Pelosi Makes a Move on Colombia "Free Trade"

This morning I received the following email alert from “The Hill”:

Pelosi to prevent Colombia vote

By Alexander Bolton
Posted: 04/09/08 11:56 AM [ET]


”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that Democrats will use House rules to prevent a vote on the controversial Colombia free trade agreement.
Pelosi said Democrats decided in a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday morning to vote on a rule this week to postpone consideration of the controversial trade deal…”

Of course, having read a few things in the past:

The Colombia Journal

”…Colombia has long been the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists with almost 4,000 murdered in the past 15 years. Last year saw 128 labor leaders assassinated. Most of the killings have been attributed to right-wing paramilitaries belonging to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), who view union organizers as subversives and, therefore, "legitimate" targets in their dirty war against Colombia's guerrilla insurgents. Three out of every five trade unionists killed in the world are Colombian. The most recent killing of a union leader at one of Coca-Cola's Colombian bottling plants was June 21 when Oscar Dario Soto Polo was gunned down….”

Media Study

” This past July, the Colombian National Union of Food Industry Workers, with the aid of the US United Steelworkers Union and the International Labor Rights Fund, filed a lawsuit against Coca Cola alleging that the Company’s Colombian bottling operation maintains open relations with death squads accused of murdering union organizers at Coke’s Colombian plants. Five organizers working at the Colombian plants have been brutally killed since 1994. Oscar Polo was the most recent victim, shot to death as he was walking with his youngest daughter this past June. This spate of killings follows the murder of three Coca Cola union organizers in Guatemala a decade earlier. Coca Cola denies any wrongdoing, imploring the Nike defense, arguing that their bottlers are independent contractors. Coke, however, is a partial owner of the Colombian operation, and by contract retains “strong oversight” over affiliates bottling its brands…”

Washington Post

” SANTA MARTA, Colombia -- Zully Codina was a mother, veteran hospital worker and union activist. The last role was the one that cost Codina her life at the hands of paramilitary death squads, whose records show they collaborated with the country's intelligence service to liquidate her and other union activists.

Codina was killed on Nov. 11, 2003, when a gunman pumped three bullets into her head moments after she kissed her family goodbye and walked out of her Santa Marta home. Her murder remains unsolved, as do those of the vast majority of the 400 union members killed since President Álvaro Uribe took office in 2002…”

I thought this might be a pretty good move on the Speaker’s part. However, on these matters I have come to know that there is usually more than meets the eye. So, as usual, I turn to David Sirota – probably the most knowledgeable authority on these matters.

Pelosi's Trade Move: The Good, the Bad and the Potentially Ugly

”This is good news, bad news and potentially ugly news.
The good news: Finally, a Democratic leader is trying to use some modicum of legislative power to halt our economically destructive and wildly unpopular trade policies. It's a start.

The bad news: Pelosi has yet to say she will work to kill the pact outright. In fact, she issued a press release earlier this week merely worrying that Bush's tactics jeopardize the final passage of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Meanwhile, other top Democrats like Jim Clyburn have gone on record saying they want this deal to pass (Clyburn has since amended his statement - but sometimes the truth is in the first reaction).

The potentially ugly news: Is Pelosi throwing America's fair trade majority a meaningless bone that ends up helping lobbyists pass this deal?

… While it certainly is good in the short-term that Congress is postponing passage of the Colombia deal, if Democrats are ultimately aiming to pass it anyway, then the delay may actually be a bad thing, in that it would serve to give K Street lobbyists more time to pressure Congress to pass it…””… In fact, Pelosi's press release this morning seems to suggest she still wants this bill to pass:
"I thought there was a risk, the President sending it to the Congress now. If brought to the floor immediately, it would lose. And what message would that send?"”

What message indeed? I wonder how many Boeing jets this deal represents……Stay tuned.

[UPDATE: 04/10/08 7:30am]

David Postman tells us that Washington State's Republican delegation to Congress - led by former Sherrif and soon to be former 8th CD Congressman, Dave Reichert - have sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi urging a quick vote on the Colombia "Free Trade" Agreement:

"A letter to Pelosi was circulated among the delegation by Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, just back from a weekend trip to Colombia. Republicans Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Doc Hastings signed the letter that says:


"Free trade is critical to our state’s economy and workers. We represent the most trade-dependent state in the nation. … Delaying free trade agreements signals to our allies that America is closed for trade, and encourages our rivals to exploit new markets. This is unequivocally the wrong message to send in this time of economic uncertainty...""

Maybe Sherrif Reichert could have made better use of his time in Colombia by using his law enforcement training to help the Colombian government solve some of the countless murders of union organizers in that country.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue