Colombia Convicts Few Killers of Murdered Union Members

Colombia Convicts Few Killers of Murdered Union Members

by James Parks, Oct 5, 2007, http://blog.aflcio.org

A Colombian worker in Bogata protests the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

UPDATE: The United Steelworkers (USW) shared with us today a letter USW President Leo Gerard sent to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe urging "all actions necessary" to protect the lives of the members of one of the country's major trade unions, its leaders and their families. Gerard expressed grave concern for the lives of several members of the SINAL TRAINAL union in Colombia after they received threats written by a paramilitary group, who said they would "bury the union members and their families in a mass grave on Christmas Day if they do not cease their union activities and leave the area."

We reported that working families and members of Congress have made it clear there will be no free trade agreement with Colombia until that country makes significant progress toward ending violence against trade unionists. Colombia also must honor internationally recognized human and workers' rights and prosecute high-ranking officials who are connected with murderous paramilitary groups, they say.

Now comes a report that demonstrates just how little the government of President Alvaro Uribe is doing to bring to justice those committing the murders. An analysis by the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP) shows convictions in only three trade union murder cases in the first half of 2007. Of the 236 murders of union members that occurred between 2004 and 2006, the government has secured convictions in only five cases. Nearly 400 trade unionists have been murdered since Uribe's inauguration in August 2002. To read the entire report, click here.

The analysis is based on information provided by the Colombian government. USLEAP Executive Director Stephen Coats says:

The Uribe administration's failure to rectify the situation of impunity is symptomatic of a profound disrespect for trade union rights in Colombia. It would be an embarrassment to even consider a vote on a free trade agreement with a country with such unparalleled levels of violence against workers and impunity for the killers.

Last week, the International Trade Union Confederation  (ITUC), in its annual report on violence against union members, reported that Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a union member, with 78 killings. Of the 1,165 documented murders of Colombian trade union members between 1994 and 2006, only 56 perpetrators have been brought to trial, and just 14 have been sentenced. Click here to read the full ITUC report.

After meeting with Uribe in May, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said he delivered the message that the federation is strongly opposed to a trade agreement at this time.

Colombia's atrocious human rights record sets it apart from the rest of the world. There is no labor language that could be inserted into the U.S.-Colombia FTA that could adequately address the extraordinary—and unpunished—violence confronting trade unionists in that country.

No labor chapter, no matter how well crafted, will be sufficient to reduce, much less end, the incidence of the most extreme and deadly violations of the right to free association and collective bargaining. And no trade agreement with Colombia should be considered until the country meets an established set of human rights benchmarks.

According to the AFL-CIO statement, those benchmarks for Colombia should include:

• Severing all ties with paramilitary organizations and international criminal networks.
• Making significant advances in investigating and prosecuting crimes against trade unionists.
• Providing protection for unions and trade unionists.
• Bringing Colombia's labor laws into conformity with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards.
• Supporting the ILO office in Colombia to monitor labor rights compliance and investigate key cases of assassinations of trade unionists.

Bush & Co. Desperate to Portray Colombian Murders in Good Light

Bush & Co. Desperate to Portray Colombian Murders in Good Light
by Tula Connell, Oct 4, 2007

http://blog.aflcio.org/

More propaganda from the Bush administration (yeah, what's new?).

Still, the shamelessness of this latest out of the noise machine is stunning. In a letter to several members of Congress, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez challenges their assessment of Colombia's paramilitary brutality against union leaders and workers. This sudden interest in workers' lives in Colombia is part of Bush's attempt to pass the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. According to today's Daily Labor Report (subscription required):

    In an Oct. 2 letter, Gutierrez said during his visit to Colombia last month, he and the members of Congress who accompanied him on the trip had found that the Colombian government is pursuing those who commit violence against trade unionists "comprehensively, aggressively, and successfully."
"There is no question that Colombia is on the path of positive change," Gutierrez wrote. "The issue is how best the United States can encourage and accelerate that change. The administration firmly believes that the answer is economic growth, continued social progress, and a closer relationship with the United States as embodied in the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. Refusing to pass the agreement will do nothing to help Colombia reduce violence, either against trade unionists or against the general population."

