[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4155-H4156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
U.S.-COLOMBIA TRADE PROMOTION AGREEMENT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Weller) for 5 minutes.
Mr. WELLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker and ladies and gentlemen of the
House, I rise to ask what I consider to be pretty fair questions. That
is, if you are in Latin America and you ask anyone in Latin America
which country is America's most reliable ally, they likely would say
the Republic of Colombia. If you ask anyone in Latin America which
political leader in Latin America is America's best partner and most
reliable partner, they would say President Uribe, the democratically
elected President of Colombia. Ladies and gentlemen, if you asked in
Latin America who is the most popular political figure in the entire
hemisphere in his own nation, you would discover it's President Uribe,
the President of Colombia, who has an over 83 percent approval rating.
Why? Because he has made tremendous progress, strengthening what is
Latin America's longest-standing democracy, reducing violence, making
tremendous progress against the three terrorist groups that operate and
that have operated for the last several decades in Colombia--the two
Communist groups of the FARC and the ELM and the right-wing
paramilitaries. He has made tremendous progress.
I would like, Mr. Speaker, to put into the Record two news stories
from the BBC.
I would note the first story I want to put into the Record is the
announcement that President Uribe was sending 14 of Colombia's most
notorious paramilitary drug lords to the United States to face drug
charges.
The second article I would like to put into the Record just ran this
week. It was of a top commander of the FARC, which is the Communist
narcotrafficking terrorist organization which has been fighting the
democratically elected government of Colombia.
In just this past week, one of their top commanders surrendered. Her
name is Nelly Avila Moreno. Her nickname was Karina, and she is one of
the most notorious FARC commanders. She not only surrendered but she
called on other FARC rebels to follow her example and surrender,
basically saying it's over; it's time to call it a day to stop the
civil war, to stop the narcotrafficking and to reach a peace agreement
with the democratically elected Government of Colombia.
The reason I bring this up is, just a few weeks ago, this House, the
Democratic majority, voted to turn its back on President Uribe. It
voted to turn its back on the democratically elected Government of
Colombia, America's most reliable partner. You think about it. We have
no more reliable partner in Latin America when it comes to
counterterrorism, to counternarcotics than the democratically elected
Government of Colombia.
What is interesting is we have a trade agreement, a trade promotion
agreement, that we have reached with Colombia. It is good for the
United States. Right now, Colombian products enter the United States
duty-free, tax-free, but U.S. products exported to Colombia face
tariffs and taxes. Bulldozers made in my district face taxes of up to
12 to 15 percent, making our products less competitive with Asian
products trying to get into the Colombian market as well. In the almost
2 years since this trade agreement was reached, the stalling efforts by
this democratic leadership against Colombia has cost U.S. manufacturers
and farmers $1 billion in higher tariffs and in higher taxes on U.S.
products.
What I point out is this trade agreement wipes out those taxes,
making U.S. manufactured goods, U.S. corn and soybeans more
competitive.
Again, Colombian products enter the United States' market duty-free
today. They don't face those taxes when they come here, but our
products face taxes when they go there. The folks back home whom I
represent, they say, you know, we want an even playing field. We're
happy to trade with anyone as long as we have an even playing field
here. Their products come in duty-free. We want the same opportunity.
President Uribe and the democratically elected Government of Colombia
have agreed to do that. We just need to ratify the agreement, which is
to the advantage of American manufacturers and to American farmers.
Ladies and gentlemen, the reason I mention the prosecution of the
[[Page H4156]]
paramilitaries, the reason I mention the surrender by a top FARC
commander is those who oppose reducing tariffs on U.S.-made products
argue that Colombia just doesn't deserve it. They've not done enough
when it comes to reducing violence and in going after the
narcotraffickers and the terrorists.
Under President Uribe, he has increased the prosecution budget of the
State Attorney General, the State prosecutor for the entire country--a
nation of 42 million people--by 72 percent in the last 2 years. He has
added over 400 new prosecutors.
Ladies and gentlemen, the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement is
a good agreement for Illinois manufacturers, for Illinois farmers, for
U.S. manufacturers, and for U.S. farmers. Let's ratify this agreement.
Let's work with the best partner we have in Latin America.
I urge the Speaker to bring to this floor the U.S.-Colombia Trade
Promotion Agreement. Let's give it an up-or-down vote, and I believe it
will pass with overwhelmingly bipartisan support.
[From the Economist, May 15, 2008]
Free Trade in Thugs: Getting Tougher With Right-Wing Warlords
In a surprise move on May 13th, President Alvaro Uribe
announced the extradition to the United States of 14 of
Colombia's most notorious paramilitary warlords on drug-
trafficking charges. As well as sending a warning to other
right-wing paramilitaries, the aim is to show Democrats in
Washington that Mr. Uribe means what he says about breaking
with paramilitary groups who continue to murder trade
unionists and other left-wingers.
