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EEUU califica como 'imperativo' voto TLC con Colombia en 2008

Reuters

Luis Jaime Acosta

CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - La votación en el Congreso de Estados Unidos del Tratado de Libre Comercio con Colombia es un "imperativo" para el presidente George W. Bush que intenta convencer a los demócratas para aprobar el acuerdo con un aliado clave, dijo el domingo la representante comercial Susan Schwab.

Los demócratas en el Congreso estadounidense aún no están convencidos que el presidente Alvaro Uribe ha hecho lo suficiente para reducir la violencia contra los dirigentes sindicales y mejorar los derechos humanos en Colombia, azotado por un violento conflicto interno de más de cuatro décadas.

Funcionarios comerciales de Estados Unidos esperan que el Gobierno envíe el acuerdo comercial lo más pronto posible para forzar así una votación en un plazo máximo de 90 días, pese al escepticismo y la oposición de los demócratas.

"Yo creo que si vamos a ver que este tratado comercial presentado al Congreso dentro de muy poco," dijo Schwab en una conferencia de prensa después de un encuentro con Uribe en este balneario del Caribe colombiano.

"Las implicaciones geopolíticas, de seguridad nacional para Estados Unidos, francamente las implicaciones comerciales y económicas tanto para Colombia como para Estados Unidos hacen imperativo que se haga la votación este año," precisó.

Uribe, quien fue reelegido en el 2006 para un segundo período consecutivo, es el aliado más importante Washington en América Latina en momentos en que líderes de izquierda como los presidentes de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez y de Ecuador, Rafael Correa, ganan protagonismo en la región y se han convertido en los principales críticos de Estados Unidos.

Apoyado por millones de dólares de ayuda militar estadounidense, Uribe aumentó el número de efectivos de las Fuerzas Armadas y obligó a la guerrilla izquierdista a un repliegue estratégico, mientras logró el desarme de más de 31.000 combatientes de los escuadrones paramilitares de ultraderecha.

VOTACION MERECIDA

Los asesinatos, las masacres, los secuestros y los ataques terroristas contra la infraestructura económica del país se han reducido considerablemente durante el Gobierno de Uribe, mientras que la economía creció en el 2007 en un 7,5 por ciento, soportada en gran parte en la inversión extranjera.

Pero los demócratas aún se declaran preocupados por la influencia de los antiguos comandantes paramilitares que se desarmaron en el acuerdo de paz con Uribe y sostienen que son responsables de varios crímenes, incluidos los de dirigentes sindicales.

"Colombia merece una votación, la merece ya y la ley establece una votación de aprobación o rechazo sin enmiendas. Creemos que los integrantes del Congreso, demócratas y republicanos, reconocerán la importancia de esto y el increíble progreso que se ha logrado en Colombia en reducir la violencia," sostuvo Schwab.

Seis funcionarios estadounidenses escribieron la semana pasada a los líderes demócratas para explicar cómo se han reducido los ataques contra los sindicalistas y anunciaron que planeaban enviar el acuerdo este año al Congreso para su votación, sin precisar una fecha.

El acuerdo comercial con Colombia se volvió un tema de la campaña electoral por la presidencia de Estados Unidos y los aspirantes demócratas Hillary Clinton y su rival Barack Obama anunciaron que se oponen al tratado.

Uribe pidió el sábado a Clinton y a Obama objetividad y respeto cuando se refieran a Colombia e insistió que su Gobierno hace esfuerzos para mejorar la seguridad de los sindicalistas y reducir las violaciones a los derechos humanos.

Por su parte el ministro de Industria, Comercio y Turismo de Colombia, Luis Guillermo Plata, reconoció que el acuerdo comercial con Estados Unidos es vital, pero dijo que se buscan otros convenios para aumentar de dos en la actualidad a nueve en el 2010.

"Estamos haciendo una tarea comercial muy agresiva con todo el mundo para insertarnos en la economía global. Ciertamente el tratado con Estados Unidos es muy importante pero no es el único que tenemos," explicó.

