(in cooperation with Witness for Peace)
The U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration are pushing passage of a NAFTA-style trade deal with Colombia that would hurt workers and the poor in both countries.
The Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) threatens to exacerbate the ongoing human rights catastrophe in Colombia. Last year, more labor leaders were killed in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined. Colombia recently surpassed the Sudan as home to the most internally-displaced people in the world.
CPT-Colombia’s partners have said that passage of a U.S.-Colombia FTA will increase the devastating effects of the war. They say it will continue to impoverish small-scale farmers, expand economic mega-projects that cause environmental destruction, and undermine labor rights, all of which will contribute to further displacement of millions of Colombians.
The legislation is pending, so now is the time to take action.
U.S. residents, please contact you elected representatives and explain your concerns about the negative impacts of free trade agreements on workers and subsistence farmers. Urge them to vote “NO” to a U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Find contact information at www.usa.gov.
