The Peru and Colombia FTAs are unfortunately the same failed model of NAFTA that has pushed down wages in Mexico, the US, and Canada, and caused a massive crisis in rural Mexico, resulting in a huge surge in immigration from that country.
Ten Reasons to Oppose the Andean Free Trade Agreements
* More NAFTA expansion will be bad for our economy. With the highest U.S. trade deficit ever, we can't afford any more NAFTA-like trade deals. If Congress approves PUFTA or a broader Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), more U.S. factories will move overseas, the wages of jobs staying here will continue to be pushed down and more family farmers will go bankrupt. More information on AFTA and labor issues.
*PUFTA and the US-Colombia FTA will increase imports of US produced agribusiness food into Peru and Colombia, undermining small family farmers there. This is in direct contradiction to efforts to promote alternative food crops in an area that is the largest producer of illicit drugs into the US. Most studies show that the agreement will result in greater production of illegal drugs destined for the US. Click here for more info on agriculture.
* Much like CAFTA, the Peru and Colombia FTAs will extend patents on life-saving drugs and make generics inaccessibleto tens of thousands of people who rely on them to survive HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. Click here for more information on access to medicines.
* The Peru FTA (PUFTA) endangers the lungs of the planet. The upper Amazon basin in Peru is among the most bio-diverse areas on earth. The "investment" rules in PUFTA could allow foreign investors to insist that they are allowed to pillage the Amazon for timber, mineral and energy resources. More information on the environment is available here.
*In Colombia, over 2,000 trade unionists have been murdered in the last 10 years and labor abuses are commonplace. The US State Department found rampant use of child labor in Peru. Yet Bush administration rejected the inclusion of real, enforceable workers' rights protections in the agreements.
During the negotiations towards the Free Trade Agreements with Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, many civil society organizations have expressed their concerns regarding a wide variety of labor, environmental, health, family farm, and other concerns -- particularly by Indigenous groups. Demonstrations against the agreements have been often violently repressed.
Here are a few of the key statements from groups in the US as well as the Andean region. For more background information, check out the Citizen's Trade Campaign resource guide.
Reject New Trade Agreements With Peru and Colombia League of United Latin American Citizens, May 21, 2006.
US/LEAP Presentation on Violence Against Workers in Colombia, July, 2006
League of United Latin American Citizens Resolution Opposing the Peru and Colombia FTAs, July, 2006
US Unions Letter to Congress Opposing AFTA, June, 2006
Ecuadorian Health Sector Letter against AFTA, March, 2006
AFL-CIO Letter against Peru, Colombia, and Oman FTAs, March, 2006
Major Environmental Groups' Letter on AFTA Environmental Issues, March, 2006
Teamsters Statement against AFTA, March, 2006
Public Citizen Statement on AFTA Negotiations, October 2005
Human Rights Watch Letter on AFTA Labor Issues, September 2005
Andean Bishops Statement against AFTA, February 2005
Alliance for Responsible Trade Letter on AFTA, September 2004
US civil society letter to Andean Parliaments on Investment Chapter of AFTA, September 2004
Development GAP analysis on AFTA's Threat to Development, July 2004
Andean Civil Society Statement against AFTA, June 2004
Medicines Sans Frontiers Statement on Access to Medicines in AFTA, May 2004
Letters from US Congressmembers:
Members of US Congress Letter to USTR Regarding Colombian Labor Violence, January 2005
Members of US Congress Letter to USTR about Access to Generic Drugs Threatened by AFTA, September 2004