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Position Paper: Opposing FTA in Solidarity with Afro-Colombians

(A. Philip Randolph Institute)

The damage caused by North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) type trade deals to U.S. workers is well documented; and these failed trade deals have hurt the Mexican economy and in the dismantling of the social safety net.

While President Bush seeks to pass another Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Columbia, a  country experiencing a massive human rights crisis given over forty years of internal conflict; there are now currently more murders of union leaders in this country than there are in the rest of the world combined.

The United Nations (UN) reports that Colombia’s population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) recently surpassed  the Sudan’s, a country undergoing genocide, to make over 26% of the population, but who must additionally struggle against the legacies of racism and government neglect for their well-being.

The Afro-Colombian Civil Rights movement has overcome immeasurable obstacles to achieve not only full recognition of their political and social rights but also economic reparations in the form of collective control of ancestral territories and resources, among the most significant victories in the entire African Diaspora.

But, Afro-Colombian’s rights have nevertheless been ignored when they oppose large oil, gas, mining, palm oil, logging, or other companies which impose mega-projects that exploit community resources without benefiting the Afro-Colombian’s rights themselves.  The same violent groups that large companies use to target union leaders are also employed by companies pushing these mega-projects to silence the Afro-Colombian community activists and their families who oppose them. These same armed groups are known to even murder in order to displace communities and to steal hard-won territories.

Afro-Colombian communities oppose the Colombia FTA, in part, because of investor rights provisions that limit their hard-earned rights, making it harder to retain stolen land, further incentive for violent displacement paving the way for mega-projects.  In spite of this reality, we have now learned that efforts are underway to portray the FTA as beneficial to Afro-Columbian rights, over the protests of the communities themselves, and to sell this angle especially to the Congressional Black, Asian and Hispanic Caucuses.

Therefore, the A. Philip Randolph Institute opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on behalf of the U.S. Workers and Afro-Colo9mbians alike.  And, the A. Philip Randolph Institute calls on federal elected officials to publicly oppose the Columbian FTA on the same grounds, and further work to ensure diffusion of accurate information regarding the reality confronting Afro-Colombians.