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US-Colombia

On 27 February 2006, the United States and Colombia reached a Trade Promotion Agreement whose negative impacts were immediately subjected to severe criticism by civil society. The perks granted to the US by the new FTA, especially concerning agriculture and national treatment, rapidly became public knowledge.

One controversial provision concerned quotas on “special” agricultural products that are allowed to enter Colombia in limited quantities without tariffs from the very first year of the FTA; these quotas were increased at the signing of the agreement. Furthermore, the US insisted on Colombia’s acceptance of beef from cows over 30 months, a latent animal and human health risk due to the possible entry of “mad cow” infected animals.

The agreement was approved by the Colombian Congress over the opposition of the Polo Democrático Alternativo and the Colombian Liberal Party. The U.S. Congress later emerged as its chief opponent, rejecting the treaty after the Democratic Party won majorities in both houses and adopted a more aggressive stance on Bush administration policies.

The Democrats argued that the Uribe government had not done enough to curtail the paramilitaries’ crimes against humanity. Colombia, they said, should first put an end to violence against trade unionists and peasants, and indict politicians implicated in the “paragate” scandal (collusion with the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces and with drug trafficking mafias).

A vote on the deal was put off in April 2008 after President Bush sent the corresponding bill to Congress despite a recommendation against this move on the part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi sought a change to the House rules to prevent the fast-track timetable from kicking in.

In Colombia, opposition has remained firm in recent years, with various sectors mobilizing heavily to resist the FTA. The most recent large-scale mobilization was the “Minga,” in which indigenous people from all over the country traveled thousands of kilometers to Bogotá to reject the FTA, among other demands. Many other sectors of Colombian society signed on to the indigenous mobilization.

Despite the continuing resistance, the Colombian government benefitting from an improved image under President Santos (even though the policies and problems of the Uribe administration persist) won the approval for its FTA with the United States from the US Congress on 10 October 2011. It entered into force on 15 May 2012. Putting this FTA into motion required the approval of more than 15 regulations in the form of laws or decrees to bring Colombia legislation into line with the FTA on issues such as intellectual property, safeguards and tariffs.

last update: May 2012
Photo: Public Citizen


People of faith rally against Colombian free trade agreement
Jose’s phone rang. When he picked up the receiver, no one was on the other line. He hung up. The next time he heard the ring, his wife answered, and a menacing voice said, "Tell that man to calm down his tongue or we will cut it out."
Hundreds gather outside the White House to protest the Colombia free trade agreement
Hundreds gathered outside the White House on Monday to protest the Colombia free trade agreement, which they say will kill jobs here, and threaten communities in Colombia.
Business, labor spar over Colombia free-trade deal
While the loudest shouting is about unionists and the union movement in Colombia, it appears at times to mask an altogether different debate: whether trade pacts are good or bad for jobs in the US.
US Senate committee approves Colombia FTA
The Senate Finance Committee voted to approve the US-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA) bill in a mock markup session Thursday morning, much to the satisfaction of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Colombia FTA press conference
Press conference against the US-Colombia FTA, Washington DC, 16 June 2011
More than 400 NGOs sign petition against FTA
431 NGOs from Colombia and the U.S. signed a petition against the pending Free Trade Agreement, reported Caracol Radio Thursday.
The unanswered questions surrounding the US-Colombia FTA
We should all be asking our policymakers some tough questions, like: What will they do when the FTA is passed and it devastates Colombian small-scale farmers and leads to a surge in coca cultivation? What will they do when the FTA is passed and there is an increase in forced displacement? What will they do after the FTA is approved and trade unionists and human rights defenders continue to be threatened and killed?
Colombia violating FTA labor agreements through union reprisals: US Union
Vale Coal Colombia has been violating the Labor Action Plan between the United States and Colombia, a requisite of the pending free trade agreement, through threats and reprisals against unionists in the northern department of Cesar, according to U.S. trade union United Steelworkers (USW).
Activists protest possible Colombia trade deal
Religious and peace activists are demanding that President Obama keep a campaign promise to oppose a trade deal with a South American nation.
Critics call trade pact lose-lose deal for Colombian labour
Two days ago, on Jun. 7, Ana Fabricia Cordoba was killed in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood of Medellin, Colombia. Her assassination coincides with renewed efforts by free-trade advocates in Washington to pressure the US Congress to pass the long-debated US-Colombia FTA.