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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Congress' shift on trade | |
| 2007-09-11 | |
Wow! All of a sudden, it looks like the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress will approve pending free-trade agreements with Peru, Panama and -- who knows -- perhaps even Colombia. If you ask me, Venezuela's narcissist-Leninist leader Hugo Chávez deserves the biggest credit for the congressional U-turn. Judging from what I heard in a telephone interview with powerful House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and an e-mail from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday evening, growing numbers of Democrats who opposed these treaties are now ready to vote for the ones with Peru and Panama. Democrats say both countries have agreed to include in their respective trade deals stronger labor and environmental standards that the Democrats were demanding. The Senate Finance Committee is to begin hearings on the Peru treaty on Tuesday. ''We anticipate progress on the Peru and Panama free-trade agreements this fall,'' Pelosi said. She was less enthusiastic about Colombia: ``In light of the brutal violence against unionists in Colombia, the free-trade agreement with Colombia has dim prospects in Congress until we see measurable and sustained progress.'' | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 What morons. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-09-11 20:55 |
| #1 Good idea if this is coupled with a shift of trade away from those who wish us harm. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-09-11 20:45 |