Guess Gutierrez was so busy writing that letter, he didn't catch the recent International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) report on murder and abuse of unions and workers. Or the recent U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP) report that demonstrates just how little the government of President Alvaro Uribe is doing to bring to justice those who are committing the murders. As we noted last week, the ITUC's Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights found in 2006,

 

 

    Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a union member, with 78 killings. Of the 1,165 documented murders of Colombian trade union members between 1994 and 2006, only 56 perpetrators have been brought to trial, and just 14 have been sentenced.

 
The USLEAP analysis shows convictions in only three trade union murder cases in the first half of 2007. Of the 236 murders of union members that occurred between 2004 and 2006, the government has secured convictions in only five cases. Nearly 400 trade unionists have been murdered since Uribe's inauguration in August 2002.

 
The continued violence in Colombia is one of the key reasons working people and members of Congress are determined to stop the proposed U.S. trade agreement with that country. Over the past 20 years, 4,000 trade unionists have been murdered and legal and political and administrative state procedures act as trip wires to impede union organizing and offer little or no support or legal recourse in labor disputes, according to an AFL-CIO Solidarity Center report on the struggle for workers' rights in Colombia.

 
But let's face it. If the Bush administration can reject overwhelming public support of a plan to give more U.S. children access to health care, as President Bush did this week in vetoing the renewal bill for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), what's a few hundred murdered trade unionists in another country? The Daily Labor Report goes on:

 

    Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John K. Veroneau, however, who spoke to reporters Oct. 2, said the administration, as part of its strategy to win congressional approval of the FTA, is considering bringing a delegation of union leaders from Colombia to Washington, D.C., to discuss the issue with members of Congress. He said the delegation would comprise union leaders who support the agreement, while conceding that some mainly public-sector unions oppose the pact.

SECUESTRADO Y TORTURADO HIJO DE TRABAJADOR DE COCA COLA

El día 27 de Septiembre de 2007, aproxidamente a las 4:00 P.M. cuando ANDRES DAMIAN FLOREZ RODRIGUEZ, hijo del Trabajador de la embotelladora de Coca Cola y dirigente de SINALTRAINAL JOSE DOMINGO FLOREZ, venía de regreso del colegio para su casa de habitación ubicada en la Cra 38ª No 204-102 del barrio los ANDES de Floridablanca Santander, fue abordado por tres individuos quienes se movilizaban en una camioneta negra, portando armas, radio de comunicaciónes y pasamontañas, procedieron a subirlo por la fuerza y lo arrojaron al piso del carro, lo golpearon y durante el recorrido uno de los sujetos llamo por el radio y dijo " ya tenemos ese HP, que hacemos con el", al otro lado por el radio le respondieron, "denle un paseo, casquenlo y dejenle el mensaje", el sujeto que hablo por el radio dijo "digale a su papá que no descansaremos hasta verlos descuartizados", luego lo arrojaron del carro en el sitio el Palenque vía a Lebrija, al frente de unos talleres de mécanica que hay despues del puente del intercambiador.

Este nuevo hecho contra trabajadores de Coca Cola afiliados en SINALTRAINAL y sus familiares, se produce despúes de las amenzas de muerte recibidas en las fechas 10 de Febrero, 26 de Julio, 9 de Agosto, 13 de Agosto, 20 y 25 de Septiembre de 2007

Es de resaltar que el día 24 de septiembre de 2007,comunicamos a la empresa Coca cola que SINALTRAINAL retoma la campaña mundial de denuncia y hemos venido denunciando las empresas transnacionales por su política violadora de los Derechos Humanos y no cedemos ante las amenzas y la represión antisindical que se ha venido ejecutando contra los afiliados en SINALTRAINAL.

Exigimos de la empresa Coca Cola y del Estado colombiano cese la represión contra los trabajadores, se investigue a los responsables materiales e intelectuales de estos hechos, se garantice el derecho a la vida, de asociación y libertad sindical.


Anteriormente a este hecho:

PARAMILITARES DENOMINADOS AGUILAS NEGRAS AMENAZAN TRABAJADORES DE COCA COLA, DIRIGENTES DE SINALTRAINAL.

