summer 2008 at the earliest. Take Action Here! [4]