Democratic congressional leaders and their trade-union
allies have cited those murders as a reason for their refusal
to approve a free-trade agreement with Colombia. Mr. Uribe
may also be hoping to boost his already soaring approval
ratings to strengthen his hand in an eventual bid for an
unprecedented third term as president. More than two terms in
a row are currently banned by the constitution, so this would
require approval by Congress.
Mr. Uribe's move could backfire. Human-rights groups fear
that it will rob the victims of the compensation that they
are entitled to from their tormentors, and could also remove
the evidence needed for a successful investigation into why
Colombia's paramilitaries and their political accomplices
have hitherto enjoyed impunity. More than 60 congressmen,
most allies of Mr. Uribe, are either already in prison or
under investigation in Colombia for alleged links to
paramilitaries. Last month, Mario Uribe, the president's
cousin and close political ally, was arrested.
``The good news is that these paramilitary bosses could now
face serious jail time,'' said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas
director of Human Rights Watch, a lobbying group. (In the
United States, cocaine dealers can get 30 years or more.)
``The bad news is they may no longer have any reason to
collaborate with Colombian prosecutors investigating their
atrocities . . . Just as local prosecutors were beginning to
unravel the web of paramilitary ties to prominent
politicians, the government has shipped the men with the most
information out of the country,'' he lamented.
In fact, the United States has agreed to allow Colombian
prosecutors continued access to the extradited men. They have
also apparently agreed to transfer to Colombia any seized
assets or fines imposed on the warlords to compensate more
than 100,000 victims who have come forward. Created in the
1980s by wealthy ranchers to protect themselves from attacks
by the left-wing FARC guerrillas, the paramilitaries
developed into armed gangs, accused of many thousands of
killings as well as drug-trafficking and money-laundering.
Explaining his decision in a televised address on May 13th,
Mr. Uribe said the extradited men had violated the conditions
of a 2003 pact with the government under which they agreed to
surrender to the authorities in exchange for relatively light
prison sentences--a maximum of eight years--and protection
against extradition. In return, they had promised to confess
to their crimes, cease all illegal activities and use their
drug money to compensate the victims of their appalling
crimes. But the 14 warlords had continued to run their
criminal networks from prison and had failed to pay
reparations, Mr. Uribe said.
If the move was made with one eye on Washington, its timing
appears to have been determined by a legal wrangle. Groups
representing victims have been fighting to halt the
extraditions. This appears to have prompted Mr. Uribe's
decision to send the paramilitaries to the United States.
Colombia's Supreme Court had recently supported these groups,
ruling that extraditions of paramilitary bosses should be
carried out only after they had confessed to their crimes and
paid reparations. But this was overturned by a judicial
council last week. Within hours, the first paramilitary
leader to be extradited, Carlos Mario Jimenez, alias
``Macaco'', was on a plane bound for the United States, a
journey made a week later by his 14 colleagues. More may
follow.
____
[From BBC News]
FARC Captive Calls for Surrender
A top commander of the FARC rebels in Colombia has urged
other rebels to follow her example and surrender.
Nelly Avila Moreno, known as Karina, handed herself in to
soldiers over the weekend in the latest blow to FARC.
She said FARC was falling apart under pressure from the
military and growing desertions. Several key leaders have
been killed in recent months.
Karina has been blamed for a string of murders and
abductions in the north-western Antioquia region.
Her surrender is a coup for President Alvaro Uribe, who
made her a priority target for the security forces in 2002,
the BBC's Jeremy McDermott says.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has
been fighting to overthrow the government for more than 40
years.
not bloodthirsty
``To my comrades: Change this life that your are leading in
the guerrilla group and re-enter society with the
government's reinsertion plan,'' she said at a news
conference called by the army in Medellin.
Her unit had been whittled down to fewer than 50 fighters--
down from several hundred--when she surrendered.
Karina said she had been out of contact with FARC's seven-
member ruling secretariat for two years.
``The decision [to surrender] was made because of the
pressure by the army in the area,'' she said.
She said she was shaken by the killing of secretariat
member Ivan Rios by one of his bodyguards in March.
The bodyguard had cut off Rios's hand and turned it in with
his laptop computer in return for a reward.
The government has offered bounties for top rebel
commanders. Karina's was $1m (K512,000). Two weeks ago,
President Uribe appealed to her to surrender.
She contacted the army who sent a helicopter to pick up her
and another guerrilla, known as Michin.
She denied involvement in the 1983 murder of President
Uribe's father and said she was not the ``bloodthirsty''
woman the authorities described her as.
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