It doesn’t seem that many people pay attention to Latin America – at least not until a guy like Hugo Chavez comes along. But we should. Although it’s not in fashion among the cognoscenti, there is this thing called the Monroe Doctrine and what happens in this hemisphere should be of concern to us. It certainly is to the Chinese, who are expanding their reach in Panama, the Bahamas, Cuba and Venezuela. Nature abhors a vacuum, you see.
That’s why I’ve been appalled at Congressional stalling on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which would give the U.S. the same open access to Colombian markets that Colombia current enjoys in the U.S. But the Dems have held the treaty hostage, ostensibly under union pressure. And the Colombians are getting understandably testy. From today’s Investor’s Business Daily:
Asked about pending free-trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea — and what would happen if they continued to languish (in Colombia’s case, for a third year) — the new secretary of state told the Senate: “Obviously, these nations would be pleased by ratification, but I believe that we have — and can continue to have — productive friendships even without FTA’s in force.”
Answering tough questions from members of both parties in hearings, Clinton generally signaled good intentions on trade. But her casual assertion that U.S. relations with Colombia will always be good, even without a free-trade treaty, is naive.
It reflects a fallacy common among the many Democrats who believe ties with Colombia will always be strong and that Colombia’s critical help in the war on drugs and terror can be taken for granted.
The attitude was summed up as follows in 2007 by Natalie Cardona, a free-trade foe with the American Friends Service Committee: “I doubt the U.S. would lose an ally. We’re giving them billions of dollars of aid.”
But signs are flashing that this is a miscalculation.
Although Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe sent a courteous message to welcome President Obama, Colombian officials have grown frustrated in the last two years, warning Democrats their friendship, which has cost them much blood and treasure, had limits.
Referring to a rejection of free trade, Colombia’s vice president, Francisco Santos, said last year: “Colombia plays such a vital role in the continent for U.S. interests that it would be geostrategic suicide to make a decision like that. I wonder who wants to be the one who loses Colombia like they lost China in the 1950s.”
The Colombians have gone through hell fighting the drug cartels and the FARC – and they’re winning at great human cost. There was a time in Colombia not long ago when even being a Supreme Court judge could shorten one’s lifespan. They done all this with our help, to be sure, but they’ve stayed democratic and they’ve also provided the U.S. with invaluable intelligence and military assistance throughout the region.
But let’s talk about economics. Colombia currently collects over a billion bucks a year in tariffs on U.S. imports that the FTA would eliminate. And they’ve been friends over the years – good friends.
So, why are we putting our collective thumb in a friend’s eye?
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