El 25 de Septiembre de 2007, siendo aproximadamente las 12:30 M., Domingo Flores, Nelson Perez y Luis Eduardo Garcia, después de haber salido del Foro convocado por ASTDEMP con los candidatos a la Alcaldía de la ciudad de Bucaramanga y Gobernación de Santander, abrieron la puerta de ingreso a la oficina de SINALTRAINAL Seccional Bucaramanga ubicada en el segundo piso de la Calle 42 No 14 – 09 y encontraron un sobre de manila y al abrirlo encontraron el siguiente comunicado:

"A.U.C
F-A-N-
TODA ORDEN SE CUMPLE-
COMUNISTAS GUERRILLEROS FACHADAS DE SINDICALISTAS- JAVIER CORREA- LUIS GARCIA EL ALIAS- CALLEN EL DISCURSO IDEOLOGICO GUERRILLERO- SE VAN DEL DEPARTAMENTO- DE LO CONTRARIO NOS VEREMOS OBLIGADOS A CUMPLIR EL OBJETIVO MILITAR Y LE ENTREGAMOS EN NAVIDAD A SUS FAMILIAS LOS CADÁVERES EN UNA FOSA COMUN- LA FISCALIA NO LES SALVA LA VIDA- ESTE ES EL ULTIMO AVISO CUMPLIREMOS- NO SUMEN MAS MUERTOS- TERRORISTAS DE LAS MULTINACIONALES- LAS AGUILAS NEGRAS TENEMOS GANAS DE SANGRE TERCA- SU FILOSOFIA EN DEFENSA DEL DESPROTEGIDO ES UNA META IMPOSIBLE NADIE CREE Y HACE DAÑO. SABEMOS LOS MOVIMIENTOS DE SUS FAMILIAS- LOS QUEREMOS A USTEDES SIN DERRAMAR SANGRE- LOS DESMOVILIZADOS ORGANIZADOS HACEMOS LIMPIEZA SOCIAL- HIJUEPUTAS COMUNISTAS- SERAN DESCUARTIZADOS-

FELIZ NAVIDAD - AGUILAS NEGRAS

Los días 10 de Febrero, 26 de Julio y 20 de Septiembre de 2007, fueron encontrados otros comunicados amenazando de muerte a los dirigentes de SINALTRAINAL NELSON PEREZ, LUIS EDUARDO GARCIA, DOMINGO FLORES y JAVIER CORREA.

Esta nueva amenaza de muerte se produce al día siguiente en que estuvimos en la Audiencia Pública en la ciudad de Bogotá, en el Centro de Servicios Administrativos Especializados de Descongestión de Organización Internacional del Trabajo ¨OIT ¨, convocados por el Juzgado Penal del Circuto de Valledupar, donde LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ y otros afiliados de SINALTRAINAL y familiares, somos testigos en el proceso que se sigue contra los paramilitares responsables materiales del asesinato del conmpañero Luciano Romero.

Llama mucho la atención que en días pasados denunciamos ante las autoridades competentes una llamada telefónica que un "supuesto paramilitar" realizó a la empresa Coca Cola, solicitando la presencia de un representante de la empresa para que se entrevistara con un ¨ex empleado de la compañía, ex directivo sindical que se encuentra en prisión ¨, para hacer un acuerdo para informar sobre presuntos actos ilícitos en los que habrían participado algunos miembros del sindicato.

Pensamos que estas amenazas son una forma de crear terror, estigmatizar y posiblemente tratar de justificar judicializar a integrantes de SINALTRAINAL por no haber cedido ante el chantaje que desde la cárcel ha mantenido el paramilitar Saúl Rincón y la política de las empresas como Coca cola, Nestle, entre otras y el Estado Colombiano, contra quienes hemos venido protestando por las violaciones cometidas contra los derechos de los trabajadores

Exigimos al Gobienro de Colombia, investigar estos hechos, castigar a los responsables materiales e intelectuales, proteger la vida de los afiliados a SINALTRAINAL y la de nuestras familias y garantizarnos el Derecho de Asociación y Libertad Sindical.

