Protest against Uribe at Press Club
My buddy Kate from A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective just called me after she returned from the National Press Club this afternoon, the site of a protest against Colombian president ALvaro Uribe who is visiting the US today to promote the US-Colombian trade agreement that Congress has ignored this legislative session. Kate told me that there were about 60 people protesting (and only 8 supporters of Uribe) at the press club, but that most of the protesters were only as smart on the subject as their signs. Kate also reported that she saw chavista Venezuelans in crowd of protesters that she recognized from an earlier encounter.
Kate told me that she asked one protester if she even knew where Colombia is and got a dumbstruck look in reply. Reuters wrote about the protest;
Teamsters, with members of other unions and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, held signs and passed out fliers in front of the National Press Building. Uribe spoke at the National Press Club to a luncheon gathering.
“We join with our brothers and sisters in Colombia in strongly opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “It’s a disgrace to even consider an agreement with the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists.”
Colombia is getting even more dangerous. This year, 40 unionists were murdered with impunity, already more than last year’s total of 38.
Yeah, but last year the AP wrote that the Colombian government is doing everything it can to prevent unionist deaths;
Jorge Sanchez, the vice minister of labor, told The Associated Press that unions inflate the numbers of slain members “because they thrive on violence and blood.”
Protecting labor leaders does appear to be a government priority, however. Guarding them _ with bulletproof vests or bodyguards _ consumes 40 percent of a nearly $20 million security program for human rights activists, journalists and other threatened individuals.
But labor unions, and their Democratic allies, demand more.
Of course they do. Colombia is a violent country and many of the unionists have ties to Maoist narco-terrorists FARC – and that’s the real problem that Democrats and union organizers in this country have with the deaths of unionists in Colombia. As I wrote in July on Tall and Rich, there are direct connections between US Congressional Democrats and FARC opposition to the Uribe government. They don’t like that Uribe has gone further to destroy FARC than any Colombian president before him – it probably has to do with the fact that Uribe’s father was murdered by FARC.
But idiot US union thugs who probably can’t even spell Colombia, chanting empty slogans are now driving our trade policy.
Kate has promised pictures when she gets a chance to post them, so I’ll update this then.
Category: Politics
What a lot of people fail to grasp is that all Colombians are conscious of the fact that Colombia does not have a stellar human rights record. What we do know is that the situation has improved under Uribe. Murderers of trade unionists are being held accountable — as they should be. This rarely, if ever, happened before Uribe.
Let’s be real here: after 44 years of civil war, we know that things won’t change over night. If anyone, the Democraps included, believe that, they are more deluded than I previously thought. Changing the social situation in Colombia is a process, like it is anywhere in the world. It will take time, it will take commitment, and it will take compromise. What kills me about the link you posted with the statement of the Teamster rep is that, it says that Uribe is going against the majority of Colombians. Simple polling data from firms of all political stripes show that that is simply not true. His approval rating is still in the 70s. The labor situation is not simple, I will concede that. However, when you have the Teamsters and their paid cheerleaders who couldn’t find Colombia on a map if they tried shouting “Human Rights yes, FTA no!” then you’ve gotta wonder how they think this is so simple, or why they think human rights and free trade cannot coexist. What the eight or so of us kept saying was, “We want human rights for all Colombians, we want all Colombians to have decent work, we want the good for all Colombians” but it seemed that they couldn’t get through their heads that now marginalized populations deserve special treatment. Again, I do not exculpate this government or governments in the past for their problems. This morning, Uribe himself admitted that we have a long way to go, but a great deal of progress has been made, whether the far Left want to believe it or not.
Jon,
Google and find Chavista John Grant’s Phildelphia Daily News op-ed “US Fanning South American Flames.”
Guess who showed up in West Chester a few weeks ago? Ron Zirpoli, the other man in that threesome with Chavez known as “VFP Salutes Chavez” as seen on YouTube.
Jajajaja John Grant, otro PSF. I ripped apart his article last year and e-mailed it straight back to him. He wasn’t too thrilled. Un tonto útil no más.
Kate, you rock!
SKYE!!! My two fellow troika members, sort of united again on the same blog post 🙂
I just walked through the door, am going to try to throw up a post and some pics on this. Boy, I definitely have a lot to say about it, believe me…
I look forward to your post
I was at the protest and I asked some of the 8 Colombians who were counter protesting on why they support Uribe and the Colombia FTA. Their replies were very limited and showed their ignorance on free trade policies. This post and Kate’s opinions are far from reality. The protest was a success and Uribe sounded defeated during his speech at the NPC.
Jonn wrote: Says you.