Briarpatch Magazine » Colombia

Canada does Colombia: Labour opposes the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, but can they mobilize Canadians?

dave — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:26:19 +0000

**By Dawn Paley Briarpatch Magazine November 2008**

Canada is very close to jumping into bed with one of the worst human rights violators in the hemisphere, and almost no one seems to have noticed. Negotiations for the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement were concluded on June 7, 2008. Ex-foreign affairs minister David Emerson made the announcement unexpectedly, on a Saturday, even before the Standing Committee on International Trade had finished deliberating as to its merits. Talk about a shotgun wedding.

The hasty marriage is part of Canada's "renewed engagement" in the Americas under the direction of the Harper Conservatives. The agreement with Colombia has elicited criticism from diverse sectors in both countries. Though the agreement's details have not yet been made public, it will likely mirror Canada's recent deal with Peru, which contains investment protection guarantees for Canadian corporations operating in Peru as well as lower tariffs for Peruvian exporters. The Canada-Colombia deal is currently delayed by the Canadian election.

Labour groups in Colombia see the deal as a serious blow to Colombia's economic prospects. Colombia's economy will improve only after a strong internal market has been developed in which Colombian needs are met by Colombian products, says Gustavo Triana, vice-president of the Central Union of Workers (CUT), one of Colombia's largest unions.

"The increased arrival of food and products from other countries because of free trade agreements increases unemployment, hurts our economy and lessens our quality of life," Triana told Briarpatch from Bogotá.

Liliany Obando: Profile of a jailed Colombian dissident

dave — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:53:37 +0000

**By Roger Langen Briarpatch Magazine November 2008**

What is it about Liliany Patricia Obando Villota that the Colombian government finds so intimidating? A single mother of two, an emerging academic at the National University of Colombia, a documentary filmmaker, and until recently, the international spokesperson for FENSUAGRO, Colombia’s largest rural-based labour organization, Obando was declared a “potential enemy of the state” by the attorney general on May 25, 2008. Then she was arrested – in front of her two children and elderly mother at their Bogotá apartment – on August 8, 2008 by the Anti-Terrorism Unit of the Colombian National Police. She now awaits trial at a maximum security prison in Bogotá on charges of sedition and “managing resources related to terrorist activities.”

Disaster in the Making: Canada Concludes Its Free Trade Agreement With Colombia

dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:14:26 +0000

By Todd Gordon The Bullet #112 SocialistProject.ca What's the monetary value of a Colombian trade unionist's life? As it turns out, it depends on how many are killed in a given year since the potential fines the Colombian government will have to pay as penalty under its free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada whenever a union activist is killed is capped at $15 million. If this sounds like a sick joke I apologize, but this is in effect what the Canadian government actually negotiated. On June 7th, Canada proudly proclaimed that it had successfully concluded its trade deal with the human rights-troubled Andean country. Negotiated with an efficiency that must make the Bush administration - whose own trade agreement with Colombia has stalled because of Congressional opposition - jealous, the deal was concluded less than a year after negotiations began. With four Canadian cabinet ministers visiting Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and other members of his cabinet between July 2007 and February 2008, it's clear the Harper Tories had made the trade deal a major priority despite Colombia's appalling human rights record (see, for example, my article on Canada and Colombia). As new Foreign Affairs minister (and ex-Liberal), David Emerson, declared, "The Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to open up opportunities for Canadian business in the Americas and around the world." The agreement, which still hasn't been made public, will now undergo a legal review by Canadian and Colombian lawyers. After the review is completed, it'll be brought to the House of Commons for ratification, which should not be a problem for the Tories despite their minority government since the Liberals have said they'll support it if it contains language on human rights. It does - but I'll come back to that in a moment.