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Colombia

Peru, Colombia push for bilateral trade deals with EU
24-Sep-2008 ICTSD
Both Peru and Colombia want to work quickly to conclude bilateral trade deals with the EU, as negotiations toward a regional-level pact have largely stalled.
Caterpillar hoping for US-Colombia free trade agreement
21-Sep-2008 Colombia Reports
Coal mines in Colombia may not become the gold mines they could have been for Caterpillar Inc should a stalled US-Colombia free trade agreement fail to progress through Congress.
Labor and the Colombia free trade agreement
21-Sep-2008 FPIF
The only way the Colombian deal will remain the first accord of its kind defeated in Washington, it’s clear, is if organized labor continues to play the central role in establishing the terms of debate around basic human rights and keeping Democratic members of Congress in line.
Bush renewing push for Colombian free-trade deal
20-Sep-2008
President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe renewed their push on Saturday for Congress to approve a free-trade deal before lawmakers leave town to campaign for re-election.
Colombia deal has better shot under Obama, say trade lobbyists, union reps
17-Sep-2008 The Hill
Both sides in the debate over the controversial trade deal with Colombia believe the pact has a better chance of passing next year if Barack Obama is elected president. The irony is that Obama has been an opponent of the deal, while Republican presidential candidate John McCain is a staunch supporter of the accord.
Uribe and Garcia break negotiations between the EU and the CAN
16-Sep-2008 RECALCA (Spanish original)
In perfect coordination, worthy of the political affinity between Alvaro Uribe and Alan García, the two presidents sent identical letters on 9 September 2008 to the President of the European Commission, in which, unilaterally and without consulting their partners in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), they terminated the Association Agreement negotiations between the CAN and the EU. What they seek is quite serious: to force bilateral negotiations with the European Union, excluding both Bolivia and Ecuador.
Final offensive for US-Colombia FTA is stark contrast to other developments in the hemisphere
16-Sep-2008 Colombia Journal
While the eyes of the world focus on the internal crisis in Bolivia and the unfolding tensions in the Andean region, the pro-Bush government of Colombia is engaged in one of its most intensive lobbying efforts in recent memory, a full court press that will culminate with the visit next week of President Alvaro Uribe to Washington.
Republicans prod Pelosi for action on trade deals
11-Sep-2008 Reuters
The Bush administration, Republican lawmakers and business groups pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday to allow votes on free trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea by the end of the year.
Labor’s opposition continues to Colombia free trade pact
27-Aug-2008 PWW
While Colombian representatives lobby the Democratic and Republican conventions in support of the Bush administration’s Colombia Free Trade Act, the US labor movement continues its opposition to the pact, signed in November 2006 but put on hold by Congress last April.
Colombia as a Model for Latin America
12-Aug-2008 Dissident Voice
The US free trade agreement and the state and paramilitary violence in Colombia are part of the same project
Labour leaders report back: No to Colombia FTA
11-Aug-2008 rabble
We visited Colombia from July 18-25 on behalf of one million Canadian public sector workers. Our mission was to see for ourselves whether our opposition to the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement was justified. What we saw and learned confirmed that we are right to oppose this deal and to speak out against it on behalf of Colombian workers and their families.
Colombia deal side agreements under microscope
6-Aug-2008 Embassy Magazine
With the Canada-Colombia deal done, but the text still kept secret, some say that the provisions on labour and the environment at least establish a record of commitment, while others say that without enforceable complaint mechanisms the side agreements amount to little more than lip service.
‘Increased foreign investment will not lift all boats’
6-Aug-2008
Paul Moist, the President of Canada’s largest union, expressed concern about a free trade deal between Canada and Colombia during a recent meeting with Fabio Valencio, Colombia’s Minister of the Interior.
Free trade: A baby step to the south
28-Jul-2008
When Canada concluded free trade talks with Colombia in June, the announcement came in the form of a release on a Saturday. But burying news of the deal on a weekend hasn’t stopped a storm of protest. In Ottawa, the opposition blasted the government for reaching an FTA (whose ratification will likely take months) without waiting for an assessment report from the Commons trade committee, whose members recently travelled to Colombia - a country that has been plagued by drug trafficking, paramilitary death squads and other forms of strife.
Constitutional Court okays free trade pact with US
25-Jul-2008 Colombia Reports
Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ruled the trade pact the Colombian and US governments signed is in accordance with Colombia’s constitution.
Robert Gates joins PR offensive for Colombia FTA
24-Jul-2008 WW4 Report
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos share a joint op-ed in the New York Times shamelessly trading off the apparent hostage rescue operation to shill for the pending US-Colombia free trade agreement.
Free trade’s false promises
9-Jul-2008 The Guardian
According to new estimates by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America, the US-Colombia free trade agreement will actually make Colombia worse off by up to $75m or one-tenth of 1% of its GDP.
Hostage rescue may not free U.S.-Colombia trade deal
3-Jul-2008
Colombia’s dramatic rescue of hostages held for years by a rebel group probably won’t lead to quick approval of a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement that has been snagged for months in the U.S. Congress.
What Ottawa didn’t tell you about Colombia FTA
2-Jul-2008 rabble
Today, Canada presents itself in Latin America as a "Third Way," differing from the models offered by the United States and Venezuela. Is this true? A look at the Free Trade Agreements being drawn up for Latin America may bring one to the conclusion that each new trade agreement is progressively more damaging for these countries.
McCain to talk free trade in Latin America
1-Jul-2008
John McCain has changed his mind about the president’s tax cuts and drilling for oil off the U.S. coast, but the Republican presidential hopeful says his advocacy of free trade is unyielding.