Enviar notas de protesta a Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 No..7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santa fe de Bogotá, Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71, E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co y a la transnacional Coca Cola.

Atentamente,

LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
Presidente

Llamado a la solidaridad internacional para que cese la persecución estatal contra la ACVC (Asociación Campesina del Valle del río Cimitarra)

Martes 2 de octubre de 2007.

Hacemos un llamado a la solidaridad nacional e internacional para que cese la persecución estatal contra la Asociación Campesina del Valle del río Cimitarra (ACVC), organización que desarrolla un trabajo comunitario, político y social en el sector rural de los municipios de Yondó, Remedios y Segovia, en Antioquia, así como de Cantagallo, San Pablo, Simití y Santa Rosa del Sur, en Bolívar. También cuenta con una oficina regional en la ciudad de Barrancabermeja, en el Magdalena Medio colombiano.

La ACVC integra los propósitos de la comunidad a través de 120 juntas de acción comunal veredales; cooperativas; comités pesqueros y mineros; colectivos de mujeres y jóvenes, junto a otras agrupaciones de trabajadores campesinos, en el marco de la defensa integral de los derechos humanos y del territorio, así como de la implementación de proyectos productivos de soberanía alimentaria, de la sustitución de cultivos de coca, y de la capacitación y fomento a los procesos organizativos campesinos.

Andrés Gil, coordinador de la oficina de la ACVC en Barrancabermeja; Mario Martínez, tesorero de la ACVC; Óscar Duque, integrante del equipo de trabajo de la seccional de la parte media de la ACVC; y Evaristo Mena, integrante de la ACVC como miembro de la junta de acción comunal de la vereda La Poza, municipio de Cantagallo - todos ellos reconocidos líderes comunitarios por más de dos décadas en la región del Magdalena Medio - fueron detenidos por agentes del DAS el sábado 29 de septiembre y actualmente se encuentran recluidos en Bucaramanga (Santander). Hoy martes 2 de octubre se les llevará a indagatoria.
 
Estas detenciones hacen parte de un nuevo proceso judicial en contra de la Asociación Campesina. Proceso que ha implicado el allanamiento del apartamento y la oficina regional de la ACVC en Barrancabermeja, en el cual fueron sustraídas tres CPU con once años de documentación de los proyectos de la asociación, así como contabilidad, material documental y fotografías, entre otros archivos. Este tipo de acciones conforman una nueva ofensiva estatal para desarticular el proceso organizativo del campesinado del Magdalena Medio y disgregar las iniciativas de desarrollo comunitario, al igual que la defensa de los derechos humanos en la región del valle del río Cimitarra.
Esta arremetida no es nueva. Hace parte de una serie de presiones del Estado colombiano contra la ACVC que han tenido lugar desde hace varios años y que se han manifestado en hechos tales como el incumplimiento del gobierno a los acuerdos firmados durante el éxodo campesino del Magdalena Medio en 1998 y la indolencia del gobierno colombiano para aplicar las medidas cautelares solicitadas por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, con el fin de proteger a los miembros de la ACVC.
Asimismo cabe recordar el congelamiento de la figura jurídica que constituyó la Zona de Reserva Campesina del Valle del río Cimitarra - territorio de propiedad colectiva contemplada en la ley 160 de 1994 (o ley de reforma agraria) equivalente a los resguardos indígenas y a los territorios colectivos de las comunidades afrocolombianas – en el año 2003. Dicha figura busca tanto eliminar como prevenir la concentración y el acaparamiento de la propiedad de la tierra, al igual que facilitar procesos de redistribución y prevenir el fraccionamiento antieconómico de la misma. Además, regula la ocupación de tierras baldías, dando preferencia a los campesinos de escasos recursos. Por estas razones, se constituye como una molestia para la ejecución de los proyectos extractivos recién acordados con la AngloGold Ashanti Mines y con los inversionistas del monocultivo agroindustrial de la palma aceitera.

Esto sin contar que el accionar del ejército en la región ha estado dirigido contra la población civil, a través de acciones como: asesinato de campesinos, detenciones arbitrarias, uso de informantes, alianzas con paramilitares, hurtos, torturas y otras graves violaciones a los derechos humanos.

