IWG Colombia Comment USTR 2009 final - with signatures

¤ A WASHINGTON-BASED WORKING GROUP WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM A RANGE OF FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTED TO ASSERTING A STRONGER PRESENCE OF COMMUNITIES OF FAITH IN PUBLIC POLICY DISCUSSIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT ¤ 1225 Otis Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017 • Tel: 202.635.2757 x 134 • Fax: 202.832.9494 • Email: iwg@coc.org RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSE U.S.-COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT September 15, 2009 Dear Ambassador Kirk: As representatives of religious institutions and faith-based organizations with extensive global relationships and concern, we oppose the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). While much concern is focused on labor issues at this time, we draw attention to the religious community’s concerns about the Agreement’s impact on poverty, public health and human rights. International trade and investment activities should advance the common good and be evaluated in light of their impact on populations who are most vulnerable, especially Afro-Colombian, Indigenous and women and children. The U.S.-Colombia FTA fails these tests. In the debates over the FTAs with Peru, Colombia and Panama, some have stressed the importance of ratifying the agreements so as to not drive Latin American countries toward other powers in the region. But this warning shows a dangerously mistaken idea about why so many Latin American countries have ...