Colombia Confirms It Cannot Meet Necessary Prerequisites for FTA consideration

[Judi Lynn]

Posted December 4, 2008 | 10:47 AM (EST)
Colombia Confirms It Cannot Meet Necessary Prerequisites for FTA consideration

In his final debate with John McCain, President-elect Barack Obama made it clear why he opposed passage of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) - because of the problem with union assassinations in Colombia (still the highest in the world) and because the Colombian government has failed to investigate and prosecute those killings. This statement echoed Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, just last year, set forth the yard marks which were necessary for consideration for the Colombia FTA - namely, "concrete and sustained" results in dealing with continued violence against trade unionists, impunity and the role of paramilitary groups in that violence.



Fernando Botero, "Masacre"

On the issue of impunity, the Colombian government has successfully investigated and prosecuted around only 3% of the almost 2700 union killings since 1986, resulting in an impunity rate of 97%. And, recently, the Colombian Office of the Attorney General confirmed that this impunity rate will not be appreciably lowered.

Indeed, as Human Rights Watch recently explained in a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Congressman George Miller and Congressman Charles Rangel, "he Office of the Attorney General reports that as of October 20, the specialized prosecutors unit is only reviewing a total of 1,272 cases involving anti-union violence - including both threats and killings (even though nearly all of the 2,685 reported killings and more than 3,700 threats remain unresolved)." (emphasis added).

In short, impunity will not decrease very much in Colombia because the Colombian government, by its own admission, is not even looking into the vast majority of anti-union violence cases. This is an incredible admission by the Colombian government given its continued full-court press for passage of the Colombia FTA. This admission should finally end Colombia's chances at passage of the FTA, at least so long as Barack Obama is President and Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/colombia-confirms-it-cann_b_148394.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. More from the same article, which many people don't know:

Further, Human Rights Watch noted that the Colombian government has failed to abide by the order of a well-respected judge to investigate the role played by the Nestle Corporation in the murder of union leader Luciano Romero. The issue of such corporate responsibility in the murder of trade unionists continues even as Colombia, on December 6, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the massacre of striking banana workers in the town of Cienaga, Colombia at the behest of then United Fruit Company (now, Chiquita Banana, a company which has continued to fund atrocities in Colombia). This event inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez's portrayal of the murder of banana workers in One Hundred Years of Solitude - a book I am told is the very favorite of none other than Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Regarding this reference to the United Fruit Company's (Chiquita Banana) massacre of workers,

as the subject of intense importance in a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, you have to ask yourself what the hell was Bill Clinton thinking when he promoted the Colombian FTA. Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick. Heard it a long, LONG time ago that he admired Gabriel Garcia Marquez greatly, yet how much value did he actually see in his writing, after all? Did he think he was just whistling "Dixie?" Not to be taken seriously? Possessing a wild imagination?

Clinton says Gabriel Garcia Marquez is his literary hero
Posted by Wolfy Becker on March 26th, 2007

(JP-wb) — U.S. ex-president Bill Clinton declared in an interview published by the Colombian magazine ‘Cambio’ that author and 1982 Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Márquez is his “literary hero”.

“The first time a read one of Gabriel Garcia Márquez’ works was when I was a law student at Yale University. Once I was caught reading his book “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, Clinton remembered.

Clinton will be among the celebrity friends of Garcia Marquez expected to attend the tribute in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias. The writer recently celebrated his 80th birthday.

http://journalperu.com/?p=707

~~~~~~~~~

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Honoured
Cartagena hosts Nobel Prize Winner and World Literati
© Richard McColl

Mar 27, 2007

With all of the efficiency that can be expected from an event held on the Caribbean coast, the IV Congreso internacional de la Lengua Espanola spluttered into action on Monday in the Colombian jewel of Cartagena la Heroica.

The rallying call from academics and the Spanish speaking literati this week has been one for better schools and greater impetus on eradicating illiteracy in the Hispanic world. As Spanish writer Antonio Munoz Molina said: “The enemy of the Spanish language is not English, but poverty.”

Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Bill Clinton
Participants and guests gathered here in homage to Gabriel Garcia Marquez who even spoke emotionally, in a speech laden with charming anecdotes regarding his years of poverty prior to writing 100 Years of Solitude, to a rapt audience. His speech was frequently interrupted by cheers and raucous ovations and later by the late entry of former US President Bill Clinton who later said: “Not everything in life has to be power, politics and money.” The former President then stated that he was here to honour the 80th birthday of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “his personal friend”.

http://latin-american-cultural-events.suite101.com/article.cfm/gabriel_garcia_marquez_honoured

~~~~~~~~~

The mysteries of Bill Clinton

Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez
compares the president's fate to that of Hester Prynne.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BY GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ | The first thing you notice about William Jefferson Clinton is how tall he is. The second is the seductive power he has of making you feel, from the first moment of meeting, that he is someone you know well. The third is his sharp intelligence, which allows you to speak to him about anything at all, even the prickliest topics, provided you know when to bring it up.

Even so, someone not enamored of him forewarned me: "The dangerous thing about these gifts is that Clinton uses them to make you feel that nothing could interest him more than what you are saying to him."

I met him first at a dinner given by William Styron in his summer house on Martha's Vineyard in August 1995. During his first campaign, Clinton had mentioned that his favorite book was "One Hundred Years of Solitude." I said at the time -- and I was quoted in print -- that I thought he had said it simply to pull in the Latin vote. He had not forgotten -- after greeting me on Martha's Vineyard, he at once assured me that what he said had been quite sincere.

Carlos Fuentes and I have good reason for considering that evening as a whole chapter in our memoirs. From the beginning, we were disarmed by the interest, respect and humor with which he listened to us, treating our words as if they were gold dust.

His mood corresponded with his appearance. His hair was short, like a scrubbing brush, his skin tanned -- he had the healthy and almost insolent look of a sailor ashore, and he was wearing a college sweat shirt with some logo on the chest. At 49, he looked like an exuberant survivor of the generation of '68, who had smoked marijuana, knew the Beatles by heart and had demonstrated against the Vietnam War.

Dinner began at 8, with some 14 guests around the table, and lasted until midnight. Bit by bit, the conversation came down to a kind of literary round table involving the president and the three writers. The first topic to come up was the forthcoming Summit of the Americas. Clinton had wanted it held in Miami, where it did take place. Carlos Fuentes considered that New Orleans or Los Angeles had stronger historical claims, and he and I argued strongly for them until it became clear that the president had no intention of changing his plans because he was counting on reelection support from Miami.

"Forget the votes, Mr. President," Carlos said to him. "Lose Florida and make history."

That phrase set the tone. When we spoke of the problems of narco-traffic, the president heard me out generously. "Thirty million drug addicts in the U.S. go to show that the North American mafia are more powerful than those in Colombia, and the authorities much more corrupt." When I spoke to him about relations with Cuba, he seemed even more receptive. "If Fidel and you could sit and talk face to face, all problems would completely disappear."

When we talked about Latin America in general, we realized that he was much more interested than we had supposed, although he lacked some essential background.

More:
http://www.salon.com/news/1999/02/cov_02news.html

[judasdisney]

3. Mystery Question: Why is Bush so focused on pushing FTA as ransom for an auto bailout?

Could the answer be because Colombia is a key fascist outpost, a key Neocon stronghold, and the foot-in-the-door for False Flags to stage against Obama, drawing him into a Latin Bay of Pigs?

What is so special about a Colombia FTA that Bush is more focused on it than the U.S. economic crisis?

I want a real answer to this question.