Reiteramos nuestro llamado solidario para convocar e invitar a todos nuestros amigos, compañeros y contrapartes – tanto en Colombia como en el resto del mundo - a sacar adelante las siguientes iniciativas:
 
Adelantar una audiencia en el Congreso colombiano sobre la situación de derechos humanos en la Zona de Reserva Campesina del Valle del río Cimitarra.
 
Realizar actividades de denuncia, acompañamiento y búsqueda de respaldo político a la ACVC en Canadá, Estados Unidos, Europa y América Latina.
 
Solicitar una audiencia en el seno de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la OEA para revisar el caso de persecución contra la ACVC.
 
Convocar a una reunión en el seno del Parlamento Europeo y la Comisión Europea para exponer las violaciones y la persecución contra la ACVC.
 
Exponer y radicar casos de asesinatos, violaciones y persecución contra la ACVC ante la OIT, la Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura, la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la ONU y la Corte Penal Internacional.

Una vez más debemos decir que la libertad, la integridad y la vida de los miembros de la ACVC es responsabilidad única de las instituciones y funcionarios que, en representación del estado, debieran garantizar los derechos del campesinado, en lugar de fomentar su persecución.

Llamado a los Militantes, simpatizantes y Amigos del PDA.

1. Esperamos que todos hagan sus llamadas a
los senadores de NY, a Rangel y al congresista de su
distrito...enfaticen que deben rechazar el TLC de
Peru-E.U. que les exigimos que voten NO AL TLC.

2. LLamamos a todos los compañeros a adelantar la
recolección de firmas del referendo por la restitución
de recursos para la educación, la salud y el agua y
contra el TLC que continuará este sábado 6 de Octubre
en la calle 82 y 37 avenida. Punto de encuentro:

panaderia colombiana,10AM, estaremos hasta las 2PM.

Necesitamos el máximo de personas para lograr las 500
firmas mínimas del PDA-NY. Estamos atrasados. Y asi
Contribuir con los 3 millones de firmas del PDA en
Colombia y sus aliados el P. Liberal, la CUT, FECODE
y las organizaciones del agua y ambientalistas.
No podemos ser inferiores a las exigencias del pueblo
y nuestra batalla por ganarnos el corazón de los
colombianos de la gran manzana, abrirle paso al Polo
y prepararnos a ganar las elecciones del 2010.

- Las medidas como la ley de transferencias del uribismo
no pasaran impunes!
- SI AL REFERENDO!! NO al TLC!
- Si se puede!! Venceremos

 

Te esperamos! !

Carlos S.

Invitación a los militantes, simpatizantes y amigos del PDA-NY.NJ.CT.

Invitamos a todos nuestros compañeros a participar en
la siguiente campaña:

El Polo ha aceptado la propuesta de NYPeople's Referendum 

para realizar una campaña telefónica el día Miércoles 3 de Octubre.

Se le harán llamadas a:

* El congresista de su distrito.

* Los Senadores de NY Schumer y Clinton.
* Charles Rangel.

 

Por favor den su nombre y la dirección de su casa.
Planteele a su congresista y a los dos senadores que están
en desacuerdo con el TLC de los Estados Unidos con
Peru. Pidale, por lo tanto, que VOTE NO A ESE TRATADO.

Las razones para oponerse son las mismas que tienen el pueblo

de Colombia y los trabajadores norteamericanos, además hay un

documento informativo publicado en este mismo blog como

"Open Letter to the United States Congress" allía se indica las

razones exactas para oponerse al tratado.

Su llamada es valiosa y estas pequeñas tareas son de gran valor

vistas desde una perspectiva amplia. Invite a sus amigos, familiares

 y compañeros de trabajo a que llamen.

 

Haga las llamadas, es muy sencillo……animese!

Llame cuando este caminando o a la hora del almuerzo.

Llamar es la tarea del momento.

