Stop the Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Action: Urge your members of Congress to vote against the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.

Background: The Obama Administration continues to push for the passage of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia that would devastate small farmers and potentially increase violence against labor leaders and minorities. The agreement will soon move to Congress and will likely pass if members are not informed of the deadly consequences of the FTA.

Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist due to poorly enforced labor laws and inadequate standards for workers. Despite promises of reforms, union leaders are assassinated regularly, the land rights of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and small-scale farmers are consistently undermined, and over 5.2 million people have been violently displaced from their homes.

This agreement would encourage more large-scale agricultural, mining and other resource extraction projects that would push many Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities off their ancestral lands and into greater poverty. As for Colombia’s small-scale farmers still living on their lands, experience with similar agreements such as NAFTA has taught us that the unjust agricultural provisions of this trade agreement will make it even harder for these already struggling families to produce enough to survive.

Faith Reflection: The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the flourishing city of Tyre that incurred God’s wrath because people traded in an oppressive and exploitative way: “In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence and you sinned.” (Ezekiel 28:16, NRSV) Isaiah’s prophecy about Tyre, however, looks forward to a time when the city’s considerable wealth will be redistributed: “Her merchandise and her wages will be dedicated to the Lord; her profits will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who live in the presence of the Lord” (Isaiah 23:18, NRSV). Advocating for trade justice can help fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy in our world today.

Action: Urge your members of Congress to vote against the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. 

Alert prepared by Sarah Birkebak, International Affairs Intern