[CTC] WOLA: Paramilitaries Send Unionists an Invitation to Their Own Funeral

[Anthony Dest]

Bogota mayor sees FTA with US as a threat <http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/23533-bogota-mayor-sees-fta-with-us-as-a-threat-to-city.html>
Thursday, 19 April 2012 07:45 Brandon Barrett
<http://digg.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcolombiareports.com%2Fcolombia-news%2Feconomy%2F23533-bogota-mayor-sees-fta-with-us-as-a-threat-to-city.html&title=Bogota%20mayor%20sees%20FTA%20with%20US%20as%20a%20threat>

[cid:image001.jpg at 01CD1E42.76E97AA0]

Bogota<http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/bogota.html>'s Mayor Gustavo Petro<http://colombiareports.com/colombiareports.com/colombia.../9088-profile-gustavo-petro.html> said Thursday that Colombia<http://colombiareports.com>'s recently-finalized Free Trade Agreement<http://colombiareports.com/colombiareports.com/component/tag/free-trade-agreement.html> (FTA) with the U.S. would hurt Colombia's capital city.

In a presentation at Bogota's Chamber of Commerce, the mayor said that the cost of production and delivery of goods to other countries from the city was much higher compared to other FTA signatories with the U.S.

"We must make a monumental effort to be aware as a society of the association between the manufacturing economy and transportation infrastructure which makes transporting manufactured goods from Bogota to Venezuela<http://colombiareports.com/colombiareports.com/component/tag/venezuela.html>, and Ecuador<http://colombiareports.com/colombiareports.com/component/tag/ecuador.html> to the United States<http://colombiareports.com/colombiareports.com/component/tag/united-states.html> cheaper," said Petro.

The mayor believes that the Colombian government needs to construct railroads in order to bring down the cost of shipping goods internationally, to allow the full benefits of the FTA which takes effect May 15<http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/23432-us-colombia-trade-pact-to-take-effect-may-15.html>.

Colombian congressmen said Tuesday they were filing a lawsuit <http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/23485-colombian-congressmen-file-lawsuit-against-fta.html> against the passage of the FTA because its legislation dealing with intellectual property and Internet access did not pass through proper Congressional procedures.

There has also been fierce opposition from unions in both Colombia and the U.S. <http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/23469-colombias-unions-question-obamas-commitment-to-human-rights.html> due to ongoing unionist killings and labor rights violations -- something the Andean nation was supposed to fully address before the agreement could go into effect.
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/23533-bogota-mayor-sees-fta-with-us-as-a-threat-to-city.html


Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli
Senior Associate for Colombia and the Andes
Washington Office on Latin America
Tele: (202) 797-2171 ext. 205
 Cell: (202) 489-1702
Email: gsanchez at wola.org<mailto:gsanchez at wola.org>
Website: www.wola.org<http://www.wola.org>
Skype: WOLAColombia
Twitter: wola_org
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) is a US human rights organization that promotes democracy and socioeconomic justice in Latin America and the Caribbean through analysis and foreign policy proposals informed by strong partnerships with civil society counterparts in the region. Visit WOLA's website to sign up<http://www.wola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218&Itemid=37> for more information or donate now<http://www.wola.org/donatenow> to help WOLA carry out its work.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20120419/d90ad4a9/attachment-0003.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 32286 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20120419/d90ad4a9/attachment-0002.jpg>