Teléfonos de las oficinas de los congresistas en Washington

 

Charles Schumer 202-224-6542

Hillary Clinton 202-224-4451

Charles Rangel 202-225-4365

Joseph Crowley 202-225-3965

Anthony Weiner 202-225-6616

Yvette Clark 202-225-6231

Nydia Velazquez 202-225-2361

Carolyn Maloney 202-225-7944

Gary Ackerman 202-225-2601

Jerrold Nadler 202-225-5635

Recuerden que en el combate contra el TLC entre Colombia y los Estados
Unidos es urgente participar decididamente en la campaña del NO al
TLC del Perú. Desde septiembre del 2006 el PDA viene trabajando en

contra de los TLC de Colombia, Perú, Panamá y Corea. Los democrátas han
votado NO al TLC de Centroamerica y ahora que son mayoría
y líderes en ambas cámaras han cambiao su posició y han llegado
a acuerdos con Bush y su partido.

 

Hagase oir!! Hagamonos oir!!

NO AL TLC DEL PERU! 
La solidaridad hermana a los pueblos y nos ace
fuertes!

Att,

Carlos S

Pdta,

Si se necesita ayuda u orientacion por favor escriba al e-mail

polodemocratico@yahoogroups.com o llame a Carlos al 347-546-3170.

 

OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS.

Dear Members of the U.S. Congress:

We are concerned Peruvian-Americans, immigrant
organizations and human rights advocates in the United
States. We are writing to express our strong
opposition for the Free Trade Agreement with Peru
(FTA) and to request its further renegotiation for the
following reasons:

LABOR RIGHTS

In August, Peru's President Alan Garcia agreed to
issue presidential decrees to clarify specific labor
laws during a congressional visit from U.S.
Representatives Rangel and Levin. Yet Peruvian labor
leaders argue that this is insufficient because it
does not change the labor laws through legislation and
will not guarantee effective enforcement. Like many
workers in Latin American countries, Peruvians face
constant threats to their labor rights. Violations
include discrimination against union organizers,
illegal firings, and forced overtime without pay.
Further, the new system of fixed-labor contracts and
subcontracting radically undermines workers' rights
because they do not guarantee a 44 hour work week or
labor standard. Nor will the presidential decrees
protect the rights of the majority of people,
seventy-five percent, who work in the informal sector.
And many of the remaining twenty-five percent, work
for private employment contracting agencies that are
not obligated to enforce labor rights.

A free trade agreement with Peru should not be
approved by the U.S. Congress until legislation is
passed by Peruvian Congress, which which guarantees
compliance with ILO standards and guarantees
enforcement.

AGRICULTURE, POVERTY & IMMIGRATION

Agriculture is an integral part of Peru's economy with
nearly a third of the population depending on this
sector for their livelihood. In the FTA, the U.S.
demanded that Peru renounce its rights under the WTO
agreements to apply Special Agricultural Safeguards,
designed to protect sensitive sectors. After a
thorough analysis of the trade text on agriculture,
the Peruvian National Convention on Agriculture
(CONVEAGRO) estimated that hundreds of thousands of
Peruvian farmers would be negatively affected by the
agreement. The U.S. agricultural subsidies
constitutes unfair competition for Peruvian
agricultural goods and will impoverish the 700,000
producers of cotton, corn, barley, wheat, oilseeds and
dairy products in that country. Considering that only
3% of Peruvian farmers export their products, it's
very likely that as hundreds of thousands of Peruvian
small farmers lose their markets, they will be pushed
into drug production, and to migrate with their
families to already impoverished Peruvian cities, or
as undocumented immigrants to countries like the U.S.


Even though Peru's economy has been growing
continuously in the last 7 years, almost 50% of the
population is still living under $2 per day as a
result of neo liberal economic policies that are very
similar to those promoted by this FTA. According to
the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD), close to one fourth of Peruvians live in
extreme poverty and rural population are the worst
affected, nearly 70 percent of them are extremely
poor. This FTA would affect negatively the economy of
the already impoverished rural populations, increasing
centralism and forcing human displacement.

