| PC(USA) seeks to block free trade agreement with Colombia |
| Written by Ginna Irby and Jerry L. Van Marter |
| Saturday, 18 June 2011 23:24 |
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WASHINGTON (PNS) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders are urging Congress not to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) until labor and human rights conditions in that country improve. Church officials working on the issue say many small-scale farmers in Colombia have been forced off their land by paramilitary and guerilla groups who sell the land for large-scale commercial farming, mining and other extractive industries. They say trade unionists and human rights advocates have also been frequent targets of violence in the country. Opponents of CFTA say it would worsen these situations. They liken that prospect to the results of past free trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which they say have led to increased anti-union violence and economic exploitation of indigenous farmers. During his 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama promised to oppose the CFTA unless the human rights situation in Colombia improved. However, church officials said in mid-June that the Obama administration was expected to submit the agreement to Congress in the coming weeks. Once it hits the floor, Congress will have 90 days to take action on it. Members of the PC(USA) are working to put pressure on the administration. The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship organized a fast in June in collaboration with the Presbyterian Church in Colombia, and the denomination’s Office of Public Witness conducted a call-in campaign urging Obama to hold off on submitting the CFTA to Congress. General Assembly Stated Clerk the Rev. Gradye Parsons has also sent a letter to Obama urging him not to introduce the CFTA to Congress in its present form. PC(USA) General Assemblies have repeatedly affirmed that trade justice and U.S. economic policy toward developing nations are important theological issues for the church. In 2003, the 215th GA extended a call to Presbyterians to “oppose multinational actions and trade agreements that elevate the rights of corporations over the right of governments and indigenous peoples to pass and enforce laws that preserve the public good and protect their citizens, economies, and environments.” In 2008, the 219th Assembly passed a similar resolution, this time specifically addressing the situation in Colombia and Presbyterians’ responsibility to educate themselves and their representatives about the economic injustice and the human rights abuses taking place there. |
