Redstate

Posted at 9:32am on Apr. 29, 2008 Pass the Colombia trade pact

By Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

President Reagan once observed, "The way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition."
On April 10, the U.S. House speaker indefinitely blocked a vote on the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The action by the Democrats sends the wrong message to trade partners around the world and squanders an opportunity to help Americans shouldering the burden of unemployment and a stalling economy.

Indeed, failure to ratify the trade agreement with Colombia denies economic growth opportunities for both the United States and Colombia, stifles competition and undermines efforts to create a safer, more stable world.

Economically, enactment of the agreement would level the playing field and foster fair trade by removing the costly tariffs levied on U.S. exporters trying to sell their goods in Colombian markets. The U.S. International Trade Commission projects that the deal would increase U.S. exports to Colombia by $1.1 billion a year, which in turn will create jobs for American workers.

In 2007, America exported high-quality beef, cotton, wheat, soybeans, fruits, vegetables and other goods to Colombia, with sales valued at $8.6 billion.

Although Colombia was able to export goods into the U.S. duty-free, American businesses and producers are still obligated to pay tariffs on exports to Colombia. The U.S. trade representative estimates that, since negotiations on the trade pact were completed in 2006, American products have been taxed nearly $1 billion in tariffs paid to Colombia. By eliminating this inequity, producers in the U.S. will have greater access to this lucrative market.

This would particularly benefit Texas, which led the nation in merchandise exports to Colombia last year, resulting in $2.3 billion in revenue for the state.

Read on . . .

Posted in Columbia | Foreign Affairs | Free Trade | Texas — Comments (27)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:21pm on Apr. 9, 2008 Bill And Hillary Split

By California Yankee

The Hillary Campaign acknowledges that, like Hillary's recently demoted strategist in chief Mark Penn, Bill Clinton "supports a free trade agreement with Colombia that she [Hillary] strenuously opposes:"

Posted in 2008 | Bill Clinton | Columbia | Hillary Clinton | Mark Penn — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:55pm on Mar. 7, 2008 Another FARC Leader Killed

By California Yankee

Colombian security forces trying to arrest Ivan Rios, a top rebel leader of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), killed a man in a shootout. If the body is identified as Rios, it would be the second member of the ruling secretariat of FARC, to be killed in a week.

Rios "was the youngest member of the secretariat. He was very important to the rebels," said Alfredo Rangel of the Bogota-based think tank Security and Democracy. "This shows the army is capable of taking down the rebels' most important pillars and that any of the leaders can fall at any time." [Read on.]