Uribe for US FTA, Colombia against
Prensa Latina, 12 Feb 2006
Uribe for US FTA, Colombia Against
Bogota, Feb 12 (Prensa Latina) President Alvaro Uribe will travel to the US on Monday to talk about free trade agreements while most Colombians continue rejecting that trade scheme.
Uribe is pushing for that deal despite repeated and ongoing important economy sectors’ denunciations that it will affect them.
Among the affected will be poultry and rice farmers, who will practically disappear from the market given the massive and cheap entry of chicken and cereal coming from the US-subsidized agriculture.
National industries of generic medicine and a great number of middle and small companies would be pushed out by powerful transnationals, which will also affect Colombian consumers.
The negative impact of FTA would get to such an extent that thousands of Colombians could be left out of work and a similar number would be deprived of medicine because of shortages of generic products in the market.
Uribe has repeatedly stated he wants an equitable FTA for both nations, however, experts believe his trip to Washington will have no influence on US negotiators.
Since opening talks with Ecuador, Colombia and Peru in May 2004, US officials have clung to the stance on issues they consider unchangeable such as subsidies of their farmers’ products and the unconditional opening of Andean markets to them.
Colombians are expectants about the outcome of the final negotiation their president can reach, since the FTA has become one of the hottest issues on the table before legislative and general elections in March and May, respectively.
They have made it clear they will not vote for candidates who support a wrongly-negotiated deal that will bring nothing but more poverty and unemployment, and will undermine national sovereignty and independence.
