Bush urges Congress to look beyond Peru Free Trade Agmt, on towards Columbia, Panama

Bush urges Congress to look beyond Peru FTA
By Klaus Marre | Posted: 11/6/07
November 06, 2007


President Bush, on the eve of a House vote on the Peru free trade agreement (FTA), urged Congress also to support trade deals with Colombia and Panama, which are more contentious.

“It’s not acceptable to pass one trade agreement and let the others languish,” Bush said Tuesday. “It’s not fair to pick out one country and not support the trade agreement with the other two in our hemisphere.”

The House is expected to pass the Peru deal Wednesday, but the trade pacts with Colombia and Panama are facing significant obstacles.

Labor unions including the AFL-CIO have drawn a line in the sand on Colombia. They charge that labor organizers in that country continue to be murdered, and that Colombia’s government has not done enough to investigate and prosecute those who commit the crimes.

The Bush administration has launched an intense effort to build support for the Colombia deal, including taking members of Congress on trips to that country to view its progress under President Alvaro Uribe. Bush argues passage of the Colombia deal would be a boon to a U.S. ally and a blow to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who is battling the U.S. for influence in Latin America.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-urges-congress-to-look-beyond-peru-fta-2007-11-06.html