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01.30.09Latin America's Quiet RevolutionThe Mexican government is locked in a vicious war against powerful drug cartels which assassinate public officials seemingly at will. Bolivian President Evo Morales's constitutional rewrites threaten to push the country toward civil war. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez persecutes his political opposition, supports the FARC rebels in Colombia and is training a civilian militia supposedly designed to defend against an impending U.S. invasion. Read More
01.18.09Latin America Looks for a Fresh Start with ObamaImproving relations with the western hemisphere — as an early item on President Obama's diplomatic agenda and not as an afterthought, as most U.S. Presidents approach it — could turn out to be a relatively easy way to prime the pump for better relations with the rest of the world. "Compared with the challenges he faces elsewhere, Latin America's are more manageable," says Michael Shifter, vice president of the InterAmerican Dialogue in Washington. "Strengthening alliances and partnerships in this hemisphere affords him the opportunity to enhance the political capital behind his foreign policy generally." Read More
01.16.09More Free Trade NeededCLEAR MESSAGE: Latin America needs to reach more free trade agreements, as the APEC summit in Peru recently recommended, the author points out. Latin America should use the current financial crisis as an opportunity to reach more free trade agreements. Read More
01.13.09WESTERN HEMISPHERE: Brace for political impact of global economic crisisIt is now clear that Latin America will not be able to insulate itself from the global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund now predicts 2.5 percent growth in Latin America and the Caribbean next year, in contrast to its earlier prediction of 3.2 percent. Those countries that are most dependent on commodity exports will experience the greatest decline in economic growth, with Venezuela heading the list. Countries whose exports are more diversified, such as Brazil, will see the smallest declines. Read More
01.07.09Brazil well-placed for the economic stormAt the beginning of 2008, Brazil looked to many investors like the model of decoupling. Its financial system had little crossover with US subprime or investment banking in the developed world. Its commodity exports, particularly iron ore, looked strong in an era of rocketing prices. But 2008 also highlighted the importance of Brazilian domestic consumption. Growth remained solid due to flourishing but conservative lending and well run groups in sectors such as retailing and telecoms. Read More
01.05.09LATIN AMERICA: Region may escape worst of recessionAn economic adage asserts that whenever the United States sneezes, Latin America catches a cold. A number of analysts and pundits speculate that given the worsening recession, the cold could quickly turn into pneumonia. Read More
10.03.08US Congress Extends ATPDEAThe US Congress passed legislation to extend the benefits of the Andean Trade Preference Act to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, which were due to expire at the end of 2008. The extension as to Colombia and Peru expires December 31, 2009 and as to Ecuador and Bolivia expires June 30, 2009, with a possible extension to December 2009 subject to a favorable report by the President of the United States as to the conditions set forth in Section 203 of the Act. See full text of HR7222 Read More
09.18.08Cafta: Trade deal has hidden qualitiesIn May 2004, when government officials from the US, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala gathered in Washington to sign a 2,400-page trade agreement, there was a sense of achievement in the air. Four years later, that early enthusiasm and optimism has come down several notches. Moreover, there have been diverging signals in terms of the benefits. To take just one example, Guatemalan exports grew 6 per cent in 2006, about 7.5 per cent in 2007 and are expected to climb nearly 9 per cent in 2009. Yet imports, which grew 11 per cent in 2006, are predicted to grow almost 15 per cent in 2009. Read More
09.08.08Latin America Wants Free TradeOf the two U.S. presidential candidates, one promises to expand international trading opportunities for American producers and consumers. The other pledges to raise the barriers that Americans already face in global commerce. For Latin America, this is the single most important policy issue in the campaign. If Republican candidate John McCain wins, he says he will lead the Western Hemisphere toward freer trade. Conversely, Democratic candidate Barack Obama has promised that he will craft a U.S. trade policy of greater protectionism against our Latin neighbors. The former agenda will advance regional economic integration, the latter will further Latin American isolation. Read More
08.18.08US Trade Synopsis with Latin America1. US Trade: Colombia Grows Most BUSY PORT: The port of Cartagena, Colombia's largest, is seeing increased traffic thanks to the growing U.S. trade. U.S. trade with Colombia is booming even without a free trade agreement. Overall US trade with Latin America is picking up. Read More
