Reuters reports that President Obama would like to meet with Colombia’s President Uribe at the Summit of the Americas to discuss the stalled trade pact. (Via the Corner.) I wonder what he would say. All the agreement does is open Colombian markets to U.S. goods, and preserve Colombia’s access to U.S. markets. What could Uribe possibly concede to get Democrats to approve the pact when all its benefits accrue to the U.S. already? Democrats are opposing it for no reason.
ASIDE: Reuters suggests that Democrats want Colombia to harder to protect trade unionists from violence stemming from the civil war. That’s a strange requirement to place on a trade pact, particularly a one-sided one. “You can’t open your markets to our exports unless you comply with our demands!” But anyway, the best way to protect people from the civil war is to win it, and that’s what Uribe is doing.
Keeping all that in mind, read the article’s conclusion:
The U.S. failure to approve the pact is seen in Latin America as a sign of Washington’s indifference to one of its staunchest allies in the region.
I wonder if the Democrats see it that way. Judging by their actions, it seems that Democrats see Colombia as an ally to Republicans, not to America as a whole.
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