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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><img width=232 height=70 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.gif@01CD197A.BF02F900" alt=Sojourners><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<h1><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><font size=6
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Mission</span></font></b></st1:City></st1:place>
Not Accomplished<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>by <a href="http://sojo.net/biography/elizabeth-palmberg">Elizabeth
Palmberg</a> 04-13-2012 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Whatever
President Obama does at the upcoming <st1:City w:st="on">Summit</st1:City> of
the <st1:country-region w:st="on">Americas</st1:country-region> in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Cartagena</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>
this weekend may not be front-page news in the U.S—but for many
Colombians trying to make an honest living in their homeland, it could just be
Obama's "Mission Accomplished" banner moment.<br>
<br>
President George W. Bush's May 2003 speech in front of a giant "Mission
Accomplished" sign was, to put it mildly, a premature declaration of
triumph in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> war with
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
an enterprise that was a bad idea in the first place. In <st1:City w:st="on">Cartagena</st1:City>
this weekend, word is that Obama may declare that, after one year of a promised
four-year plan, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>
has met its commitments to crack down on offenses against Colombian workers'
rights and lives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>If Obama
makes such a declaration, it would mean that the the U.S.-Colombia Trade
Agreement could move full steam ahead. Colombia only signed onto the four-year
labor action plan to begin with in order to persuade Congress to pass the trade
accord, which had been held up by U.S. concerns about Colombia's abysmal human
rights record (as Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli wrote last summer in Sojourners
magazine).<br>
<br>
It's definitely not a good time to declare victory for the hard-working
laborers of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
Four trade unionists have been murdered in the first months of 2012 alone, and
despite the labor plan's promises there is still widespread use of the illegal
practice of setting up shell organizations (called "cooperatives") to
separate workers from their protections and pension rights under Colombian
law. While I was in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>
last year, I heard firsthand from advocates for sugar cane workers who had
suffered from this legal dodge.<br>
<br>
If the Obama administration gives <st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region>
a green light on its extremely dubious labor record, it just might be the
biggest tall tale set in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Cartagena</st1:City></st1:place>
since Romancing the Stone. But, in stark contrast to that popcorn flick, it
will have a lot less happy of an ending.<br>
<br>
<strong><b><i><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-style:italic'>Elizabeth
Palmberg </span></font></i></b></strong><em><i><font face="Times New Roman">is
an associate editor of</font></i></em> Sojourners <em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">magazine</font></i></em>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Source URL:</span></font></b></strong> <a
href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/04/13/mission-not-accomplished">http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/04/13/mission-not-accomplished</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Links:</span></font></b></strong><br>
[1] http://sojo.net/blogs/gods-politics<br>
[2] http://sojo.net/biography/elizabeth-palmberg<br>
[3] http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/04/13/mission-not-accomplished#comment-covenant<br>
[4] http://sojo.net/letter-to-the-editor?post=Mission%20Not%20Accomplished<br>
[5] http://sojo.net/donate<br>
[6] http://sojo.net/sites/default/files/mainimages/blog/142831043.jpg<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Gimena
Sanchez-Garzoli</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Senior
Associate for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region> and
the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><st1:State
w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>Washington</span></font></st1:State><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Office on <st1:place w:st="on">Latin
America</st1:place></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Tele: (202)
797-2171 ext. 205</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> Cell: (202)
489-1702<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Email: <a
href="mailto:gsanchez@wola.org">gsanchez@wola.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES style='font-size:12.0pt'>Website: </span><a
href="http://www.wola.org"><span lang=ES>www.wola.org</span></a></font><span
lang=ES><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES style='font-size:12.0pt'>Skype:
WOLAColombia<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Twitter: wola_org <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><i><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>The
<st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> Office on Latin America (WOLA) is a
<st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> human rights organization
that promotes democracy and socioeconomic justice in Latin America and the <st1:place
w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place> through analysis and foreign policy proposals
informed by strong partnerships with civil society counterparts in the region.
Visit WOLA’s website to </span></font></i><i><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic'><a
href="http://www.wola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218&Itemid=37"
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to help WOLA carry out its work.</i><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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