07.30.08Marathon WTO talks collapse in U.S.-India farm rowWorld trade talks collapsed here on Tuesday after seven years of on-again, off-again negotiations, in the latest sign of India’s and China’s growing might on the world stage and the decreasing ability of the United States to impose its will globally. Skip to next paragraph Related World Trade Organization Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA Kamal Nath of India said developing nations were concerned for their poor farmers. Readers' Comments What impact do you think the collapse of World Trade Organization talks will have? Post a Comment » Read All Comments (44) » Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization, could not bridge differences between a group of newly confident developing nations and established Western economic powers. In the end, too few of the real power brokers proved committed enough to make compromises necessary to deliver a deal. The failure appeared to end, for the near term at least, any hopes of a global deal to further open markets, cut farm subsidies and strengthen the international trading system. Read More
07.04.08Latin America Policy at a CrossroadsSen. John McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico this week made one thing clear: The shape of the United States' relationship with Latin America will hinge on the outcome of the 2008 election. The Republican presidential candidate and his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, have outlined sharply contrasting visions of how they would conduct relations in the hemisphere. McCain is committed to putting a new emphasis on the region but would pursue many of the policies followed by President Bush in Latin America, with a heavy emphasis on counternarcotics efforts, free trade and a push to curb illegal immigration. Obama has sketched a broad approach that relies more on diplomatic efforts and expression of soft power, through more foreign assistance, an infusion of Peace Corps volunteers and a willingness to meet with hard-line leftist leaders. Dan Lund, a longtime Mexico City-based pollster, said that "there is a big difference" between the two candidates. "It's easy with McCain -- he's clearly going to pursue, without exceptions, the Bush administration line, including the policy toward Cuba," Lund said in an interview. "The Democrats are kind of a mystery. They'll want to loosen things, and they won't want to fight with everybody like Bush did." Read More
07.01.08European Union Suspends IV Round of Trade Negotiations with the Andean Community of NationsThe European Trade Commission announced today its decision to suspend the IV Trade Round scheduled for July 7-11, 2008 in Brussels, alleging a lack of coordinated positions on the part of the Andean Nations. The decision was communicated yesterday to the government of Ecuador, who holds the Presidency pro-tempore of the trade block. See full text in Spanish. Read More
06.31.08The Bank for International Settllements (BIS) Annual ReportThe 78th Annual Report of the Bank for International Settlements for the financial year which began on 1 April 2007 and ended on 31 March 2008 was submitted to the Bank's Annual General Meeting held in Basel on 30 June 2008. Of special note in this web site is its chapter on Emerging Market Economies, whose Abstract, Highlights and Macroeconomic Developments we are presenting under the READ MORE link. For the full Annual Report go to http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2008e.htm Read More
05.13.08Planes departamentales de agua: aplanadora neoliberalNadie con un poco de sensatez se opondría a que en el país se cumpliera el “objetivo del Milenio” de reducir para 2019 en 50% los hogares sin acceso al agua potable. El Banco Mundial en su última valoración ambiental del país ha reconocido el grave problema que representa la carencia de este vital líquido y/o su mala calidad, principalmente por sus nefastas consecuencias para la salud del pueblo colombiano . Read More
05.05.08Clashes in Bolivia on Vote Over More AutonomyStreet clashes broke out here and in small towns in the surrounding countryside on Sunday as Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s largest province and a bastion of separatist groups, held a referendum on measures that would give it greater autonomy from the government of President Evo Morales. The statute would give Santa Cruz the ability to elect its own legislature, create its own police force and raise new taxes for public works. It is expected to allow the province to negotiate its own royalty agreements with energy companies. Read More
04.22.08An Outsider’s Victory Allows Jubilant Paraguayans to Look Past DictatorshipBefore giving Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, a stunning victory at the polls on Sunday, Paraguayans had lived more than 60 years under one-party rule. Read More
04.15.08PIB peruano crece febrero a mayor ritmo desde 1995La economía peruana superó las expectativas de analistas y se expandió en febrero a su mayor ritmo mensual desde mayo de 1995, impulsada otra vez por el sector de construcción y por una fuerte recuperación de la minería e hidrocarburos, informó el martes el Gobierno. El Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) de Perú repuntó un 11,92 por ciento en febrero frente al mismo mes del año pasado, según el Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (INEI). Read More