After NAFTA, over 1.3 million small farmers lost their
livelihoods in Mexico due to agricultural rules that
are nearly identical to those included in the
U.S.-Peru FTA. As a result, undocumented immigration
from Mexico to the U.S. increased by 61 percent in the
years following the implementation of NAFTA, according
to Pew Hispanic Center. U.S. policies like
NAFTA-style "free trade agreements" influence the
economy of Latin America directly, therefore
undocumented immigration problem is a shared
responsibility which must be addressed by a
comprehensive immigration reform that includes fair
trade legislation that prevents interest groups from
promoting human trafficking, workers exploitation,
broken communities and cheap labor.

CORRUPTION & DEMOCRACY

We must remind you that there are pending cases of
human rights abuses and corruption involving Garcia's
first government. Garcia was reelected in 2006 on a
platform against Toledo's free trade policies and with
a promise to renegotiate the FTA – the agricultural
rules in particular. But, once elected, he instead
visited Bush to request its approval.

This FTA was passed by Peruvian Congress in 2006 in a
lame-duck session with very little public support and
ignoring a request for a national referendum. Eighty
percent of Peruvian Congress members who voted for
this FTA had already lost their seats in elections
that predated the vote.

Meanwhile foreign mining and natural gas corporations
are making huge profits in Peru but leave behind
underpaid workers, pollution and environmental
destruction. The Garcia administration has ignored
popular protests and strongly supports extractive
industries. The Garcia government has abandoned dozens
of towns destroyed by the recent earthquake, even
though it has the biggest surplus in history. Public
protests regarding this matter have been silenced or
ignored by the government, including closing down a
radio-TV station in the city of Pisco that had been
critical of the relief efforts.

We believe that if this FTA is ratified now by the
U.S. Congress, it will send a signal to the Garcia
government that its current heavy-handed and
anti-public interest policies are supported by the
U.S. Congress. It will further perpetuate the
perception that the U.S. favors multinational
interests over protecting human rights and reducing
corruption.

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS & THE ENVIRONMENT

According to the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), the poorest of the poor in Peru
are the Indigenous peoples. About 73 percent of the
Indigenous communities live below the poverty line.
This FTA is a threat to indigenous peoples' heritage
and ways of living by allowing agribusiness and
pharmaceutical corporations to take over their
traditional medicine and nutrition knowledge for
profit.

Mining, oil and natural gas exploration and extraction
projects would increase dramatically with this FTA,
leading to extensive damage to the Peruvian
environment, especially the Andes mountains region and
the Amazon basin, which is the last virgin forest of
the planet. With this FTA, multinational corporations
would have the right to sue governments if any attempt
to protect the environment could cause to those
companies to see their profits reduced. In addition,
this deal establishes secret trade tribunals, making
trade rules more powerful than democratic institutions
and domestic laws.

As a result, entire Indigenous communities could be
displaced from their lands and pushed into
extermination. These FTA regulations directly
contradict the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples recently adopted by the United Nations which
include the rights to protect their land and natural
resources.

PUBLIC HEALTH & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Hundreds of thousands of Peruvians will not be able to
afford generic medicines because of new patents and
data-protection regulations that are included in this
FTA, intended to protect pharmaceutical corporations.
Also, this FTA promotes the privatization and
deregulation of services such as water, health care
and education, and it protects the interests of
multinational corporations benefiting from Peru's
bungled privatization of its social security system –
at the expense of workers, women, children, senior
citizens and the chronically-ill.

CONCLUSION

We strongly encourage you to reject the Free Trade
Agreement with Peru – and ask instead for it's further
renegotiation – because it is not fair for most
Americans nor most Peruvians, and because it was
negotiated ignoring the voice of the people of the
both the United States and Peru.

We believe that a free trade agreement with Peru must
provide safeguards that will protect vulnerable
sectors of Peruvian society, instead of worsening its
economic, social and political inequality.

Trade should be used to promote social justice and
progress for all, not for the benefit of the few rich
and powerful. The United States can truly spread
democracy and freedom by example, not by imposing
economic policies that will increase corruption,
poverty and abuse among impoverished nations.

We believe that fair trade is necessary to address
poverty and hunger and to promote economic progress
and decent living standards, while respecting the UN
Declaration of Human Rights and guaranteeing the
protection of our planet.

Respectfully,
(Signatures follow)