The Case Against the Colombian Free Trade Pact http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-05-02/news/bs-ed-colombia-free-trade-20110502_1_human-rights-northern-cauca-free-trade

I just returned from a 10-day human rights delegation to Colombia sponsored by Witness for Peace. While we were in the midst of our intensive meetings in Valle del Cauca, Northern Cauca, and Bogota, we discovered that a high profile-American delegation had just arrived in the capital for its own two-day tour. The U.S. Congressional Ways and Means Committee had sent a bipartisan fact-finding mission to Colombia, co-sponsored by Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer. What an amazing coincidence: two American delegations were gathering facts about Colombia at the same time.

Regrettably, the similarity between our two groups ended there. The congressional delegation's April 20th news release — with its rousing endorsement of the pending United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (otherwise known as FTA) — makes it clear that they must have visited a different country than the one I had just seen with my own eyes.

Could it be that they were less concerned about finding facts and more concerned with the time-honored political arts of airbrushing, white-washing, and rubber stamping? It seems that they only took the time to talk to the primary beneficiaries of all free trade agreements — the privileged elite: President Juan Manuel Santos and his advisors, wealthy businessmen and certain labor leaders. These congressmen have announced that "Colombia has made significant progress in addressing worker rights and violence against workers." They add that they are "confident in Colombia's ability to carry out its commitment." Unfortunately, the people we met on our trip do not share this confidence.