04.09.08Don't Blame NAFTA for Downturn, Many Economists SayThe North American Free Trade Agreement is once again a prime scapegoat for the nation's growing economic troubles, drawing blame for sending jobs overseas and flattening wages for U.S. workers. Overall, they said, NAFTA has been a net plus, if a modest one, for the U.S. economy. Even as the number of factory jobs dropped, manufacturing output in the United States was up 58 percent between 1993 and 2006, as U.S. plants produced more goods with fewer workers Read More
04.06.08EEUU califica como 'imperativo' voto TLC con Colombia en 2008La votación en el Congreso de Estados Unidos del Tratado de Libre Comercio con Colombia es un "imperativo" para el presidente George W. Bush que intenta convencer a los demócratas para aprobar el acuerdo con un aliado clave, dijo el domingo la representante comercial Susan Schwab. Read More
04.06.08Mark Penn dumped as chief strategist by Clinton campaign.Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams announced Sunday that Mark Penn was cut from his role as chief strategist of the campaign, with the decision to move out one of Clinton's most controversial advisors coming after he met with Colombia’s ambassador to the U.S. talk about a bi-lateral trade agreement. Read More
01.18.08Cancilleres del Caribe coordinarán políticas de comercio, turismo y transporteCancilleres de quince países participarán en la XIII Reunión del Consejo de Ministros de la Asociación de Estados del Caribe (AEC) que tendrá lugar en Panamá del 23 al 25 de enero próximos, para coordinar sus políticas en materia de comercio, turismo y transporte. Read More
01.18.08South America's Constitutional BattlesMovements to rewrite national constitutions are dramatically changing the political paths of several South American countries, triggering bitter debates over whether new charters will benefit future generations or simply serve the political ambitions of current presidents. The current constitutions are not exactly musty documents on yellowing parchment. Bolivia substantially revised its constitution in 1994, Ecuador's was ratified in 1998, and an assembly in Venezuela dominated by Chavez allies drafted that country's charter in 1999. In 2004, the legislature in Colombia, a U.S. ally, changed its constitution to allow presidents to be reelected, permitting Alvaro Uribe to win another term two years later. Read More
01.17.08World trade pact possible this year: SchwabA new world trade pact is possible this year, but it is still too early to schedule a trade ministers' meeting to seal the deal, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on Thursday. Schwab will discuss the status of the talks with other top ministers attending the annual World Economic Forum meeting next week in Davos, Switzerland. Read More
01.14.08Latin America: Record FDIFDI doubles in Brazil, Mexico and Chile and declines in Argentina and Venezuela. Read More
01.10.08Administration to Push Free Trade DealsCommerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said Thursday the Bush administration would use its last year in office to push for approval for three pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Read More
01.09.08U.S. Department of Commerce Announces Second Annual Americas Competitiveness ForumU.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez today announced the Department will convene the second annual Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) on Aug. 17-19, 2008, in Atlanta. The forum will provide an opportunity for governments, the business community, and representatives from academia and non-governmental organizations to discuss actions that can be taken to improve competitiveness and economic prosperity in the Americas. Read More
07.18.07Saying No to Free TradeThe US Congress has postponed discussion of free-trade agreements (FTAs) signed with Peru and Panama for several months, while indicating that it will not consider the accord with Colombia at all at this time. Read More
06.21.07Spain-US Chamber of Commerce to Open in AtlantaThe Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce has announced it will open a chapter in Atlanta to attract Spanish companies to invest in the Southeast. The chamber will initially be located in the offices of Hemisphere Trade Services. Read More
06.13.07Conference helps put Atlanta at global foreAtlanta may have lost out on a proposed headquarters for a Western Hemisphere trade organization, but the two-day Americas Competitiveness Forum that ended Tuesday offered a nice consolation prize Read More
03.14.07Atlanta to host Americas Competitiveness ForumAtlanta's international recognition will get a boost when the first Americas Competitiveness Forum opens in June. More than 500 senior political and business leaders from 34 countries, stretching from the tip of Chile to Canada, will come to Atlanta for two days of workshops. Read More
01.05.07Atlanta Free Trade Leader Moves into New HemisphereInternational businessman Jose Ignacio Gonzaléz was instrumental in the effort to help Atlanta become a key cog in the most expansive trade agreement in history- a deal to unite the economies of 34 democracies from the Bering Strait to the tip of Chile. Read More